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I have enjoyed watching the Big Bash League evolve over time, and it’s important that fans get on the front foot if we want to have a say in the direction of the game.
If we shoulder arms to every delivery sent down by cricket administrators we’ve only ourselves to blame when the game gets away from us.
In the past I’ve been quite the traditionalist with regards to cricket. Test cricket has been my favourite format, followed by the one-day format.
Twenty20 was a distant third. That started to change, particularly over the past two seasons, as the Big Bash League has gained some serious momentum.
Sad as it might seem, the Test format will have to evolve significantly if it is to remain relevant and that evolution might well push the one-day format into total irrelevancy.
Of course, T20 will also evolve, and it will continue to grow.
This growth will be funded by the deluge of funds generated by corporate sponsorship and broadcast rights which are even now propelling T20 to the top of the international cricket pyramid.
The older formats simply can’t compete. Relatively few people want to spend an entire day watching cricket, even fewer want to watch five full days. Three hours of prime time evening entertainment on the other hand is what the sponsors want because it’s what the public wants.
Recently there has been much excitement over the possibility of AB de Villiers taking part in the BBL next season. It’s a mouth-watering prospect, but just how good would it be if he was joined by Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn?
What if Graeme Smith could be lured out of retirement for a little T20? Furthermore I’d love to see more of what Kane Richardson can do in the format and the same could be said about many of his countrymen.
With the above in mind, I’d like to see Australia align our Big Bash League with the New Zealand and South African domestic T20 competitions. All three formats would run at the same time and of course under the same rules. All teams would be allowed just two international players.
The fixtures would expand slightly. Each team would still play their domestic opponents once with one ‘derby’ played against a traditional rival.
In addition to this each team would play four international matches each season. The international matches would consist of one away game against one team in each of the foreign competitions and a home game against one team in each foreign competition.
This would leave the Big Bash with a 12-game fixture, the HRV Cup with a ten-game fixture and the Ram Slam with a ten or possible 11-game fixture depending upon the involvement of Zimbabwe.
At the conclusion of the qualifying games, the top two sides from each competition progress automatically to the quarter-finals with these six teams joined by two wild card entries to make up the final eight.
The wild cards would be awarded to the two teams from any competition with the best win-loss percentage outside the top two placed teams. In the event of tied win-loss percentage the wild cards would be determined by net run rate.
The potential benefits of such a move are significant. From a spectator point of view it means we get to see the best players from three competitions boosted by the cream of cricketing talent from the northern hemisphere.
We also get to see the best of the developing players of these nations. Who hasn’t enjoyed watching Travis Head and Chris Lynn this season? The South Africans and New Zealanders have good young players that are worth watching.
From a cricketing perspective consider the development for the players. They get to compete against more premier players, thus honing their craft. This would be particularly important for the younger players who would get a much greater level of exposure both in terms of their opponents and foreign conditions.
The players themselves would also derive significant enjoyment from this model. Many of the overseas players who are ‘miked up’ during games comment on how wonderful it is to play in front of such large crowds. It’s difficult to imagine the players themselves being against the idea.
There will be those who will say that the concept will never happen due to the difficulties involved and I concede there are many. Not the least of which are the alignment in terms of rules and format of the three competitions. Compromises would be required from all.
The Super Rugby competition is evidence that this concept can become reality. If rugby can manage it, why not cricket? The question is what do cricket fans want?
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