What made the difference for Seven’s first cricket broadcast

This particular broadcast was blessed by fine weather, a near-capacity crowd, and a fast, high-scoring game with plenty of big hits. And given that the venue doesn’t have the same media facilities as the SCG or Docklands, the technical aspects of the broadcast were genuinely impressive.

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But what really made the difference was forward planning. One of the many clever things Seven did once it secured the cricket rights was to then scoop up a bunch of Ten cricket talent – including, crucially, appointing executive producer Dave Barham as head of cricket.

It was Barham’s hands on the levers that created the ratings monster that was the Big Bash and his influence was evident from the get-go, when Ricky Ponting and Lisa Sthalekar received equal billing as the new faces of Australian cricket on the telly.

For those of us who found our interest in cricket reinvigorated (or perhaps ignited for the first time) by Ten’s lively, accessible, inclusive approach there was further comfort in seeing Mel McLaughlin anchoring the coverage, and hear the familiar tones of Andy Maher from the box.

But it wasn’t all same-old, same-old. Experienced sportscaster Abbey Gelmi was on the boundary while in the box we had women’s champ Julia Price and Test bowler Pat Cummins – and the presence of the latter was definitive proof of Barham’s genius for casting. Cummins was not just knowledge and articulate, it was quickly evident his personality (clearly one of nature’s gentlemen) was a perfect fit for the established duo of Maher and Sthalekar.

The overall vibe was precisely what made the Big Bash such a success for Ten. It all felt very relaxed, confident, professional but also really warm. There was some nice, easy banter but the cricket was always the focus.

We also got the sense, though, that this was just the beginning of a whole new adventure, from the unselfconscious shout-out to indigenous women in cricket to the cheeky promotions featuring Boonie.

Combined with the real-world changes to the sport, from Cricket Australia down, it’s looking like “the new home of Australian cricket” might become a much-sought destination.