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Opinion

Two big issues to address if we want to make the Big Bash great again

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31st January, 2022
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Roar Pro
31st January, 2022
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The Big Bash League is finished for another season, and as usual, my Super Coach strategy of buying lower-priced but high points players didn’t work out.

You’d think after four seasons of trying the same strategy I’d have figured it out by now. It has provided countless hours of entertainment and gives those of us not into TV shows documenting the lives of C-list celebrities stuck in the jungle something to watch.

There are two significant issues with the Big Bash League in the way it currently sits.

The first problem is that the competition goes for too long.

The second is that the BBL does not have the star power that it needs to make the competition great.

Both issues are solved by one with one simple fix: make the competition shorter. Many current players have called for this very thing in the last few weeks.

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Reducing the format into just one month, the month of January, allows for continued interest in the competition despite all the other sport going on. The competition is undoubtedly too long.

Once the Australian Open begins, I generally tune out of the BBL, finding the tennis a much more appealing alternative to another two weeks of T20 matches. Hearing two shrieking eels on the court becomes much more appealing than the BBL because I am simply cricket weary.

After the Tests are done with, and the one-day internationals and T20s go behind a paywall, my cricketing interest revolves mostly around the Sheffield Shield and doing my best for my club side.

Pushing the BBL into a month allows for most of the Tests to have uninterrupted airtime.

If Test cricket is supposed to be the pinnacle of the sport, then give it pride of place in the schedule and don’t clutter it with too much cricket.

Cameron Green celebrates.

Cameron Green celebrates after bowling Dawid Malan during day three of the fifth Ashes Test. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

With five Tests against the West Indies and South Africa scheduled for next Australian summer, there will be plenty of Test cricket on TV. Young people are the future of the game and giving Test cricket uninterrupted airtime allows for young people full immersion into the game.

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Pushing the BBL into a month also allows for Test players to be involved. With the last Test of the summer typically being the Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, it allows for the Test players to be available for most of the competition rather than possibly getting a couple of matches here and there for their franchise.

If their franchise makes the finals, then they get a few more games. Allowing for Test players to be involved provides young people with the opportunities to further resonate with Test cricket.

When the top 15 players in the country rejoin their sides, every franchise becomes better. Besides, who doesn’t want to see Marnus Labuschagne playing Steve Smith?

Pushing the BBL into a month allows for the host broadcaster to maximise its opportunities around cricket. It provides clear air for the Tests and the BBL, it allows for them to show multiple BBL matches per day, and it allows for any potential disruptions due to COVID to be more manageable.

Plus, it allows the host broadcaster to match the popularity of the Australian Open. Imagine the BBL final up against Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal? Or Ash Barty? For the record, I think Ash Barty would still win that ratings war.

The Big Bash needs a facelift. It needs the best players playing consistently. It needs a chance to shine, not pigeonholed after a long day of Test cricket.

It needs to stop with the gimmicky rules that really add little to the game and instead just allow cricket to shine.

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There will be sixes, fours, and spectacular catches. There will be unbelievable bowling feats and high-scoring games without all the gimmicks. What the Big Bash needs is cricket – pure, unadulterated cricket allowed to stand on its own over a short period of time with the best possible players.

Then, and only then, can we make the BBL great again.

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