Thought this was a good intro for a new post.....now cricket is complaining about the AFL!

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the ... 19ch3.html

Is there any real evidence this is true? Apart from anecdotal that is. I suspect the real threat is that of the ever increasing length of the football season.

Just get rid of him already! The Lions have bent over backwards to help him and he still buggers things up.

It's funny - Hoops on bigfooty (and I think he posts occasionally on here as well) posted this stat which probably answers then questio:

State by state participation rates for cricket (expressed as a percentage) for males over 15:
NSW 3.0%
Vic 4.8%
Qld 2.6%
SA 4.7%
WA 4.6%
Tas 4.5%

http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats ... 005-06.pdf
I wonder if it's got to do with the relationship between football and cricket clubs, especially where they share the same ground and facilities.

The latest ABS figures (DEcember 2010) shed some light on the state of the 4 football codes and Cricket. Table 16 is the one to look at.

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4177.02009-10?OpenDocument

A potted summary is that between the 2005/6 survey and the 2009/10 survey:-

Participation in Australian Rules football dropped 28.2k to 240.5k. This is a drop of 10.5%.
Participation in Cricket dropped 81.9k to 253.6k. This is a drop of 24.5%.
Participation in Rugby League rose 23.6k to 114.8k. This is a rise of 25.9%.
Participation in Rugby Union rose 18.0k to 96.9k. This is a rise of 22.8%.
Participation in outdoor Soccer dropped 18.6k to 401.0k. This is a drop of 4.6%.

Cricket would be worried and the two Rugby codes would be very pleased with these results.

Gyfox, I think most of the growth in the Rugby Union market is coming from WA. 35% growth in participation rates a few years ago after the introduction of the Force.

The increasing length of the football season is only an issue at semi-professional level. At amateur levels, councils still maintain a footy/cricket divide on grounds so that people can play both if they like.

My thinking is that there are two separate trends. The increasing professionalism of the four football codes means that they become a more attractive offer for the young bloke with twitch muscle fibre who can play almost anything at a good level. Previously if they wanted cash, they chose tennis or golf. From the late 1970s and WSC cricket became an option if you were good enough to play for Oz. Shortly after, the football AFL and RL became attractive. Even in the "semi-professional" days of the VFL and NSWRL in the 1980s it was still possible to get a full time wage for the part-time pursuit. Even in those days the strict divide of seasons remained so you had blokes like Bradley, Siddons, O'Donnell and Warne who could play league footy and first-class cricket

Now for professionals, the extended season and increasingly important junior competitions (Toyota Cup, TAC Cup) means that by the time a player is in their mid teens, they have to settle down and pick one because the overlap exists. You have the sport of AFL 30 full timers x 17 clubs plus some full timers in the SANFL = that's 5-600 spots for you to earn a wage. Rugby League has 25 full timers x 16 clubs plus England = 400 Aussies and 100 NZ + others. Soccer has 100 Aussies abroad + 200 full timers in the A League which is 300. Even Rugby Union has 150 full timers in Oz plus 50 in England and France. Cricket has 20 per state plus 25 nationally = 145 spots with a median income less than the other football codes.

There are far more professional placements in the football codes than there are in cricket. When sport was amateur or semi-professional, cricket had the advantage of overseas tours, national prestige and longevity of career that other sports could not match. Even other sports like rowing or athletics had the lure of Olympic Gold, which was worth remaining amateur for when all you were gonna get playing footy was an increased chance of injury and some beer money. Nowadays, these advantages don't mean as much now when you can pull in six figures before your 21st birthday and get girls.

The article nobleoz falsely claimed was cricket blaming AFL is more how professional football codes (mainly) have become more attractive to elite/multi-talented athletes because there is greater opportunity for them to earn a living in those sports than there is in sports like cricket (or rowing, cycling, athletics, hockey) where fewer professional spots are available. These latter sports previously enjoyed a healthier share of elite athletes because the football codes didn't have as much money to offer elite athletes and therefore the ancillary benefits offered by these sports (tours and Olympics) were more attractive to athletes relative to what the football codes offered.

For me that explains the shift for elite athletes. At the so-called "under 10s" level, the overlap in seasons isn't there so other factors must explain the shift. For me it's things like time (a footy game is less commitment for parents/players than a cricket game), cost (less equipment needed) and TV exposure. With the focus away from domestic cricket in the last three decades, the sport has become like a travelling roadshow. It captures your attention the three weeks it's in town and then moves on. Cpmpare that to footy when you can see your team every second week for more than half the year.

The expansion of the Big Bash is trying to solve both problems. More professional spots in cricket and an extension of the time when cricket is in our consciousness. I don't know if it will work. The expanded Big Bash will overlap with international cricket so the latter point is compromised. Further, a six week competition doesn't make full-time players or expand the pool enough to get the number of pro spots up to something like the footy codes.

If T20 takes off permanently (and I'm not convinced it will remain at its current high profile, but that's another debate altogether) then you will see the rise of players such as NSW's David Warner. He may well never play Shield of Test cricket, but earn a very lucrative income playing in the various T20 comps around the world. Whereas previously journeyman Australian players would play Shield and One-Dayers in the Australian summer than play the county system in England for their summer, now they will move around the world playing in short T20 comps. Logically the demand for these players will rise, perhaps increasing the attractiveness of choosing cricket as a professional sporting option for Australian kids.

I agree with you, Jeffles 100%. The thing that amused me about that article is that it was trying to blame AFL for cricket's demise, when in fact, there are less % playing cricket in the 2 states where NRL is #1. Neither is cricket affected by having to give up its ovals. The other thing working against cricket is that it is in summer, when we are less inclined to play team sports - & prefer the more leisurely outdoor activities that offer us a multitude of choices on a weekend.

Add the WAFL as potential full time contracts as well.

Jeff is on the money. What I'd add, not necessarily to argue the point, but just to inject some more info on the aussie rules side, is that the figure of full time professional aussie rules players is under the mark. There's 44*17 full time players on AFL lists. Each SANFL and sometimes WAFL club has at least one full time non AFL listed player. Also the experience in SA and Victoria is that just about all clubs that have pokies will have one full time ex AFL player, or in some cases ex SANFL star that never played AFL but was still in the 1990s window of being good enough but hated Victorians too much.

And it doesn't create nearly as much tension in the locker room as you think. It's actually a point of pride to show off which ex AFL/SANFL player you have. I remember a 3 way argument over drinks which lasted about 10 seconds.

"We've got Andrew Payze this year."

"We've got Trigger."

"Yeah? We've got Macca."

"...f**k all right"

Aussie Rules has turned us into a nation of losers

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/aussie-rules-has-turned-us-into-nation-of-losers/story-e6frg6zo-1225982616233

He claims to suppport Richmond...he would know all about being a loser!

Rugby League an international code....
I'm guessing this guy is usually a rugby/league journo?

If WA seceded Australian football would have a similar international presence. Probably more so.