This year’s Big Bash League has revealed two major flaws which both need to be solved in order to see the format of the game survive into the future.
The first is the dwindling crowds, while the second is the depth of the eight teams, which have been severely stretched from Test matches and the many injuries to players.
If Cricket Australia is serious about future expansion of the competition from eight to 10 teams, even 12 teams, these problems need to be solved before this is made reality.
As was shown in the A-League, if the proper considerations aren’t made, the game will ultimately suffer.
Only this year – after multiple attempts – is the A-League finally benefitting from the addition of a new team. Western Sydney Wanderers has seen the creation of the Sydney derby, helping to build the league into one of the country’s sporting showpieces.
The problem Cricket Australia has with the BBL is that with Test players out and international players also on duty, it creates a depth gap which has been shown this season by the Sydney Thunder.
Currently on an 11-game losing streak, the Thunder has eight players under the age of 22. While this is a fantastic experience for most of them, the team has been completely outplayed in each of their five matches, highlighting the depth gap between the top and the bottom.
It has also been shown in their crowds, with an average of 6,708 people for their home games in a ground which can hold 83,000 people. It’s hardly a great advertisement for the game – a stadium only eight percent full.
As the competition has eight teams and every other cricket competition in Australia has six – except for the Futures League, which has seven – the talent pool is stretched, particularly when players are in the Test squad.
If Cricket Australia is serious about expansion then this is an area that needs to be solved. Stretching the squads around both Tests and this competition is already having an effect; the increase to 10 teams would be catastrophic.
The other problem the competition faces is the setting up of a new team will not be based around a cricketing state.
Each current team is owned or in some way influenced by its state body. The introduction of a new team in the proposed locations for expansion would not be.
This creates a situation where the new club would have all of their players coming from outside the area, which would make the team struggle for an out-and-out superstar who would bring people through the turnstiles.
They would have to look overseas for that player and that comes with dangers, particularly if the player fails to shine on the stage, much like Chris Gayle for the Thunder.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the team was based in Canberra but unfortunately we only have to look at the Canberra Comets in the old one day cup to see how successful a team from the nation’s capital went.
So what’s the solution to the problem?
Well to me, the BBL needs to find a time when Test cricket and international cricketers are available. It also needs to be at a time where Test cricket, ODI and Twenty20 cricket in Australia isn’t occurring.
My answer to this is the start of the Australian cricket season.
By starting the season with the BBL, it will get the competition finished before the Test series and make those players available for the competition.
This would also increase the audiences at the game and make the television rights more attractive for free-to-air (FTA) networks.
Tests at the MCG, the SCG and Hobart during this season have had a visible effect on the crowds for the BBL, with the average well down on last year.
By moving it to a designated spot away from the other forms, it would increase the audiences and create interest from FTA networks, as it would be the only form of cricket on at the time.
This would also free players from Australia and overseas, as there are limited international series on at the time.
The only problem with all of this is the Twenty20 Champions League, which this year was held in October. If that happens again, it would ruin the prospect of holding it in September-October.
However, the Champions League has been held in early September before and with negotiations it could be moved to an August-September date, paving the way for an early Big Bash League season.
The possibility of moving it after the Test series is another option but that could create headaches for the T20 internationals and One Day International matches in Australia.
One thing is for certain though; changes are needed before expansion is thought of, because if it isn’t then the new teams will be in trouble before they even start.
josh
Guest
What about expanding into new zealand. yes sounds stupid but it appears to work for.netball, basketball, and super rugby. so therefore not diluting the talent pool over here but still making the compitition stronger
Tenash
Guest
the actual syd thunder crowd average after the 4 home games is 10800.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Somebody sure needs a mental asylum. Now Harry, they're not like the one depicted in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest any more. They can HELP!
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
Well actually 20 twenty has gone a long way to engineer fanbases ;) The BBL so far hasn't done all that much, just working off the coattails of the IPL/ Champions League or the International game. What you really need is the potential for growth beyond the current (foundation) clubs. Now obviously originally the NSWRL and the VFL didn't really look too far into the future and arguably in the case of the VFL were looking almost entirely into the past vs the VFA and their clubs, but they had the potential right then to grow beyond the foundation teams. I don't see that with the BBL. I see a lot of fans and smart guys like Sheek (and myself last year at least) who thought Newcastle and other regional centres were the next step...but unlike the A-League with its rectangular fields we don't have the same tradition (unless you go back far enough) of blockbuster cricket played outside the capital cities. Now maybe you can re-build a tradition but the real thing holding cricket back is the allegiances to the state level. Rugby has this problem too, where unlike SA and NZ you can't just create a largely artificial Rugby Union like Buller breaking away from the West Coast for example. Provinces mean more in South Africa and are harder to just create but compared to states you've got incredible liberties in what you can do and most importantly organic rivalries can form and re-form!
sheek
Roar Guru
orj, Better now thanks, but before.....
sheek
Roar Guru
Hi Andy_Roo, I wouldn't think so. For a long time in the past, it was considered okay to play a one day match either prior to, or after a Shield match. I've never seen the evidence to suggest it is unworkable.
ojg1997
Roar Rookie
Strangle some sense and manners? Are you alright?
