‘Short Tests are bad for business’ – CA CEO hints at intervening on pitches

Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said that “short Tests are bad for business” and admitted to a sleepless night following a 20-wicket day on Boxing Day despite a record crowd.

CA had been hoping to break crowd records across the entire Boxing Day Test between Australia and England despite the series being over given the number of pre-sold tickets across the first three days and the unprecedented demand across the series.

But having lost in the vicinity of AUD$5 million (US$3.3 million) for the two-day Test in Perth after 19 wickets fell on day one there, CA are staring another massive loss in the face if the MCG Test ends inside six sessions despite a record crowd of 94,199 on day one and another sell-out on day two.

Speaking on SEN prior to the start of day two, Greenberg was asked whether 20 wickets in a day was too many.

“The short answer for that in my opinion is yes,” Greenberg said. “As mesmerising and fascinating and enjoyable as it was to watch as a fan, we want Test cricket clearly to go for longer.

“A simple phrase I’d use is short Tests are bad for business. I can’t be much more blunt than that. So I would like to see a slightly broader balance between the bat and the ball. I thought yesterday slightly favoured the ball. The batters have some ownership in some of that, it’s not all around the pitch, but we’ve got some challenges.”

A raft of former players, turned pundits, were critical of the MCG surface on day one with suggestions it was far too much in favour of the seamers.

Greenberg was asked whether his administration would have a larger say in the pitch preparation for Tests in Australia in the short-term to avoid short matches.

“Historically we have taken a hands-off approach in all of our wicket preparation and allowed the staff and the conditions and those characteristics to be presented,” Greenberg said. “But it’s hard not to get more involved when you see the impact on the sport, particularly commercially.

“I’m not suggesting we’re going to go around talking to groundstaff, but we do have to have a careful eye on what our expectations are over the course of a summer.

CA have already had to do some cost-cutting inside their business this year making several staff in their administration redundant while looking for cost savings in other areas including high performance. Greenberg is in the midst of the complex process of trying to bring private investment into the BBL within the next 12 months.

Another large financial loss in this Test match would be untimely.

“I didn’t sleep well last night, put it that way,” Greenberg said. “It was an amazing day of Test cricket, so for that record number of people who were here, boy, they’ve had an experience. But our challenge is to make sure we can continue those experiences day after day. That’s the challenge for all of us.” (ESPNcricinfo)