Australian media outraged over visit of Trevor Bayliss and Ricky Ponting to IPL

Australian media was outraged over the visit of Trevor Bayliss and Ricky Ponting to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 mini-auction venue in Dubai. The fact that the two cricketers preferred to fly to Dubai in order to concentrate on their functions in the IPL over their current job profile in Australian cricket has irked the media personnel of Australia. It led to questions from the media people who questioned the act of the former cricketers.

Ponting was in the commentary box for the first Test of the series between Australia and Pakistan, which happened at Optus Stadium in Perth. While Ponting attended the first three days of the match in the commentary box, he was absent for the fourth day of the match. The former Australian captain will be in Dubai to help the Delhi Capitals make good picks in the auction.

But the questions were genuine on Bayliss missing his coaching stint with Sydney Thunder. There has not been a proper explanation for the act of Bayliss, which has not gone well with the media people. Todd Greenberg, Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, spoke about the same on SEN Radio. “My first impression was it was certainly no surprise,” said Greenberg.

Lucrative for players but pressure on boards? 

“There was always going to be an additional window which is going to create havoc on bilateral cricket and the rest of the cricketing community so it’s a real challenge. And it’s not something I think you can just simply take a short-term view on. I genuinely think we need to be conscious of ensuring that all of the international cricket needs to continue playing meaningful cricket,” added Greenberg.

“So, we’ve seen that improve with the World Test Championship which has contributed to Test cricket. Mind you I would say that we need to do more for some other countries that are getting further away I think in Test match cricket. This will be difficult. It will be obviously lucrative for the very elite players but will put enormous pressure on boards and bilateral cricket all over the world,” Greenberg concluded.