It's only early Spring here in Australia and the international cricket season hasn't kicked off here yet, but the domestic cricket season kicked off just over a week ago with the One Day Cup (50 Overs) and all of the Australian State Teams have now each played their first 2 matches. I particularly love this little known tournament for a couple of reasons. Firstly it's my favorite format of cricket as a grew up with one day games and today they are a great middle ground between Test Cricket and the popular T20s. Secondly it's a great form indicator for emerging players ahead of the Australian summer.
When I mention form I am not just talking about the players either. It's also good to have a look at the cricket pitches on some of the major grounds to see what sort of shape they are in. Usually weather plays a factor in pitch preparations but here in Australia every ground has it's own slight nuance and difference that any respectable cricket nuffy would appreciate.
It's only early in the competition and it does stretch across the entire summer season here with games scheduled sporadically across October, November and December before taking a break and coming back after the T20 Big Bash to finish off in late February. However, one interesting thing to note so far is that last years finalists South Australia and Victoria (pictured above) have BOTH lost their opening 2 games so the competition looks wide open this year. A number of the more established domestic players are off playing in the Australia A matches in India, some are injured too and a lot of the big international stars are missing so there is some good young talent on show in these early games.
Here's the competition ladder after the first 2 rounds :-
So if you're into cricket and want to get a feel for how the Australian summer is shaping up, check out the One Day Cup.