The debate over T20 cricket reflects a much broader transformation. Across the sporting world, emotional attachment, community identity and cultural traditions are increasingly being converted into commercial assets.
Chas Keys
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Will T20 cricket kill the Test game?
Cricket is now managed by business interests, making the lucrative T20 game a more attractive investment than the traditional centrepiece of the game, the Test. (more…)
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Cricket has survived every crisis – but this one may be different
Cricket has adapted and survived for centuries, but a new struggle over control – combined with climate pressures – may test the game in ways it has not faced before.
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Climate change, the community and the Coalition: going slower
The Coalition’s abandonment of net zero by 2050 marks a retreat from climate action, putting it at odds with public opinion and weakening Australia’s long-term response. (more…)
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Climate denial has deep roots in Coalition politics
From Howard to Abbott, senior Coalition figures have repeatedly dismissed climate science – favouring belief over evidence and weakening public debate.
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Why patriotism should worry us more than it does
Often treated as an unquestioned virtue, patriotism can easily slide into nationalism, exclusion and hostility towards others.
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Australia’s moral failure over women and children in Syria
Australian citizens and their children remain stranded in Syrian camps as political fear eclipses care, responsibility and legal obligation – with damaging consequences for public decency.
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Why building again on the Hawkesbury floodplain risks disaster
The NSW government’s decision to revive development on the Hawkesbury floodplain ignores long-established flood risks, evacuation limits and the growing impact of climate change.
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Abbott, Boyce and Trump – three ways to deny a warming world
Prominent political figures continue to dismiss or distort the evidence on climate change. Their claims collapse under even basic scrutiny, revealing resistance rooted not in science but in ideology and self-interest.
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Bazball in Australia: poor philosophy or poor execution?
England’s Bazballers have left our shores, having lost the Ashes series and with their playing code widely panned. But was it the code or the execution that was responsible for England’s defeat? (more…)
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Australia’s flood management has improved. It’s still not good enough
Australia has made big strides in flood warnings, levees and planning rules – but too often the message still doesn’t land. The next step is practical community engagement that builds real understanding, trust and safer decisions. (more…)
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Heatwaves, bushfires, and the words that save lives
As heatwaves and bushfire risks intensify, emergency language has shifted too. The challenge is to warn clearly without losing trust.
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Best of 2025 – ‘Disaster season’: What is that?
Anika Wells, in announcing a meeting with three telco giants to discuss Optus’s Triple Zero emergency call system catastrophe in September, referred to the need for Australians to have confidence in the system before the coming “disaster season”. By that she meant summer. Is there really such a season? (more…)
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Conservatism, denial and the climate crisis: why short-term thinking is holding us back
Human societies are generally conservative, averse to substantial change – and they are getting in the way of the necessary intervention on climate change and emissions reduction. (more…)
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The problem of climate change denialism
It is one of the great public debates of our time: is climate change happening or not? If it is, is humanity partly responsible? Either way, is it problematic and, if so, should we act? (more…)
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Proposed housing development in Ipswich raises red flags
A proposal to build about 500 apartments on flood-liable land on the banks of the Bremer River in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, raises many questions about our continuing lack of respect for the potential severity of the consequences of flooding. (more…)
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Trump and climate change
Donald Trump does not accept that climate change is a real and significant phenomenon. In fact, he has said those who propound it are perpetrating the “greatest hoax” in the history of the world. (more…)
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Is this the moment that will define cricket’s future?
On 8 October, what may turn out to be a huge moment for the game of cricket hit the news: Australian Test captain Pat Cummins and all-format Australian player Travis Head were reported to have been offered nearly $10 million each a few months ago to join cricket’s international T20 circuit. (more…)
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‘Disaster season’: What is that?
Anika Wells, in announcing a meeting with three telco giants to discuss Optus’s Triple Zero emergency call system catastrophe in September, referred to the need for Australians to have confidence in the system before the coming “disaster season”. By that she meant summer. Is there really such a season? (more…)
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The Texas flood, Australia and the psychology of evacuation
The Texas flood on the weekend of 4 July has produced a shocking toll – probably well over 200 people dead, including many children. (more…)
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Flood management: Science, technology and people’s responses
To reduce the risks posed by floods requires both scientific input and appropriate community reaction. It is not always clear that both are in evidence. (more…)
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Are we losing the battle against urban development on floodplains?
After two recent bouts of flooding already this year in Far North Queensland and more in the south-east of the state and in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, the perennial matter of our use of floodplains is in the news once more. Specifically, the issue of building houses on flood-liable land has come to public attention again. (more…)
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John Howard and British colonisation of Australia
Humphrey McQueen (Pearls and Irritations, ‘The lucky Aborigines’ 26 January 2025), has reminded us of John Howard’s opinion that “the luckiest thing that happened to this country was being colonised by the British. Not that they were perfect by any means, but they were infinitely more successful and beneficent than other European colonisers.” (more…)
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Extreme events, causation and politics
Climate Politics: Causation can be complex, often multi-layered, multi-faceted and with links between its elements. In the context of weather-related disasters, it has to be attributed with great care, and in recognition of the complicated thing that is the environment whether natural or human. And we need to note the motives of those who attribute causation; they can quickly politicise events and condition people’s views as to what underlies those events. (more…)
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Afghanistan women’s cricket team seeks recognition
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan almost three years ago, women’s sport has been cast into darkness there.
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Afghanistan’s underdogs upsetting the established order
One of the charms of sport is seeing underdogs upsetting the established order by overcoming teams they seemingly have no chance of beating. All sports have examples of such upsets. Long-term realities about relative strengths can fall in the short run. Ah, the glorious uncertainty of sport! (more…)
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Lord Botham and discrimination in cricket
Responses to the report of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (‘Holding up a Mirror to Cricket’) commissioned by the England and Wales Cricket Board, continue to reverberate months after its release in mid-2023. (more…)
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The Great Lismore Flood: Revisiting the use of floodplains
Last week saw the release of the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan which outlines a blueprint for managing future disasters; this week marks the second anniversary of the great flood at Lismore and places downstream in the Richmond River valley. This is a moment to ask how we are going in NSW as far as the future management of floods is concerned. (more…)
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In praise of Afghanistan’s cricketers
Much has been written about the International Cricket Council’s World Cup competition being played in India, but relatively few of the words have been about the incredible achievements of the Afghanistan team. Against a backdrop of poverty, war, political turbulence and natural disasters, the team performed magnificently. (more…)
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On inclusivity in English and Australian cricket
Last week, English cricket was hit by a bombshell in the form of a report entitled ‘Holding Up a Mirror to Cricket’. Commissioned by the England and Wales Cricket Board, the report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) found that the game in the land of its origin was riven by racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination. (more…)