Georgie Parker: Australian Open is a pinnacle sporting event cricket can learn from

The Australian Open, in my opinion, is the pinnacle sporting event in Australia.

From how it’s run, to what it offers, to the world wide audience it can captivate. Here are a couple of things I think it does well, and how I think cricket can learn from it.

Firstly, how inclusive it is. You can be a die hard fan, or you can be a person who doesn’t want to watch a single ball being hit, yet you still want to be there because of the atmosphere.

You can be a family with young children, running around in one of the dozens of activations around Melbourne Park, or a 25-year-old watching with a drink by one of the live sites with venues galore to enjoy your mates’ company in.

Every year the Australian Open takes on feedback, adapts, and make it slightly different from years prior, making every year unique to the fan.

They’ve embraced the younger and less traditional set up, by adding in things like the “party court” and allowing fans to walk in after every game, not just change of end. They’re losing the “stuffiness” label tennis has so often had, so if you’re new to the sport, you’re not terrified of doing it wrong.

It’s this inclusivity from young to old, single or with families, from Australia, or from abroad, that makes it so appealing. You have the high rollers, going to the fancy restaurants within the ground, and have the regular Aussies just having a good time. It has the Spring Racing carnival feel, without any of the pretentiousness.

Secondly, the length and timing of the tournament. It is in school holidays, over summer, over just two weeks, and now, given the extra day added to the event, over three weekends. You do the math there; it’s lot of people off work and and a lot of people with kids wanting things to do.

Adding the extra day to the start of the tournament was perfect for fans. Tennis Australia can give the PR spin however they want of taking pressure off the main courts, but we all know it was to get an extra weekend day in to create revenue.

It was a win/win though. More money for the economy, and another day for us to enjoy on a warm weekend.

Flip all of that to cricket, and I can see it is what they’re trying to do, they’re just not quite there yet. The Big Bash crowds are hit and miss (Perth you’re the exception given Optus Stadium is so great and you know you’re more likely to see the Scorchers win than lose, a luxury other states don’t have) and the state of Test cricket is worrying around the world.

So lets start with inclusivity. Sure, families love going to the Big Bash, but do they like going to Tests? There’s less flames, less fun noises, and less balls flying in the air to catch, and honestly, that’s about all a five-year-old wants to see.

We talk about Test cricket being a dying sport, well we need families to want to go to the cricket, to expose them to the great game so when they’re older, so they want to enjoy it passionately. Bring in more activities around the ground and use the Adelaide Oval method of bars behind the ground to bring in young people, which is what the Australian Open does perfectly.

The next big tick for tennis is length of tournament. Sure tennis don’t really have control of that, but cricket can still watch and see what they can take from it.

See, in Test cricket, this festival set up mindset kind of works. You’re like the circus, only in town for five days (two and a quarter if you’re playing the West Indies at the Adelaide Oval). Blink and you’ll miss it.

Use this to your advantage and provide things to do there that you wouldn’t want to miss, because if you do you will have to wait another whole year. Make it a must-attend affair, and for it to be that it can’t just be the sport, whether you like it or not, you need more than that now (stuff the traditionalists there).

The Big Bash, well, shorten the tournament again. Bring it to a four-to-five week window, so you can get international players from both Australia and overseas.

They shortened it this year from 14-10 games, and it helped, but shorten it again, and show us the big guns every game. Think of how many people went to the SCG when Steve Smith and David Warner played, we want that the whole season. They have the fanfare already at those matches, and kids enjoy it, but lift the standard, let us watch Test legends from all around the world, every match, and you’ll not only get more people there, but you’ll cross-promote Test cricket as well.

Adaptation is key to the success of anything we do, particularly sport.

Cricket, learn from an event that every year exceeds everyone’s expectations, because if you don’t, someone else will.