Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland has said that he is confident that the substantial revamp of the domestic one-day series, the Ryobi Cup, into a month-long carnival-style tournament will spark a resurgence in support for the beleaguered form of the game.
The New South Wales play the Tasmanian Tigers in the Ryobi Cup opener on Sunday, the first match in the Sydney-only competition which is part of a split of the 50-over, 20-over and four-day formats into clearly defined blocks.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, although Sutherland admitted that the unavailability of grounds around the country had made scheduling of the domestic season harder than previously, the new format and time of year is an opportunity to gain mass television coverage.
Stating that attendances at Ryobi Cup matches have not been huge recently, Sutherland also said that the TV audiences will grow and the overall access to matches, even on TV, will be more significant as the tournament has now been given a space of its own at a time when there is no or little other serious interstate sport being played.
Combined with free-to-air coverage, Sutherland further said that the profile and status of the Ryobi competition has been increased, adding that the new format more closely resembled the duration and intensity of one-day cricket tournaments at international level, including the World Cup.
