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Welcome
to the soapbox. This is our (yours and mine) chance to ask a few
questions, ruffle a few feathers, and hopefully contribute a little
toward the basic goal of this site - the promotion of Indoor Cricket.
However, here's a thing .. .. .. in October of the year 2000
we wrote the "Frisbee,
Korfball and the World Indoor Cricket Federation" article
below. And guess what . . . here we are in 2011, and nothing's
changed . . . . .
When
Indoor Cricket in Australia was controlled by the Australian Indoor
Cricket Federation, we here at Indoor Cricket World were very
critical of many aspects of their control, mainly their level
of promotion of the sport. We also gave praise and support where
we felt it was warranted, which was often. However, since Cricket
Australia have taken over, we have been receiving a steadily increasing
torrent of complaints from some very notable people within the
Indoor Cricket world . . . there is a persisting complaint that
not only is the Indoor Cricket related content of the Cricket
Australia site embarrassingly weak, they've already let their
PR idiots loose on the sport. Twenty20 format for Indoor Cricket?
You have got to be kidding!!!. Indoor Cricket does not need some
PR/marketing twit to come in and buggerise around with it to make
it interesting--it already is!!!
What next,
Tony Greig's "official" CA-sanctioned exclusive Indoor
Cricket merchandise? Best of seven games finals? Naming rights
for the game itself ("KFCricket, the indoor alternative",
or "Big MaCricket?"). Is there a smiley for "gag
gag gag"?
We are surprised
at the number of complaints we have received concerning Cricket
Australia. In the opinion of many, Cricket Australia is making
it increasingly obvious that they are more concerned with making
money than truly progressing the sport (how many years did it
take them to bring the Sheffield Shield out from behind the cash-wrapped
milk cartons?), and there is a swelling body of opinion that they
should bugger off and leave Indoor Cricket alone. OR, and this
is perhaps a tad more constructive, others are suggesting
they should perhaps listen to a variety of people who
have been involved in Indoor Cricket for a long time (and
no, we don't mean only talk to all the centre owners--they
of course must be included, but there are others with a lot to
contribute . . . if only they're asked). The view from ivory towers
is invariably distorted, as is the advice of vested-interests.
We here at Indoor Cricket World will seek more information before
we decide which side of that particular fence we'll graze on (bugger
off or consult). And although we may not be able to make all of
that information public (there is at the moment a noticeable reluctance
for folk to be directly quoted, which of course we will always
respect), we will, as ever, share as much as we can. We hope this
reluctance is just a little dose of paranoia and is unwarranted
. . . . hmmm, we'll see. In the meantime . . . .
We've
left the original page and links to our original articles for
old times' sake, but be assured we have several new articles underway
(June 2011). And yes, we will still consider readers' articles
for publication here if you send them in . . . so come on down.
. .
Just a reminder for future contributors, here are the
rules of engagement for the Soapbox. A minute spent reading
them may save you a lot of time later.
Articles
from the vault:
So,
what will we be writing and/or receiving articles on in the near
future?
The
lack of promotion of the game.
Once you read the "Frisbee, Korfball, and the World Indoor
Cricket Federation" article, you'll understand why we're
sitting on further articles on the promotion of the game. There's
heaps more to be said and done, but for the time being we'll wait
and see what develops out of the meeting in South Africa.
The Masters
World Cup. There
are some who reckon it would demean the World Cup if the Masters
World Cup was held at the same time as "the" World Cup.
Then there are those, like ICW, who think an enormous marketing
possibility and stimulus for growth is being ignored by not having
them together.
A "Colt's"
World Cup. Speaking of stimulus for growth - this is an excellent
suggestion from one of our many New Zealand visitors. We'll be
exploring this idea, and publishing our New Zealand contact's
thoughts and rationale, in the very near future. The inclusion
of the MTN World Cup Development team in the current World Cup
could possibly provide the impetus for further consideration of
this idea.
We
have a couple of other soapboxes which we'll eventually drag out,
but for the time being we will concentrate on those above. Readers
on the other hand can dust off their own soapboxes and have published
articles on whatever they feel passionate about.
So
get stirred up and start thinking folks, and send them in
to the email address in the Contact link at the top of this page....
Shel.
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