Melinda Farrell

You might remember this pic of me holding the bats of Don Bradman and W.G. Grace from couple of weeks ago. Well, the full story of how I found them is below. It was a pretty crazy trip to the US! 👇🏻 ✍️

@acxjones I suspect that will be the case, too!

@melindafarrell Has made runs at every level. He will be a very good player for Australia

I feel like I’m always swimming against the tide when it comes to Sam Konstas but, while there’s been a bit of noise about his Shield returns, I think they’ve been encouraging. He’s been getting starts on tough pitches. Not getting out early to the ball coming in. Encouraging.

@ganim_chris @cric_blog Well I made that observation, yes. I also said I feared if he was found out the crazy hype could backfire badly. Every now and again I get something right! But I genuinely think we’ll see him again and he’ll be much better equipped.

@melindafarrell @cric_blog Didn’t you plant the seed that he was suspect to the inswinger at his U/19 WC? Before any of us knew who he was??

EXCLUSIVE 🏏 The transit of English cricket's new batch of Dukes balls has been disrupted by the war in the Middle East. Only half the usual amount are expected to be available at the start of the season. ECB admit: "It's been a wake-up call." dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/…

Sheffield Shield Batting Average by Season 1980-2026 - trending down...

This is a terrific piece from Nick. Well worth reading.

@lucasgarth Yep.

@melindafarrell Important to make SA bowl as much as possible for no real incentive, start the grind before the final

Terrific half century from Ollie Peake in the VIC v SA Shield match. It’s been patient and mature, punctured by typically classy shots. It might be a dead rubber, but I suspect this is quite important for his continued development.

@jason_king72 The century. I’d have loved it if it was first batter to retire hurt.

@melindafarrell What was the official answer? (Noting that Bannerman achieved many firsts that day).

I literally just yelped with excitement while looking through the smh Sunday superquiz. Then I was disappointed not to see any reference to 67.34%. Yes, I am very sad.

@JulianKing15 It’s my favourite by a long way.

@melindafarrell If 99.94 is number 1 on the mainstream charts, 67.34 would be number 1 on the indie charts.

@61Bananas It was an unfortunate decision, no doubt. I’m not blaming the crowd. People have the right to decide!

@melindafarrell Rain and on a Wednesday, can't blame the crowd there. Saturday and you'd get 4,000

Interesting times for Aus cricket. Running at a loss for several years and all the eggs are in the home Tests/BBL/WBBL (kinda) broadcast basket. Other domestic comps all but invisible (virtually an empty stadium for the DJ Trophy final & hardly any outlets covered it-NSW won!).

@murdriggs I think the real drop off happens at the end of the bbl as far as media etc is concerned, although attention does shift a bit to the Aus Open. Would Aus fans want more than 5-6 men’s Tests per summer? Even if they did, it won’t happen. Next summer will hit hard.

@melindafarrell I'm just trying to demonstrate that if there is a drop off in interest after the Syd test, which you have indicated previously, that this may be the result of a schedule not giving a large chunk of cricket loving Aus what they want. Did ODIs not also disrupt upon popularisation?

@MarkDuffett Yep.

@melindafarrell Which was surprising given the calibre of players on both sides

@laurence_pratt I also wonder if Sandpapergate had some long term effects. I genuinely don’t know and it’s hard to work out if that may have accelerated things. It wouldn’t just be that of course. But, along with the changing landscape, it might be a contributing factor to alienation.

@melindafarrell Cricket Australia have been asleep at the wheel for sometime now. Relying on India and Ashes Tests series is not a sustainable model. The success of the aging Cummins, Smith, et al. generation has also papered over the cracks.

@MarkDuffett I mean hard to ague against the fact there is very little interest!

@MarkDuffett Never helps. But compared to the equivalent final in England last year, well, the difference is striking. There are advantages/disadvantages in each set up but it’s hard to argue that there’s very little interest.

@rossj80 I’d argue Feb and March have gone to AFL & NRL and this year the Winter Olympics had an impact, too.

@melindafarrell Baffles me how they lose money when India & England tour. This summer didn’t help Perth & Melb went 2 days. Keep giving up March to AFL. Get people in who know how to make money without gouging the fans.

@murdriggs The no of Tests is tied to broadcast deals so not that simple, plus team availability. The BBL is popular and now profitable. The global landscape is changing & T20 is an essential part of that, whether traditionalists like it or not. Huge challenges ahead for Aus cricket.

@melindafarrell Mel i genuinely believe if CA had fixtured another 3 Tests through Jan and Feb they would have been very well received. The complete switch to T20 after tests isn't what we want. It's like serving up food we don't enjoy & then wondering why we don't enthusiastically eat it up.

@JoeScuderi1 Fear it’s gone past the point where dom comps are seen as viable marketing properties. Media coverage minimal with other sports taking up space. Tbf those outlets aren’t responsible for promoting the domestic game. They’ll give space to whatever they think interests the public.

@melindafarrell Yep. Here it just seems to not be an ‘event of significance’ anymore. Just plonk a final mid week and we wont bother advertising it. It’ll be ok.