Those who are on social media may have come across the tidy queen Ms. Marie Kondo. Her Netflix series has championed a less is more lifestyle. Op-shops around the Pacific Rim groan as the new fad for less possessions floods their bins and stores.
At the same time those like myself baulk at the advice of this minimalist lifestyle guru. A Thirty book maximum! Excuse me! As a professional student of over ten years (2 degrees and at work on a Masters) thirty books is merely half a bibliography. My heroes C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien laugh in the face of such suffocating minimalism.
That Big Festival Of Summer Sport.
Advertising for our summer of Tennis and Cricket has always been one of higher, better, faster. Some inordinate mix between the Olympic oath and French electronic duo Daft Punk. Yet somewhere in this desire for the best and biggest it has gotten out of control. Become more Daft then Kanye West as the punks have become restless as the promises get less and less grand.
Out there in the background of this summer of 2018/19 the theme of less is more haunts the hyperbole promoting the international sporting festival. There is a not so subtle unsettling feeling. One that provokes us to utter the immortal lines “I got a bad feeling about this....”
2018 Cricket Shame and Apathy Tennis.
Shame was the tune of cricket in 2018 and for tennis one of apathy. While Tomic and Kyrios showed less and less intent hopes of an Australian contender waned. For cricket Smith and Warner waited and media narratives pushed and prodded their absence as the team went from bad to worse.
This is not to take away from the Indian team or the effort put in by those in the baggy green. It was just that the shadow of a great return seemed often too well scripted to fit with the Indian dominance.
Cricket appears to point out its weaknesses and commentators show scorn claiming those in charge are flawed. Meanwhile the exiled saviours doing their penance sit out waiting for their well scripted redemption. Though this is now thrown into chaos as Smith and Warner are blighted with the elbow injuries.
Hope In A New Re-Generation.
Mind you, hope is never too far away. In tennis the outcasts paraded themselves on the show courts, while newly anointed prospects shone a light into the future. Tennis in Australia and as a global sport can look like its in a holding pattern. Aging stars keep holding the limelight with nary a challenger in sight. They appear so distant from the rest as only time with its toil and strain on bodies chase them down.
We saw Andrew Murray hobble off the court in the first week and Federer beaten by a Greek tyro in the second. The rise of Alex De Minaur and Ash Barty along with other new talent revealed a future of hope. It seems that Tennis can regenerate new stars but the struggle for cricket appears to be a lack of resources. Or is that a lack of developing resources in Australia?
The blue skies certainly shine gloriously for the Indians in Australia this summer. Watching Pujara bat for days in multiple test matches was a delight. Meanwhile the antagonist Virat Kholi played to the expectations of crowd and broadcasters. It is a role he delights in, as he played it to the hilt and made it his own. Kholi played the villain while Bumrah and Shami showed the power in world cricket rests firmly in Indian hands.
Back to Less is More.
Where did we start? Oh thats right. Less is more. Its the cry of the abstract minimalist where three lines of colour intersect a blob of white on an expanse of Indian blue. What does it mean. Well that's a mystery. So have the movements of the Australian selectors. Who appear unwilling to choose older warriors and look for an heroic return.
Less is more is the cry of the marketer expecting people to buy a smaller version of the original product for more money. The Bigger Big Bash has more games all on pay-television some on free to air. Test Matches of course are protected by Federal Legislation have to be free to air.
Less is more is the cry of fast food chains where an upsize is always just another fifty cents away. Or is that a dollar now? Unfortunately this is not the original meaning of the saying.
Less is more is a state of mind that used to be about simplicity not duplicity. Where you could fix and repair the little you had. You used the resources that you had, tried all the options available. In that world you grew your own, had chickens in the backyard, swapped eggs for lemons and plums. You sewed buttons back on, darned socks, changed the oil and rotated the tyres.
Tennis Growth and Cricketing Scarcity.
Yes there are seasons in the history of a sport. Tennis this year at the Australian Open has shown us that time takes there toll on the greats. It has also shown that talent can, when given space and room to grow, can emerge.
In cricket though the selectors appear to be taking Marie Kondo's advice to heart. If they are not and there is a plan in there somewhere they really should be telling us. In this situation Less is not more.
But for rain in Sydney and the toss of a coin in Perth it could have been more than a 2 – 1 loss. Selectors did try some new talent and will try more against Sri Lanka but the holding pattern just appears more plausible. If this is so then the selectors are just waiting for Warner and Smith to return. Which affirms to me that they believe the cupboard is bare.
Phillip Hall is working on his Masters in Theology and is old enough to have seen cricket in Australia struggle during older South African scandals. Like those torrid times of loss this too will pass.
Phillip Hall has been too long in Melbourne to see AFL in the same light as those back in Fremantle. East Fremantle born and bred, he would love to see the Dockers back in the eight. But would settle for just beating West Coast twice a year.