Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. TOTOTO A wintry sun chased away the morning chill, children ran across the impossibly green vastness, some kicking a soccer ball and others wielding cricket bats, and the leaders of two of the world’s greatest sporting
A wintry sun chased away the morning chill, children ran across the impossibly green vastness, some kicking a soccer ball and others wielding cricket bats, and the leaders of two of the world’s greatest sporting nations entered the field, hand in hand.
Here, then, was the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, whose emptiness almost swallowed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Anthony Albanese.
It wasn’t the extravagant style of event that my colleague Stephen Brook described as a “gender-busting community/cultural/rock star/political extravaganza” at Marvel Stadium the night before.
Only a handful of children in sports jerseys and young Auskickers in North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs jerseys populated the cavernous expanse of the MCG on Friday morning. Yes, and a character dressed as a giant orange kangaroo.
However, the children surrounded Modi and walked away happily as he signed his autograph on their T-shirts.
The small crowd, outnumbered by journalists, photographers and camera crews, was there to witness two prime ministers declare that sport – specifically cricket, but with the promise of more in the future for football – was a glue that united their two nations in ways that extended far beyond the bat and ball.
Albanese could barely contain his excitement as he announced that Australian cricket’s Big Bash League was going to enter India’s vast cricket culture.
It was part of a new level of cooperation between India and Australia that would include a giant exhibition in India showcasing Australia and called Good morning Namaste in a subcontinental echo of the successful G’day USA, which is Australia’s premier public, economic and cultural diplomacy program across the Pacific.
Albanese didn’t need to mention that India’s population is approximately 1.4 billion, a cricket craze and a fast-growing market for much of what little Australia has to offer.
“This summer’s Big Bash season opener between the Melbourne Renegades and the Perth Scorchers will be played in Chennai on Saturday, December 12, kicking off a week-long event. Good morning Namaste festival of Australian sport, culture and business engagement,” said Albanese enthusiastically.
Naturally, a “roadmap” to bigger things in the future was needed.
“That’s why Prime Minister Modi and I are here to launch a roadmap for sports collaboration between Australia and India to strengthen our long-standing partnership,” Albanese said.
“This roadmap will support practical cooperation in areas such as sports science and the organization of major sporting events, as well as broader opportunities in trade, tourism and investment.”
Oh, and Albanese declared himself “confident” that Australia would support India’s bid for the 2036 Olympics, which would follow Australia’s hosting of the 2032 Olympics in Queensland.
Modi gave an equally warm speech in Hindi, translated into English by a skilled interpreter, and appealed to the children who met him on the MCG oval.
He made it clear that Australian football, and not just cricket, was on his mind.
“Recently, we saw children playing kabaddi, soccer, Australian rules football and cricket,” Modi said.
“Watching their enthusiasm, it seems as if this is not an exhibition match, but an audition for future champions.”
Modi’s mention of football would have been music to the ears of AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon, who was among those attending the official party, which included cricket great Steve Waugh.
Albanese had already made it clear that the AFL had high hopes of expanding its influence in India, although no concrete plans were revealed.
The new “roadmap” “would be based on growing new areas of shared passion, and that brings me to football,” he said.
“A few years ago, there were 150 people in India playing Australian rules football. Today, there are 10,000 players in 11 states, and I know the AFL believes strongly in that growth.”
With the speeches over (no media questions, thank you), Albanese, Modi and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan left the field.
You can be sure the real deal was about to take place in the MCG’s hallowed Long Room, where the AFL’s Dillon could discuss his dreams with the prime minister of the most populous nation on Earth.
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Tony Wright is associate editor and feature writer for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect by email.From our partners
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