the electric internet

Dear Sir

Peter Roebuck now seeks to justify his default position that only NSW cricketers can be selected in the Australian Test team by peddling the pernicious myth that NSW is “still the nation’s cricketing stronghold because of its size and limited exposure to AFL” (The Age, 3 January). Kerry O’Keeffe has recently said the same thing several times on ABC radio, although admittedly O’Keeffe does so with attempts at humour, some more successful than others.

Unfortunately for Roebuck and O’Keeffe, both the facts and logic show otherwise. First and most glaringly obvious, NSW has performed with mediocre success in the Sheffield Shield, the domestic one-day competition and the 20/20 competition in recent years – the cricketers from the supposedly AFL-dominated State of Victoria have been the most successful in all forms of the game. Secondly, neither Roebuck nor O’Keeffe has pointed to a significant number of outstanding junior cricketers in the AFL-dominated States Victoria, SA, WA or Tasmania who have been snaffled by AFL football. And thirdly, they have not attempted to show that talented NSW junior sportsmen consistently resist the blandishments of both the rugby codes prevalent in that State so they can hold on to the baggy green dream.

So the next time Roebuck writes (or O’Keeffe speaks on ABC radio) about Test selection, even after yet another collective failure by the 7 NSW players in the current team, we should not be surprised that he will mention as potential replacements only NSW players (with the occasional Queenslander thrown into the mix in order to show he isn’t biased). Why, it’s all the AFL’s fault.

Yours sincerely
etc