‘Does no one actually care?’ Why this has been Australia’s invisible World Cup

Darcie Brown’s cry in the wilderness arrived on Monday morning.

Australia had just thumped India to eliminate them from the T20 World Cup and advance to the semi-finals of the tournament. Omission from the squad compelled 23-year-old fast bowler Brown to follow it at home.

Unlike teammates in the UK, that has meant Brown’s been painfully aware that this tournament, for all the team’s exploits, has been virtually invisible when it comes to media and public exposure.

Yes, she noted, any tournament played parallel with the FIFA World Cup may be fighting a difficult battle for oxygen. But that had not seemed to affect interest and attendances at the games.

“Any danger for the main media in Aus to actually mention that our girls are at the cricket World Cup,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Wouldn’t know if it was on if I wasn’t actually involved. I’ve seen it mentioned maybe 2/3 times over the month they’ve been over there.

“I understand soccer World Cup has taken over – as it should due to it being the world sport. However, why not put more Aussie spirit on and back the cricket in too. Or does no one actually care in Aus? People in England care, 27,000 at last night’s game …”

Australia duly crunched the West Indies to win through to the tournament final against England, which will be played early Monday morning (AEST).

Ask an Australian sporting follower whether they care about this World Cup, and they will invariably tell you they do, but cricket has not made it easy for them to follow it. The ICC’s 2023 rights deal to show all World Cups in Australia on Amazon Prime between 2024 and 2027 has severely reduced cut-through for these events, men’s and women’s.

When that agreement was struck, there were immediate concerns for how it might affect Australia’s vast but shallow cricket following. Unlike the UK, which relies upon a rusted-on audience that will attend matches and buy Sky subscriptions despite exorbitant prices, Australia’s connection to cricket is far broader but more transient. Most of the audience for the game is somewhat casual, and is not prepared to jump over too many hurdles to watch or attend.

When more than 86,000 spectators went to the MCG to watch the World Cup final in March 2020, they did so off the back of major publicity and appealing ticket prices.

In addition to their rights fee, Amazon have spent money on hiring the likes of Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja as ambassadors, and also paid for numerous media members to fly to World Cups and to last year’s world Test championship final. But its actual coverage has been the bare-bones world feed, with no Australian studio coverage and nothing at all during rain delays.

Even if a cricket watcher does have Prime, and is aware the games are being shown on the streaming service for free, the start times for T20 games in the UK have only one broadcast audience in mind – India’s. Australia take on England in the final at Lord’s, and the game starts at 12.30am (Monday AEST).

Then there is the ICC’s business model, which has flooded the calendar with World Cups. The T20 World Cups for men and women are contested every two years. With the ODI World Cups and the men’s Champions Trophy also in the calendar, that means at least one “global event” virtually every year, often two.

Scarcity is key to how the nation unites behind the Socceroos and Matildas every four years, lack of sleep and all, even if their chances of a trophy are so much smaller.

Players’ boss Paul Marsh, who was at Lord’s for the game Brown mentioned, also spoke with squad members during his time in the UK, and said there was some sense of bemusement in the team about the lack of airtime they appeared to be getting relative to the Matildas in particular.

“Australians love winning on the world stage and this is the game for all of Australia to unite around,” he said of the final. “The performances of our Australian women’s cricket team have been extraordinary for many years and again throughout this tournament.”

Brown’s protest should give Australian cricket pause for thought. Monday morning will be the first time this storied team has qualified for a World Cup final at Lord’s. It may well be the crowning moment for the long and decorated career of Ellyse Perry, but also a first tournament final for the likes of Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll.

The decider is also an opportunity to remind the old enemy of the Australian team’s primacy, after England made the most of improved fitness and better fielding to ease past South Africa in the other semi on Thursday night.

Asked about whether her team had any psychological hold over England, Perry came up with a great line which, had it been uttered by a Socceroo, a Matilda or even a Wimbledon competitor, might well have been everywhere on your social feeds this week.

“I wouldn’t have thought Lottie [England coach Charlotte Edwards] would let that happen,” Perry said with a smile.

“And those girls are extremely talented and great players. They’re also playing in their home conditions.

“They’re not playing in Australia with scary spiders and snakes. So no, I don’t think so …”

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