Mitchell Johnson: Why soccer has the potential to become Australia’s national sport

Backyard cricket. School cricket. Junior cricket. Park cricket. Beach cricket. Cooling off during the lunch break by playing ‘classic catches’ as you dived into the pool with your mates. Growing up in the 1980s and 90s, it seemed cricket was everywhere one way or another. It was our way of life. Australia’s national sport. But it’s a position cricket shouldn’t take for granted. The record-breaking clamour for the Matildas during the recent Women’s World Cup came as a reminder of that. Has cricket been put on notice? I believe it has. The next decade in the Australian sports landscape will be very interesting. Soccer already has huge participation numbers around the country but what the sport has long complained about is not receiving taxpayer funding commensurate with those numbers. Now the home World Cup has already begun to unlock more cash. Soccer can surely only grow. The last census showed that 27.6 per cent of us were born overseas and almost half of Australians had a parent born overseas. My generation grew up with the cricket on TV over the school holidays. Kids these days are in a whole different world with technology at their fingertips and the internet, social media and streaming means they can access the best of any sport in the world – be it the EPL, NBA or anything else. Despite one of history’s most absorbing Ashes series, the power of the Australian men’s cricket team to unite the nation like the Matildas did is waning in 2023. As cricket evolves from being based around the international game to franchise T20 competitions, the sport in Australia is ceding a space it once owned to teams such as the Matildas, Socceroos and Boomers. Cam Green’s maiden Indian Premier League hundred for Mumbai Indians earlier this year was a fine knock and obviously meant a lot to him - he kissed the badge on his helmet. But it will never linger in the consciousness of fans like some of Michael Bevan’s famous contributions in the green and gold or Sam Kerr’s goal against England. The future of Test cricket is very important in all this and I am not sure what that future holds. Test cricket is now primarily about the big three of India, England and Australia playing against each other – with the rest having little desire or financial incentive to take part in the longest form. South Africa have announced they will send a vastly weakened Test squad to New Zealand next February to ensure their best cricketers stay home and play in their new Twenty20 competition. It’s hard to see what purpose the World Test Championship is serving when the big teams get to pick and choose which nations they face and for how many Tests. The excitement of a nail biting Ashes series will feel a long way away this summer if we get five one-sided Test matches against Pakistan and the West Indies. We all know about the Windies’ struggles and while Pakistan can match anyone on their day, it’s a big ask for them to come and do it over five days in Australian conditions when they’re not exposed to a lot of Test cricket against the big three. Even the iconic 50-over day-nighters we grew up with have largely disappeared, replaced by a steady diet of nightly Big Bash League games. With Australia Day once a highlight of the calendar, cricket is now afraid to even be seen to be celebrating our national day. Soccer poses a huge threat to all of the sports that are currently better established in Australia. It is the global game. The Matildas have not only brought attention to women in sport but they have opened people’s eyes in Australia to the might of the world game. It is simply huge and I can only see it growing in Australia with more funding and support. This is a moment in time for Football Australia and the A-Leagues to capitalise on and attempt to turn soccer into Australia’s national sport. Regardless of what transpires, they have been presented with an exceptional opportunity. The amount of young kids in recent weeks I’ve seen wearing all types of soccer shirts has been noticeable. Even this week as Book Week was held at our schools, plenty of kids chose to go dressed up as soccer stars - including my son and his friends. In fact, it’s all I’m hearing about now. Let’s go out and kick the ball in the backyard. Take me to the park to play soccer. It seems to be replacing cricket as the reason I went outside as a kid.

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Mitchell Johnson: Why soccer has the potential to become Australia’s national sport