This cricket tragic made an embarrassing mistake - and it sums up the sad state of the game

OPINION

I’ve got an embarrassing admission to make. An Australian sporting team played an international fixture on Monday night and I completely missed it. Not missed it as in I had something else on or I deliberately avoided it. Missed it as in didn’t even know it was being played.

It wasn't until I heard Tuesday's morning news that I discovered a full T20 international had been played in Tasmania while I ate dinner, sent a few emails and watched the ABC documentary The Space Shuttle that Fell to Earth. ICYMI, like me, Australia beat Pakistan by seven wickets before 5000 frozen fans at Bellerive Oval.

Who knew? If the game was a human, I would have got one of those missing persons texts the police send out. For the record, I am not some old man waving his fist at the T20 clouds. I knew there was a series on and caught bits of games one and two.

I did know there was still a third game to be played somewhere at some time and intended to tune in. I just didn’t expect it to be played on a Monday night, sneaking through my defence life a Josh Hazlewood off-cutter.

It even appeared an afterthought for Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan, who handed the keys over to Salman Agha after "resting" himself from proceedings. The visitors then picked a team chockful of bowlers and were, somewhat predictably, bowled out cheaply, adding to the whole "who cares" vibe.

The ABC doco may have eventually won out even I knew the match was on. I'd like to think I've got a pretty good handle on cricket, having followed the game intensely since I was knee-high to a knee roll.

Is Cricket Australia feeling the pressure?

From club cricket to Sheffield Shield and all the way up to the Test arena, I usually know what's going on at what time and what day and try to consume as much as possible. As back-up, I've got two cricket-mad sons who fill me on anything I may have missed.

Plus, you may have seen my name on the odd cricket story over the years, so it's not like I'm a FIFO fan. If someone like me didn’t know Monday night's game was on, what chance the casual observer?

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Cricket in Australia is feeling the walls move in as AFL and NRL extend their stay beyond the winter months, hanging around like an obnoxious guest despite the party ending. The Border-Gavaskar series will be must-watch cricket, captivating fans for every ball across five engrossing Tests.

But games like Monday night's T20 – with zero anticipation, drama or anything riding on it - are mere Spakfilla. They are easy to ignore – or miss altogether.