Seven Ways to Make Domestic One Day Cricket Great Again

Seven Ways to Make Domestic One Day Cricket Great Again

Australian Cricket looks to be giving the old one-day domestic tournament a new lease of life with CA putting it to the people that the trophy be named after a legend of the game.

The critera involved is

– an elite record in the domestic men’s One-Day Cup

– A top ODI player for Australia

– A player who has had a major impact on the game

Back in 2021, Brad Hodge, Richard Chee Quee, and Gavin Robertson have took Neds punters down memory lane,  looking back at the glory days when the Mercantile Mutual Cup was king of the domestic Cricket scene.

 

The Mercantile Mutual Cup saw grounds like the Junction and North Sydney Oval packed to the rafters, with even a sparse MCG looking amazing.

You knew where you were when Shane Lee hit the sign for $90k against the Canberra Comets at Manuka. 

Back in the day, Channel 9 had the A-Team of commentators down at Adelaide Oval on a Sunday morning in October broadcasting a blockbuster been the SA Redbacks and the Tasmanian Tigers.

The ghost of Kerry Packer has wise words for Channel Nine: 'Call the bloody  cricket'

So with the naming rights for the prestigious one day domestic trophy up for grabs, we’ve come up with some solutions to bring Domestic One Day Cricket back to its rightful place in the Australian sporting landscape.

(1) Bring back the Mercantile Mutual Cup

Over the years, it’s been known as the Gillette Cup, McDonalds Cup, FAI Cup, ING Cup, Ford Ranger Cup, Matador BBQ Cup, JLT Cup and now the Marsh Cup but we all know what its called in our hearts.

The Mercantile Mutual Cup.

From the summer of 91-92 to 2000-01, it was a decade of the finest domestic one-day Cricket you could see.

Granted, Mercantile Mutual doesn’t exist anymore (it’s now ING for those of you who are curious) but naming it in the honour of the sponsor that gave it it’s glory days and the trophy shaped liked the Logo would be taking the tournament back its roots.

Yours truly, has already tweeted that CA opt to call it the Mercantile Mutual Cup once again.

 

Mercantile Mutual became ING and therefore the competition would be known as the ING Cup, and to be fair, this advertisement is EPIC.

The jingle “IT’S YOUR STATE. IT’S YOUR STATE MATE. IN THE I-N-G CUP” is a deadset banger.

(2) Hitting the Sign 

It goes without saying if we’re bringing back the Mercantile Mutual Cup, we’re bringing back hit the sign and win cash.

 

Brett Lee may have had one of the great international cricket careers, but his brother Shane (also from the band Six and Out)  hit the sign and won $90K which easily paid for the NSW Blues post-season trip.

Steve Waugh may have been one of the greatest captains of the Australian Cricket Team leading them on in the glory years, he also hit the sign.

Even if he never wore a baggy green, he’d still be remembered for this unbelievable feat where he won $140K and split it amongst his NSW teammates.

The Mercantile Mutual Cup became the ING Cup in the early 2000s and to the credit of the new sponsor, they kept the “hit the sign” legacy going, such as this epic one from South Australia’s Graham Manou back in the summer of 2002-03 at Adelaide Oval.

 

However, spare a thought for our mate Brad Hodge who missed out on $50k on a technicality when he was having a day out in Bowral back in 2003.

(3) Canberra Comets 

Like hitting the sign, it goes without saying that bringing back the Canberra Comets would also add to making one-day domestic Cricket great again.

For three magical summers, the Comets from 1997-98 – 1999- 2000, with the likes of Merv Hughes and Mike Veletta tearing it up at Manuka Oval and wooed the ACT locals into a Cricket frenzy

Cricket: Melbourne and Sydney teams safe as Big Bash draft to stay |  Geelong Advertiser

What was best about them is they didn’t play Shield, they were exclusive to the Mercantile Mutual Cup.

If Canberra can host International Test Matches, they can have a team in the one-day comp.

Granted, The Comets copped some beltings back in the day, like the time Brad Hodge scored a century for the Vics against them at Richmond’s Punt Road Oval.

(4) Vics in Shorts 

The summer of 1994-95 was unique in so many ways.

Not only was there an Ashes series and Australia A played in the World Series Cup resulting in a final between Australia v Australia A, Victoria made a fashion statement and wore shorts.

It makes sense, Summer – Shorts.

The shorts would be embraced by the Cricket public again should the Vics want to bring them back.

What a wonderful way for the likes of Marcus Harris, Will Sutherland or Peter Siddle to show off the pins on the pitch just like Brad Hodge and Merv did back in the day.

(5) Household Names

Granted, there are a fair few domestic Cricketers that have a high-profile in the age of T20 Cricket but the cult-like status of Shaun Young, Jimmy Maher, Andy Bichel not being the 12th man, MacGill bowling to Warner, Brendan Creevey, Trevor Barsby, Kade Harvey or even Canberra Comets gun bowler Stuart Karppinen.

These were the heroes of domestic one-day Cricket, such as the one and only Richard Chee Quee.


And Adam Dale’s catch for the Queensland Bulls against NSW in 1998 should be on the school curriculum.

(6) Barcode Uniforms 

One-day Cricket uniforms change frequently but after much discussion in the Neds office and studying this amazing blog by writer Russel Jackson on every domestic one-day outfit ever, we’ve come to the conclusion that the barcode gear of the mid-late 1990s was the best,

Liam F on X: "Michael Di Venuto 1997/98 - 1998/99 Mercantile Mutual Cup  match worn jersey. 5 state barcodes down, 2 to go… https://t.co/U9ud1yzX18  @CupMutual @WSCupCricket #MercantileMutualMonday https://t.co/RgOjpG88qB" /  X

The Australian team, the visiting team and all the domestic teams had a barcode uniform.

MERCANTILE MUTUAL CUP - Western Warriors Size Xl Polo Shirt - New With Tags  $510.00 - PicClick AU

As modelled by Greg Matthews and Merv Hughes, the barcode really brought out the beauty in these Cricketing titans.

(7) Team Songs/Jingles 

We all know “C’mon Aussie C’mon” or “Go Aussie Go” if you’re from a certain vintage

 

Even the Tasmanian Tigers had this beauty.

“TASMANIAN TIGERS. THEY’RE A VICTORY MACHINE. BEST THEY’VE EVER BEEN. IN THE RED, YELLOW AND GREEN.”