Australian Club Cricket

As you may or may not know, I am currently in Australia playing (well trying to play if the rain ever stops. Yes, you read that right. My first two games have been cancelled due to rain, which is more than my entire last season in England) grade cricket.

In my opinion, Australian club cricket has the perfect structure (compared to England's relatively poor structure). They have clear tiers of the game: First-class, State 2nd XI, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, Under 17's. Good performances in each tier will lead to a call-up to the next tier, there is a player at my club who is performing brilliantly and has thus been called up to the Tasmania 2nd XI. This is a marked difference from most of the cub structures in the UK, as there are only a few club leagues where good performances can lead to higher honours.

For me, the biggest difference is the fact that 2 day games are played regularly in Australia. This immediately gives Australian cricketers an advantage over their English counterparts as they learn how to construct an innings and bat all day at a young age. In England, junior teams play only twenty20's. It is no wonder Australia generally produce better Test Match teams, their kids are learning the skills required to play the longer form from a very young age. They can then hone their skills in Grade cricket against tough opposition.

The thing that inspired me to write this article was a conversation I had with one of my team-mates whilst we were waiting for the rain to stop. We were talking about my club back at home when he asked me which international players played at my club. When I explained to him the difference between England and Australia, it became clear how much better they have it than us. It was a strange concept for him that we did not even have any county players who played for us. And who could blame him, these guys have grown up playing at the same club as state players and Australia internationals.

I can now say that I've played at the same club as Tim Paine and Ben Hilfenhaus! These guys are not just loose affiliates of the club either. No, they play games whenever they can, they appear at nets to offer advice. So far I have been treated to appearances from Tim Paine in addition to state players Rhett Lockyear and James Faulkner.

England really needs to re-think its club structure, otherwise plenty of players could be lost to the mud pit that is English club cricket.