For some years now, I've been banging on about the possibility of there being a seventh domestic team in Oz cricket; the ACT Comets. At present, the ACT field a team in the second tier of domestic cricket. As the level of professionalism grows in the sport, I do feel that it is only a matter of time before CA decides that a seventh team is warrented.
So what would such a team look like?
Current players born in the ACT include;
Ryan Carters (NSW)
Jason Flores (Qld)
Current players who have played for the ACT include;
Jason Behrendorff (WA – born in NSW)
Brad Haddin (NSW – born in NSW)
Usman Qadir (club cricket in SA, born in Pakistan, son of Abdul Qadir)
Essentially, an ACT squad would feature some of these players, plus some players born in NSW and playing in other states, such as;
Ryan Harris (Qld)
Phil Hughes (NSW)
Usman Khawaja (Qld) *born in Pakistan but raised in NSW
Jackson Bird (Tas)
Jordan Silk (Tas)
Dan Christian (Vic)
Ed Cowan (Tas)
Peter Forrest (Qld)
Tom Cooper (SA & the Netherlands))
John Hastings (Vic)
Timm van der Gugten (Tas & the Netherlands)
Cameron Gannon (Qld)
Adam Zampa (SA)
Let's now look at some players who were missing from the most recent round of Sheffild Sheild matches, and would therefore potentially fancy a move to a new team;
David Hussey (Vic)
Gurinder Sandhu (NSW)
Pat Cummins (NSW)
Adam Zampa (NSW)
Kane Richardson (SA)
Alistair McDermott (Qld)
Ashton Agar (WA)
Granted one or two of these players may in fact be injured.
And there are those who have recently retired who might still be around with a seventh team to play for;
Ricky Ponting
Mike Hussey
Brad Hodge
Removing those currently in South Africa, an ACT team might look like;
Ed Cowan
Jordan Silk
Ricky Ponting (c)
Brad Hodge
Usman Khawaja
Mike Hussey
Ryan Carters (wk)
Ashton Agar
John Hastings
Pat Cummins
Jason Behrendorff
This is a more than decent domestic line-up in anyone's language.
Does Oz cricket need a seventh domestic team? If so, what would the team look like?