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Australia celebrate winning the U19 World Cup - Source: Photosport -
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When I was 11 or 12 years old, Mum gave Dad the OK to spend some hard earned pennies and take me to Australia to watch a couple of one day international cricket matches between Australia and the West Indies.
We arrived at the Sydney cricket ground for a day/night match. It was sold out, apart from tickets scalpers were flogging for twice the price across the road. Back then it seemed like a once in a life time opportunity, so Dad dug deep to get us through the gates.
It was a childhood memory I'll never forget. A floodlit glittering stadium and a boisterous Aussie crowd baying for for the blood of West Indies great Viv Richards who let his batting do the talking.
Sadly, some 25 years later, the limited overs game appears to be on its last legs. The recent one day series between Australia and the West Indies was, for many, like watching paint dry. Crowds were well down and TV audiences were switching off.
Why? Well there's a new kid on the block called Twenty20. The recent success the domestic twenty overs aside competition, called the Big Bash, is Australia's leading sports news story this summer as internal tensions between administrators, players and the public builds.
The punters simply love it. Huge crowds packed stadiums around the country for the new domestic cut and thrust version of the game, injecting much needed cash into the State association coffers.
Unsurprisingly, the state associations are lobbying for the Big Bash season to be extended at the expense of the 4 day Sheffield Shield game which attracts crowds you can count on one hand. (and that's including the dogs)
So far, Cricket Australia is pretending nothing needs to give, but sooner or later the games governing body will reach a fork in the road and have to make some tough decisions. Former bowling great, Shane Warne has even said on record that the 50 over game should be scrapped.
So, is 50 overs limited cricket really in its death throes? Well, not if the players can help it. You see they actually enjoy the longer format of the limited overs game. It still gives them a chance to test their skills in a way the whirlwind Twenty20 version never could.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting is still a big fan of the 50 over format and looks forward to what he calls the pinnacle of the game, the World Cup.
However, the tenacious Aussie skipper is starting to become a lonely figure as the viewing public vote with their feet and their remotes.
At least I've got those boyhood memories from Sydney. Thanks Dad.
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