Baseball Australia chief executive Cam Vale’s words were more than the usual lip service. 

The region is not just a catchment or development area and beyond the tired perception of being the southern most suburb of Sydney. The region has its own identity.

Playing games in Wollongong is more than an opportunity to flatter the fragile, empire-building egos in other sports.

Before Sunday’s Wollongong Classic between the Sydney Blue Sox and Canberra Cavalry, Vale was particularly bold about expansion plans and the prospect of Illawarra having a team of its very own.

“We’re looking to expand the ABL and we’re looking particularly closely at regional locations as potential locations.” Vale told colleague Cameron Mee.

“I don’t think there’s a better candidate than Wollongong.

“It stacks up from the size of the city, stacks up because of its ability to produce baseball talent, and being a very strong sporting city as well, it’s got to be one of the prime candidates.”

Of course, all the usual doubts emerged in response.

Does the Illawarra sporting public care about baseball enough to support it? Is there enough playing talent in Australia to support more teams in the ABL?

You could ask the same questions about basketball in Wollongong, if you were trying to establish the Hawks in the NBL today.

But the Hawks are one of the great survival stories in Australian sport and could yet be an NBL title threat again this season, with some more Rob Beveridge magic.

So as the A-League dithers and netball preferred the financial security of aligning with AFL clubs, rather than considering the Illawarra’s bid to play in the national competition, baseball is taking us seriously.

Of course there would need to be funding for an upgrade of facilities, most likely at Berkeley rather than Sunday’s venue at Dalton Park, but the likes of Australian Trent D’Antonio shows the Illawarra has the ability to develop top-class talent.

Cricket’s identity crisis has firmly become part of the national psyche now. 

For a day and an hour, England were boring. Killing Test cricket more slowly than their run rate.

The pitch had made the start to the Ashes series lifeless, so the narrative went.

We now have to use the light-up bails in Tests, apparently, like a stuffy old man showing his grandchildren how cool he is now he’s bought one of these smart-phones all the kids are talking about.

And the suddenly, it happened.

Just as England were pressing the advantage, they collapsed faster than credibility in Australian politics.

And then came Australia’s own batting downfall, like the match was being played on a completely different surface.

One full of landmines and, according to Channel Nine’s commentary, a need for urgency, when patience was required.

As ever, the death of Test cricket has been greatly exaggerated.