Six days into 2025 and there’s no more men’s international cricket in Australia for the summer.
There’s just a handful of virtually meaningless white-ball fixtures in the lead-up to the Ashes getting underway in November.
January and February used to be the time when Test series were decided or triangular one-day tournaments would grip the cricket-loving public’s interest until it was time for the footy codes to have their time in the autumn sun.
But now the nation’s cricket fans have been left with a scenario of turning to the Big Bash League to get their fix or embrace the Women’s Ashes, which gets underway on Sunday at North Sydney Oval with the first of three one-dayers in the multi-format contest.
Or, better still, both.
For the vainglorious Test cricket snobs out there, it’s the perfect time to embrace the BBL, however lukewarmly you choose.
There’s only a couple of weeks left before the finals, there will be recognisable players lining up in the brightest of bright uniforms and the standard has been pretty strong this summer.
If you accept the BBL for what it is, you will not be disappointed.
But if you continually compare it against the utopian version where all Australian players are available, the best international stars are sprinkled throughout the squads and you are guaranteed a thrilling contest every night, then you will be disappointed.
The BBL is the ultimate “pay as much attention as you want” competition.
If you are never going to be more interested than the green team is playing the other slightly more garish green team, then it’s still worth a look every now and then.
Check out the power plays at the start of the opening innings, dip out of the coverage, chime back in at the end and then decide after the second team’s opening overs whether it’s worth staying up until the end.
If you can’t be bothered to adopt a team or even care about who’s who in the zoo, the BBL is not targeted at your demographic.
It’s the entry level competition designed to get young fans following and hopefully playing and falling in love with cricket.
Would you prefer another bilateral one-day series like the ODI and T20 contests with Pakistan that were held in November that you have probably already forgotten about?
A few white-ball clashes with India after the spicy Border-Gavaskar Trophy series would actually have been a nice addition to the intensity of the Tests but they are coming back in October for three ODIs and five T20s.
Glenn Maxwell bats during the BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades. (Photo by Josh Chadwick – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
South Africa are the only team heading to these shores in the interim, to face the Aussies in six white-ball affairs “in northern Australia”.
The Australian men head to Pakistan after their Test tour of Sri Lanka for the supposedly prestigious Champions Trophy in February, then they’ll be at Lord’s in June to defend their World Test Championship crown against the Proteas.
They will then jet across the Atlantic Ocean for three Tests and five T20s against the West Indies before their brief stopover on northern home soil for the South African calendar-filling short-form contests in August and a trip to New Zealand for three T20s in October.
And to warm up for the Ashes, they’ve got the eight limited-overs clashes with India. Go figure.
But fear not because the passion, pride and downright hatred that comes with the Ashes will be on the line over the next few weeks when the Australian and English women’s teams square off, culminating in the historic Test at the MCG on January 30.
For the uninitiated over the scoring system, all you need to know is it’s two points for a white-ball game and four points are on the line for the Test and it’s likely to go right down to the wire.
The 2023 clash in the UK was split 8-8 but the Aussies retained the Ashes due to their 12-4 thumping at home four years ago. Anything the men can do, they can do the same.
Ash Gardner. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
If the MCG Test gets decent numbers, both through the gates and via viewing numbers, it could lead to an expansion in the future where three matches are played in each of the formats.
“It is obviously going to make the tours a lot longer, I am not sure where you are going to fit it in, knowing we have to play overseas as well,” Australian all-rounder Ash Gardner said on Wednesday.
“But personally I would love to see three, three and three.
“I would just love to play more Test cricket against England. Playing the one Test feels like a bit of a novelty at times.
“We have good white-ball games against England and other teams around the world, but the way our teams match up. it would be a really cool Test series.”
Like most of us whose social media feeds are filled with cricket nostalgia clips, you have probably been inundated with Michael Bevan’s last-ball ODI feats from New Year’s Day of 1996 recently.
Any time an old Aussie cricket fan hears the inimitable sounds of Bill Lawry, Richie Benaud or Tony Greig commentating on a magic moment from the past, tears well up in the rose-coloured glasses.
The good old days were indeed great but they don’t last forever.
Australia’s cricketing landscape has changed with officials making significant investments in the BBL and women’s cricket.
Just like pizza, ice cream or Star Wars movies (the original trilogy, anyway), there is no such thing as bad cricket, just different versions which are all better than whatever the next best option may be.
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