Ghost Shipping Containers

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Pune Warriors v Deccan Chargers at Cuttack, seriously

There are probably more extinct T20 franchise teams than extant ones. Even in the biggest and richest cricket competition in the world, the Indian Premier League, a third of the clubs founded have ceased to exist. Somewhere, I dare say, sit shipping containers full of replica gear for the likes of Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors, awaiting phantom fans. What am I bid for this limited edition framed print of the IPL-winning 2009 Deccan Chargers, who folded three years later?

Australia, so far, has been a stranger to this kind of attrition. It has built enduring cricket properties - not just teams but competitions and fixtures. Our Sheffield Shield has run since 1892. Our Boxing Day Test is virtually scored on stone tablets. And our T20 competition has accommodated one significant change since 2005 - the 2011 shift from state-based to city-based clubs, which added second teams in the biggest population centres. That is until yesterday when, with a stroke of the pen, the Melbourne clubs were forced to amalgamate, and a new eighth Big Bash League club foreshadowed, the TBA Titans. Fifteen years’ investment, sporting, financial and emotional, gone just like that….

Imagine, for a moment, you are teen follower of the Melbourne Stars. They were your entre to the game. You have followed them faithfully all your life, dreamed of success, trusted in Maxy. Perhaps, when the Melbourne Mace was christened, you bought into the idea and ‘chose a side.’

More than just a trophy, the Melbourne Mace is designed to elevate the city’s sporting divide, reinforcing the league-backed Choose Your Side call to action for fence-sitting Melburnians to get behind green or red.

In a city known for its tribal sporting culture, neutrality is no longer an option with each Melbourne Derby across the Weber WBBL and KFC BBL now carrying added significance.

Click on the option now and this is what comes up: