Mitchell Johnson Warns Soccer Could Replace Cricket As Australia’s National Sport

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson believes that soccer can replace cricket as Australia’s national sport in a few years. Johnson’s comments came after the country’s dream run at the women’s Football World Cup where the team finished fourth, their best performance to date in both men’s and women’s football. The team’s stellar run captured the hearts of the country with massive TV audiences and sold-out crowds.

Johnson feels that the team’s brilliant performance and the fans’ response will lead to more money being invested in the sport which will lead to the growth of the game. Johnson feels that soccer will challenge cricket’s supremacy in the country in the years to come.

‘Has cricket been put on notice? I believe it has. The next decade in the Australian sports landscape will be very interesting,’ the former fast bowler wrote in his column in The West Australian.

‘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.’

The Australia vs England World Cup final was watched by 11.1 million TV viewers. The average audience viewership of the tournament was 7.13 million, far more than the NRL and AFL Grand Finals and the 2003 Men’s Rugby World Cup which had an average viewership of four million.

Johnson pointed out that with the evolution of franchise T20 cricket and the uncertain future of Test cricket, the younger generation is likely to get attracted to soccer more than cricket.

‘The future of Test cricket is very important in all this and I am not sure what that future holds,’ he added.

‘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.’

‘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,’ Johnson wrote.