Alex Keath is struggling to make his mark in cricket after rejecting AFL overtures. Picture: Michael Klein Source: HeraldSun
OCCASIONAL Victorian all-rounder Alex Keath is in danger of becoming the poster boy for football codes around the country.
Heading into his fourth season with Victoria, the strapping 21-year-old has again missed out on a place in the state side.
Keath gave up the chance of an AFL career after being listed by the Gold Coast Suns as a 17-year-old priority pick.
He was highly rated by the Suns in the same bracket as Trent McKenzie, who has played 57 AFL games, and Brandon Matera (39).
Since his debut for Victoria against England in December 2010, Keath has managed just six first class matches for a batting average of 12 and bowling average of 18 from 21 overs, or three and a half overs a game.
If any talented teenager weighing up cricket or one of the football codes had a glance at Keath's progress, or lack of it, why on earth would he chose cricket?
AFL clubs will draft 50 or more 18-year-olds next month and many of them will play some senior football next season.
West Coast's Shannon Hurn, now 27, was selected in the Australian under-19s but knocked it back in the hope of being drafted and has now played 134 games for West Coast.
Richmond star Brett Deledio, also 27, was offered a Victorian contract by then coach David Hookes but chose AFL and has played 195 games.
West Australian Steve Coniglio, 19, had a meeting with Justin Langer when the midfielder was deciding between cricket or AFL and became the number two draft pick in 2011, playing 30 games for the GWS Giants in their first two seasons.
Keath scored 60 in a recent Victorian second XI game and had some strong preseason form but was unable to break into the opening Sheffield Shield match, which began yesterday against Western Australia at the MCG.
Victoria had five players aged 30 or over in their top seven, Chris Rogers, Rob Quiney, Cameron White, David Hussey and Dan Christian, with all five having played some form of cricket for Australia.
The irony is that one of the eldest, Rogers, 36, is the only one still currently in the national mix after receiving a belated call-up and playing some solid cricket on the Ashes tour.
Keath begs the central question, where is the line drawn between winning games of state cricket and serving the primary function of the domestic competition, producing players for Australia?
Australian cricket is in its current poor state because for years the balance was wrong, states recycled journeymen, and the average age of an Australian first class player rose to 27.
It was taking an average of four years for Australia's elite under-19 players to simply make it onto state lists.
That has now improved and the average age is down below 25 but the damage has been done and the Australian team is in its worst state since the nadir of the mid '80s.
A cranky Cricket Australia points the finger at states for not promoting young talent. The states claim CA did not spend enough on development.
Too many people were asleep at the wheel and Australian cricket crashed.
A HIT
Initial scepticism about playing the Ryobi Cup early season as a self-contained carnival in Sydney has been swept away in a flurry of runs.
A difficult pitch at Bankstown Oval gave the tournament a slow start but later games at North Sydney Oval were a sparkling advertisement for the domestic one-day game.
The ground may be small, hemmed in by quaint stands, and the pitch batsmen-friendly but it has proved ideal for giving batsmen early confidence.
The continuity of playing regularly allowed batsmen and bowlers to get into a rhythm heading into three Sheffield Shield matches in as many weeks, which began yesterday around the country.
David Warner made three centuries in eight days while Test hopefuls Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja also made hundreds.
Cricket Australia and Channel 9, which showed the tournament on its digital channel Gem, were happy with the television audience. More than 220,000 fans watched the final between Queensland and NSW last Sunday.
HELPING HAND
With about $70,000 raised for NSW bushfire victims at the Ryobi Cup final last Sunday, Michael Clarke will make a personal contribution to the Springwood Cricket Club today.
More than a dozen players lost everything in the recent Blue Mountains fires so Clarke will present two large bags of cricket gear to the club from his sponsor Spartan, which included 13 bats.
Springwood is just 40 kilometres from Blacktown, where NSW is playing its Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.
Playing his comeback game after missing the current one-day tour of India with recurring back problems, Clarke will find time before play or during the lunch break to hand over the kit.
30 Oct, 2013
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Source: http://www.news.com.au/national/australian-crickets-lost-generation-has-been-sacrificed-by-self-serving-states/story-e6frfkp9-1226749973706?from=public_rss
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