Cricket Australia (CA) is one step closer to finalising their new domestic Twenty20 Big Bash competition following a meeting at head quarters this week. All the talk prior to the CA meeting was whether Melbourne was going to have an inner city rivalry hosting two teams, or if Geelong was going to host one of the two new franchises.
Geelong believed they had the corporate and community support to fund the second Melbourne team in the new Big Bash competition but were overlooked.
CA suggested that once the competition is in full swing, they would be prepared to expand into Geelong and up on the Gold Coast.
So why is it that Geelong will be a suitable team down the track but not right now?
They appear to have sufficient support from local businesses and there wouldn’t be a shortage of fans to support the franchise. They do host an AFL premiership side after all.
The revamp of the Twenty20 Big Bash competition will be pivotal for the success and longevity of the competition but I believe we would’ve been able to reap the rewards from a team located down in Geelong. The interest will still be there down the highway, with a derby on the cards drawing more people into the game as a growing spectacle.
Whilst the location of the teams was a major talking point, the structure of the competition was also a hot topic.
Next year we will have a free agency system that will have teammates playing against each other and state alliances in Twenty20 will be out the window.
Each team will have a $1 million salary cap to spend on 15-18 players. In that group of players there is a two-player overseas allowance per side. The timing of the competition (December – January) will prohibit a string of international players entering the competition with several international tests and one-day games schedule during that period of time.
The new system will see players permanently change states to make it easier on their young families rather than spending two months interstate during the competition.
While suggesting that it’s an exciting time for cricket, Bushranger Andrew McDonald explains that it’s a rather interesting way to go about things.
“The Twenty20 competition as we know it is going to change,” McDonald said.
“If you get re-located to Perth for 8 weeks of the season for the 2020, then do you play first class cricket for WA?”
“Do you just move your family across there and play. Its going to be the decision you have to make. “
“It’s a little bit disjointed so we might see players moving around and changing states to combat that in terms of being away from their family.”
Names and colours of each franchise haven’t been announced yet by CA but they have made a big attempt to distinguish themselves from AFL teams in each state setting guidelines on potential nicknames.
Animal and bird names are not permitted to prevent the alignment to footy clubs. For example, having a team name such as the Melbourne Magpies.
I look forward to the revamped competition and seeing the impact it has on cricket at the grassroots level. There are still points that CA need to work on to achieve perfection but it was certainly a move that needed to be made, for the game’s sake.
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