Editorial: What summer of cricket?

OPINION: They're in the media every year, the endless promotional plugs about "our summer of cricket", "our summer game" and other similar references to the game that supposedly forms the centre-piece of our summer sporting entertainment.

With the almost endless modern-day rugby season having reached its brief annual hiatus, it's a welcome change of pace. Cricket is definitely the kind of game well suited to the sort of long summer days that have only just really arrived for us. Indeed, Christmas Day was one of the hottest days of a summer that hasn't really got that hot yet.

And yet one is forced to wonder where the real cricket action is for us to enjoy now that our summer is at its height. This is not in any way an attempt to denigrate our domestic competitions, but it's a fair bet that most of those around New Zealand who will be watching cricket this week will be taking in the action from the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.

Which is hardly surprising, given that there is usually a high quality contest in prospect across the Tasman, but wouldn't it be good if there was a game fans here could be watching that involved New Zealand?

Again, no disrespect to our domestic game, but it's fairly certain that the numbers who turn up to Twenty20 and limited overs games around the country will be small. Hopefully a clear exception will be here in Timaru on Thursday, when Canterbury and Otago clash at the Aorangi Oval, but if that draws a good crowd, it will be in large part due to the fact that it's five years since we had a game of that magnitude in Timaru.

In other parts of the country, where such fare is more regular, it's difficult to see people coming out in their droves to watch domestic cricket.

Which makes one wonder why the powers that be in New Zealand have allowed Boxing Day to come and go without any top international fixture on. Certainly, it's understood that international schedules are drawn up years in advance and ensuring top cricket is on the menu is not easy. But isn't this the one time of the year when fans could really tap into a top test fixture?

Serious cricket fans here know that in both Australia and South Africa, there are Boxing Day tests every year, except for the one year in four when those sides happen to be playing each other in Melbourne. It's an important tradition. They'll also know that last year we had a Twenty20 game against the West Indies here – a significant step down from test cricket, but entertaining all the same – and this year there was nothing.

We used to have a Boxing Day test at the country's top dedicated cricket ground, Wellington's Basin Reserve. Surely we should think about reviving that, otherwise all we're doing is providing Australia's Channel 9 with extra audience numbers.

- © Fairfax NZ News