THOUGHTS ON BIG BASH FAR NORTH DIRECTION

Q Being a traditionalist, what do you think of the Big Bash League?

A Look, it’s there to attract a new type of audience and it has been very successful. I know the kids love it, families love it, the teenage bracket of girls, they seem to enjoy it as well, because it’s entertainment. Sure there’s some good cricket played but if you look past that it’s a night of entertainment. We saw the swimming pool at the Gabba for the Test, well they’ve kept that for the Big Bash for Brisbane and there’s always something going on that keeps the crowd entertained. I read the new television contract will be worth a lot more money now than the $10 million they got for it originally. It’s a part of the game that’s here to stay.

Q Do you think Cricket Far North will see any of that extra funding boost?

A I know that Queensland Cricket are working extremely hard to extract more funding to pass down to grassroots because we’ve got people, finally, in jobs that understand the geography of Queensland. We have so much area to cover compared to say a state like Tasmania, so the funding now, there’s been some equalisation of the funding not only per capita of people, they’re also taking into account the distance. I think in the next five years you will see a lot more people on the ground in the country areas, which can only be great for the game.

Q What do you think about the direction of Cricket Far North? What are the positives moving forward?

A I think Far North cricket in general is in pretty good shape. We’re one of the smaller zones in Queensland Country and it’s a bit easier to administrate this zone than it is say Central Queensland, who are geographically three or four times bigger, but having said that you don’t have the playing numbers either that some of the bigger zones have so, yeah, but I think it’s generally in pretty good shape. Our juniors seem to be going well with state championships, there’s a good crop of young players around that 16 to 18-year-old mark and they come in little waves in the country because you get a group of kids that are really keen and they drive each other on to work harder and train harder and I’ve seen that over the years.

Q What advice do you have for the current administration or do you just want to sit back and let some new ideas flow?

A I’ve always been a person to welcome change. While I’m a traditionalist, I still do welcome change or anything that makes the game more interesting and keeps kids playing the game. I think female cricket is on the up around the zone. They’ve got a good base up in Atherton. They’ve done a good job with that. I know they’re getting it going here in Cairns so that’s one avenue that they will pursue and I think that’s pretty wise, it’s a pretty smart thing to do. I’m more of a consultant more than anything now. I’m here to help.