Best of the Grunt

SET PERMANENT WACA TEST DATE
Posted January 11, 2012

Good timing is the essence to great cricket.

That ethos is relevant not only to the men swinging bats but also to those pushing pencils in the Cricket Australia planning office.

Setting fixtures is a tough job. You need a fondness for figures mostly found among accountants, a clairvoyant's crystal ball and the diplomacy of Bill Clinton to acquiesce the requests of stakeholders.

This week Perth hosts the third Test between Australia and India. While there is talk that five-day cricket is ill - although as pointed out at The West this week there seems to be more people asking "who said Test cricket is dead" rather than "Test cricket is dead" - there is great anticipation for the WACA Ground contest.

A Michael Clarke triple century, a couple of wins and the prospect of seeing Sachin Tendulkar create history can have the effect on the sporting psyche. Local cricket couldn't be happier with the lead-in.

But wouldn't it be easier to market - and better for fans - if the annual Perth Test was played at the same time of the year, every year?

Due to the quirk in fixtures, WA didn't stage a Test in 2011. The previous match was the third Ashes Test in December 2010.

In recent years the Perth Test has been thrown around like a drunken sailor's dart throw. It should be set for a particular period each year.

Almost all the other big ticket sporting billboard events have definitive dates, or at least a recognised phase of the calendar, to which fans have become accustomed.

The AFL grand final is always played on or around the last Saturday in September. The Melbourne Cup is the first Tuesday in November. The Australian Open is staged in the second half of January.

Even Melbourne and Sydney cricket fans know that their Test matches start on Boxing Day and January 3 no matter the year. CA would never dare change those dates. Perth should be afforded the same privilege.

So when should the Sandgropers get their Test match? The call in the office is for the Perth fixture to be held during the third week of December, preferably starting December 15 depending on fall of weekend.

Most schools have finished for the year and some local cricket associations could go into or are in hiatus, freeing up plenty of potential Test attendees.

A set fixture would enable fans to remember to put the annual WACA Ground event into their busy sporting schedules.

Then we would know that every third week in December we can put up our feet and rest easy watching the Aussies strike fear into another opponent on the nation's best cricket pitch.

FOLLOW ROSS LEWIS ON TWITTER - @R_Lewis_thewest