Waugh concerned about the busy schedule

Steve Waugh, a legendary cricketer for Australia, has expressed his displeasure with the country’s busy cricket schedule this year, adding that it has become extremely difficult for spectators to keep up with the games. After poor attendance in the 3-0 ODI series against England, which began just three days after the Men’s T20 World Cup ended, Cricket Australia (CA) has received a lot of criticism for scheduling the men’s team’s matches in the country during the summer. 

Even though they were the hosts and the defending champions of the T20 World Cup, Australia had an average attendance of 37,565 for its five Super 12 matches, including the one that was abandoned against England at the MCG. Waugh has expressed his concerns about how difficult it is for individuals to follow the matches, despite the fact that CA CEO Nick Hockley cited the rescheduling of fixtures following the Covid-19 pandemic as a reason for the packed schedule.

“There’s a lot of cricket it’s hard to follow, as a spectator it’s very hard to keep up with it. (The) three one-dayers against England seemed a bit insignificant really, I mean what were they playing for? There wasn’t a big crowd, I think the public has almost overdosed on cricket,”

said Waugh on SEN’s Saturday Morning Mowers Club show.

Waugh is concerned that cricketers’ decision to play in particular formats may result in additional issues for Australian fans who follow the team because players are beginning to choose between playing white-ball cricket and red-ball cricket.

“You want the special series to be iconic like the Ashes or against England, it’s hard to follow the Australian side because every time they play they have a different team on the field. For the fans and spectators, it is hard to make a connection because you’re not sure who is playing, I don’t know whether it’s anyone’s fault but you need that consistency in the Australian side. You want to know who’s in the squad every game, you want to be following it closely and it’s really hard to do that right now,”

he added.

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On Wednesday, Australia will host West Indies in the first of two Test matches in a two-match series in Perth. The series is part of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle and will be played for the Frank Worrell Trophy.