The Big Bash League continues to expand yet the performance of the national side in both the Test and the ODI arenas continues to cause concern.
With this in mind it is crucial that Cricket Australia administrators carefully consider the timing of Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup fixtures for next season.
Reports already suggest that Cricket Australia are looking at ways to make the BBL more compact and there are also whispers that next season’s One-Day Cup is likely to move away from the September and October period.
Australia’s home fixtures are limited next season, with the national side set to host six international T20 matches in late October and early November, only five home Test matches and, concerningly, just the three ODIs, as per the ICC Futures Schedule.
The last calendar day of the home summer is set to be Day 5 of the Sydney Test, before the Aussies then tour three countries between February and March.
So how should the domestic fixtures be incorporated to reflect such a bizarre international schedule?
The early season T20Is simply cannot be reflected in the domestic schedule; however, Cricket Australia should be able to include four Sheffield Shield rounds between late September and early November ahead of the Test series against Pakistan.
A day-night round of Shield cricket needs to take place in early November ahead of what could be an exclusively pink-ball affair with Pakistan.
To make the One-Day Cup relevant again, the scheduling of these games should occur before and after the Shield matches, with six rounds of both red and white-ball cricket to take place ahead of the three ODIs and three Tests against New Zealand.
While one-day matches at grounds such as North Sydney and Junction Oval are great for the fans, a handful of games should still be scheduled at the SCG and the MCG in order to address regular complaints from the Australian Cricketers Association.
(Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The BBL can begin at its usual time around a week before Christmas, but Darren Lehmann’s idea of splitting it with a round of Shield cricket in mid-to-late January would be a smart idea considering the timing of the Test series in Bangladesh.
This would allow players on the fringe of Test selection to prove themselves while also giving the selectors one last chance to reconsider before choosing the squad to tour Bangladesh.
The BBL can then resume on the Australia Day long weekend so that Cricket Australia can capitalise on the lack of international cricket at this time.
The tournament would again conclude in mid-February but would be 13 days shorter than this season.
Overseas limited-overs tours of South Africa and New Zealand could be further reflected by scheduling the remaining rounds of the One-Day Cup plus finals straight after the BBL.
The remaining Shield rounds could then take place throughout March.
Proposed 2019-20 domestic fixtures
- Six rounds of Sheffield Shield and ODDs to take place from Sunday, 29 September, to Sunday, 8 December.
- BBL to begin at the usual time, one week before Christmas.
- Part 1 of BBL to conclude on Wednesday, 15 January.
- Sheffield Shield Round 7 to take place between Sunday, 19 January, and Wednesday, 22 January.
- BBL to resume on Saturday, 25 January, with group matches to conclude on Saturday, 8 February.
- BBL finals to take place from Monday, 9 February, until Saturday, 15 February, including a qualifying final so that the team finishing in first position would get a second chance.
- Rounds 7 and 8 of the One-Day Cup to take place from Tuesday, 18 February, until Saturday, 22 February.
- One-Day Finals Series, including the top-four states, from Monday, 24 February, until Saturday, 29 February.
- Final three rounds of Sheffield Shield to start on Tuesday, 3 March, and finish on Monday, 23 March.
- Sheffield Shield final from Saturday, 28 Marc, until Tuesday, 1 April.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
That genius has since fallen on his sword. Let’s hope there are some adjustments next year.
John
Guest
I think the big bash should be at the end of the summer. Start it at the beginning of February. Play all the shield season and one dayers from October through to January that way players will be playing red ball cricket while the test series are on.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Once the genius's at the CA marketing department got their way and we got a bunch of franchises to replace the States in a T20 comp, it becomes impossible to have a balanced schedule that will produce the best cricket. The rest of cricket has to stop so every one can shuffle around to their news teams to play a different comp, before shuffling back again. Best you can do is go back to an older style format either side of a shorter BBL. But there is no way the current corporate obsessed CA will ever shorten the BBL. The broadcasters are asking for more internationals and OS players and CA will listen to them and nobody else.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
"Meaningless"? Matthew's proposals work on a premise that proper cricket needs greater priority. I'd follow that late January Shield game with another one. BBL must go back to 10 games and we can easily get 2 or 3 games a day. Very simple to confine BBL between early December and mid-Jan. With BBL less is more. With Shield and ODD, more is more.
Paul
Roar Guru
Matthew, why is that BBL has to have exclusive rights to the prime months of the year for both playing & watching cricket? In your scenario, there's a token Shield game, which does nothing for the guys who are not playing BBL because they still play only one proper game in 8 weeks and the rest of the time they're playing Club cricket. CA needs to do a few things with the scheduling; 1) recognize the need to balance out the season so ALL forms of cricket get a fair go; 2) make sure players are tuned through domestic cricket to step up and play international cricket. 3) making sure fans aren't getting bored. As predicted by many, fans are starting to complain the BBL season is too long. In order to address both 2 & 3, CA may need to schedule several Shield rounds through Jan/Feb and making the BBL season actually longer, but having more breaks so fan interest remains high. 4) understand our cricket schedule and plan accordingly. Each season we should be having only two fixed games; the Boxing Day & Australia Day Tests. The rest should depend on what nations are touring and what we have to plan for after the Australian summer. If we get these things right, Australian cricket should become more healthy player wise but also more watchable.
Wayne
Roar Guru
Play a meaningless Shield game in the middle of the Big Bash. Where Shield form hasn't meant bucklies to actually getting selected... the selectors would have already picked their side. And the Internationals get paid to holiday for 10 days???