by Minimum Chips » Fri Nov 12, 2021 2:20 pm
Here's an excerpt of an article on Dizzy that's on AdelaideNow and going to be in tomorrow's paper:
"Winning droughts and losing streaks though are common in South Australian cricket. The state has not won the Sheffield Shield since 1996 when Gillespie was just a 20-year-old starting to make his way in the game. In the 25 years since SA last won, Queensland has won the Shield eight times, Victoria seven, NSW five, Tasmania three and WA twice. In that time SA has also failed to produce consistent national team players apart from Gillespie, who has a statue at Adelaide Oval to mark his achievements in the game. SA is the only state never to produce a player that has played 100 Tests for Australia.
From the outside, it’s easy to believe SA has cultural and systemic issues that start with the board of the South Australian Cricket Association and filter down through all levels of cricket.
Last year, former Australian batter Mike Hussey completed a review of SA cricket which found, in part, “that South Australian cricket has had a culture of mediocrity for many years and acceptance of it has been a barrier to success’’.
Gillespie agrees with Hussey’s finding, but goes even further. Gillespie believes there has been a “culture of entitlement’’ within South Australian cricket and its players. That there are too many players whose ambitions stop at being picked for the Redbacks.
“If your whole goal as a cricketer is to get one game for South Australia, well, you’re definitely not contributing,’’ he says.
But it also goes deeper than that. Gillespie says he has come across too many within cricket, players and officials, whose mindset is about what SA cricket can do for them, rather than the other way around.
“You get club cricketers saying ‘what’s the SACA going to do for me?’ And I want to turn that on its head. I’d love a player to come and go `What can I do for South Australian cricket, to help South Australian cricket improve?’.
“I think there’s a culture of entitlement, I’d use that term, there’s a culture of entitlement. ‘What are you going to do for me?’.’’
How about the staff that have been involved in the "culture of mediocrity" are still in charge!! How about those that are on good coin actually do something as well!!