Andy_Roo
Roar Guru
Sheek, I wonder if constantly changing from county format to One-Day or T20 format will upset the players form and consitency, both batsmen and bowlers. I prefer the idea of seperating the formats.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
Not saying it can't be done, just that it's difficult. You're asking a player to choose not to play with the team in their area, and move to a new city for 2 months. It's going to be a tough ask to get more than a couple of regular domestic players to do that.
AllSports
Roar Rookie
To make it work it needs to be on free to air TV and played Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. At the moment it's a struggle to work out when they are playing or remember the set dates. Nothing wrong with 20 20 or the teams on the paddock. I love them all!
Brett McKay
Expert
(Ah Canberra-bashing, never grows old!!) That is the assumption, Matt, yes. They worked extremely hard to play first class cricket, they just can't do it at home yet. Some handy names, too: Haddin, Lyon, Behrendorf, Carters, Sheridan, Floros, and that's just the ones in the spotlight currently. There's another dozen or so in state squads and playing 1st Grade elsewhere around the country, too..
Johnno
Guest
Maybe dwindling crowds, are more to do with the couch potato generation, and pay tv technology. The cameras being so good and real now, why bother go live, and put up with drunks, public transport, long queues for drinks and toilets, having to sit next to annoying and smelly people at the matches, long trips to the grounds, then getting back home, not being able to see as many replays, and listen to the swizzy sounds of Marc Nicholas and Benaud. So cricket can make money what counts is the tv ratings $$$, not the crowd attendance, Soon in sport one day they will have the technology to have virtual reality simulation of empty grounds, but at home it will look like a full house.
ChrisW
Guest
Cricket has big problems, 3 forms of the game, so many international matches, no one cares about the domestic game and the focus is on the national team. I wish it was scheduled more like other team sports around the world, but that would mean less international games which people would not like.
Chris Hardiman
Roar Rookie
Dwindling crowds are a major flaw in the game? Shouldn't it be that the dwindling crowds are because of the major flaws in the game?
sheek
Roar Guru
While the steam is still coming out, I'll elaborate. The whole point of changing from states to cities is to "allow" Sydney & Melbourne to introduce a second city-based team. You can't do that if they still states. It's also designed, as mentioned, to create more professional positions for more players. There will be no doubling up of names. Each team will have the same name, nickname & colours across all three formats, or two, or however many survive into the future. So Adelaide Redbacks would play in Sheffield Shield, Ryobi Cup & BBL. Or whatever. Ditto Sydney Blues, Melbourne Bushrangers, etc. Don't give me this rubbish you can't transfer the name of the Redbacks from SA to Adelaide. Every city is full of redbacks. They don't just exist in the country areas, for example. The Melbourne super rugby team calls itself the Rebels, yet the origin of the "rebels" (goldminers) of the Eureka stockade occurred in the goldfields around Ballarat, not Melbourne suburbia. Victoria Rebels would be more appropriate, but in any case Rebels is Victoria based & therefore Melbourne appropriate. The transfer of nicknames & colours is seamless. The history & tradition remains. This is the KEY point - the history & tradition is still carried on. Q - Where does the SA Redbacks play their home matches? A - "Adelaide" Oval. Q - Where are the SA players selected from? A - "Adelaide" District Comp. Q- Where does the NSW Blues play their home matches? A - "Sydney" Cricket Ground. Q - Where are the NSW players chosen from? A - "Sydney" District Comp. Q - Where does the Victoria Bushrangers play their home matches? A - "Melbourne" Cricket Ground. Q - Where are the Vic players chosen from? A - "Melbourne" District comp. Q - Where does the WA Warriors play their home matches? A - WACA Oval in "Perth." Q - Where are the WA players chosen from? A - "Perth" District Comp. Q - Where does the Queensland Bulls play their home matches? A - Gabba Ground in "Brisbane." Q - Where are the Qld players chosen from? A - "Brisbane" District Comp. No-one advocates history & tradition more than me. This slight change allows the game to expand without significantly affecting its past.
sheek
Roar Guru
ojg whatever, I've had an extremely frustrating day & if I could reach through the computer, I would strangle some sense & manners into you. Your combined ignorance & arrogance is appalling.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
Starting the season with the BBL would be a monumental failure on two counts: 1. Crowds. Experience has shown that BBL crowds really only come out after Christmas. 2. Player development. Logically the Shield has to precede and continue with the Test series. It has been a common lament on The Roar that once the Shield is suspended to give clear air for the BBL, there is no adequate proving ground for players who may need to be called up on Test duty. So, start the season with the Shield, grow it into the Test series, then finish off the summer with the BBL and the limited overs stuff. Works from a player development angle and also from a crowd perspective.
Matt F
Roar Guru
That's assuming they'd want to go back Brett. They worked so hard to get out of there after all ;)
Brett McKay
Expert
Jack, if Canberra got a BBL side, the only concessions they'd need is to be able to bring home all the ex-ACT players in state sides currently. They'd get more than a starting XI just doing that...
rough conduct
Guest
Cheers Matt. Spot on.