CA boss Greenberg’s vow to protect Aussie Test summer

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CA boss Greenberg’s vow to protect Aussie Test summer

New Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg has vowed to protect the sanctity of the Test summer, adamant it must be safeguarded during a time of debate about the global calendar.

Officials were expecting the biggest pre-***** event in Australia since Taylor Swift’s Eras tour when tickets for this summer’s matches became available on Tuesday.

That interest is buoyed by an Ashes series headlined by the arrival of England’s Bazball mentality, along with Australia’s white-ball matches against crowd-pullers India.

But Greenberg is well aware the success of the red-ball game in Australia, India and England is at odds with most of the world, and this summer comes at a critical time for the sport.

The World Cricketers’ Association this year presented the ICC with a proposed model for the sport’s future, recommending ways to protect the international game.

Included in it were recommendations for four 21-day international windows with no franchise T20 cricket taking place from 2028, in a model similar to world football.

Windows would also be scheduled for ICC events, while other international cricket outside those periods would remain in direct competition with lucrative T20 leagues.

This *********** men’s home international schedule runs from August to January, while a minimum six-week window is realistically always required to fit in the five home Tests.

“We’ve got to protect what’s sacrosanct to Australians, which is pretty obviously the Test match summer *******,” Greenberg told AAP.

“We’ve enjoyed that over a ******* of time and it is getting stronger and stronger.

“You have to make sure that you have a protection view of what your revenue drivers are.

“And unashamedly, men’s red-ball cricket is a significant revenue driver for our partners, for both our broadcasters and also through ticket sales.”

Greenberg, who moved from players’ union boss to Cricket Australia CEO in March, takes an open-minded approach to any global discussions.

Cricket Australia has a broadcast deal in place until 2031, while the global calendar is so far only locked in until March 2027.

It’s unlikely any introduction of windows would impact marquee series like the Ashes or Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with the wealth of the big-three nations.

But it is unclear what impact it could potentially have on player availability for other nations outside of the international widows, and if it would give franchises more power.

“You absolutely try to maximise those rivalries, whether it’s against India or against England in the Ashes this year,” Greenberg said.

“But also we want to bring other countries to the mix.

“We want to make sure that New Zealand and Pakistan and South Africa have opportunities to play against us both here and away.

“That’s part of the challenge of making sure you find a calendar that can accommodate all those things.

“It is a very delicate balancing exercise, trying to make sure that you get that part of the system right.”

Australia’s five Tests against India last summer broke records for average daily attendances.

Registrations for the June 3-13 pre-***** window for the summer are already significantly up on last year, with Greenberg ready to use Bazball as an Ashes marketing tool.

“We’re in the business of entertainment. So we’d be crazy not to market that,” Greenberg said.

“We’ve had twice as many individuals register for the pre-***** than we had for this time last year.

“That gives you some indication about how big I think the Ashes will be this year for the five Tests.”

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