My five solutions to save the Big Bash League

Think you might be spot on Jeff only the best time slot in the calendar year will generate a more positive outcome for our great game that is Test cricket :thumbup:

Agreed. Which is why I'd have the Test summer dominate the school holiday window, rather than BBL. As to whether the new year Test, if held in Adelaide, remained a D/N, I'm probably neutral.

Agree mate but the Adelaide D/N test seems to be gathering acceptance amongst the locals. Personally l want to see test cricket thrive & younger generation to appreciate the longer version for our great game to prosper for future generations. Test cricket is the pinnacle we need to sustain & breed a more compelling argument for kids to watch & play the longer version.

Yeah I think that's the key point - CA has gone for quantity over quality in recent years. I used to go to all the Scorchers games at the WACA. It really was something else re atmosphere with a packed house every game in the late afternoon sun (starting around 5pm to fit in with E/S broadcasts). But since moving to Perth Stadium, it's lost something re a "carnival atmosphere". And that has been massively compounded by the drop in quality - it really does feel to me now that it's simply a viewpoint on the part of CA that "put matches on, they will come". Irrespective of the quality offered up. Unfortunately, the attitude seems to be that if it's a close game, that means it's a good game (good product). But I think even the casual observers see through that; hence the drop off in viewership.

I haven't been a huge fan of twilight Tests, but that said, I probably have less opposition to them now, so long as they don't become the dominant fixtures. I think that if they are going to continue to the Test summer mostly outside of the school holidays, then there is certainly a place for twilight/DN Tests in the schedule. But if they played the New Years Test in Adelaide, not sure that has to be D/N.

New Zealanders don't even show up for their own T20 comp (Super Smash), so not sure it's feasible to have NZ franchises in an Australian comp. And the two franchises each for Sydney & Melbourne makes a lot more money than some country franchises would, and creates two derbies.

Make it international. Include 2 teams from NZ, north and south islands. Change idenity for vic and nsw to have nsw and vic city and country teams rather than 2 capital city teams each.

I've only watched snippets over the years - usually involving a former teammate of mine, Tom Cooper. It doesn't surprise me interest has dropped off. The BBL, and the format more broadly, doesn't have much going for it. It's bad cricket all round - batters slogging across the line, quicks bowling spin, spinners bowling darts. Confected franchises lacking tradition or gravitas. Is it worth saving?

Jeff are you a fan of the twilight test matches? CA must want more of these test in future, generate more bums on seats = more revenue & better spectacle but it also depends on the opposition as well.

Agree with all 5 points. Needs a shake up - short, fast, condensed schedule with more stars and more accessible to fans.

I’d give the New Year Test to Adelaide- they’ve always done the Test match well as an “event”. I’d give Perth a series of BBL games during the Sydney Test which I’d recommend is played the weekend before Xmas. That allows, say, 3 days of Perth games (Fri-Sun) starting at 5pm local which is an 8pm E/S telecast which follows the day’s play in the Test. Provides Perth with a fixed event fixture and fulfills broadcast content requirements. The main issue with bringing the BBL forward to 1st Dec is that the Shield isn’t running in December, but that said, you could still have 3 or 4 Shield rounds in Oct/Nov and then recommence the Shield after new year to run concurrently with the Third Test onwards.

I'm all for these improvements. I think the BBL should start after the Boxing Day test and finish in the last week of January before the kids go back to school. Certainly a game every night. When it's not on I go elsewhere and forget about it. Channel 7 have no cricket nous in their organisation, not surprisingly with the failed James Warburton just not up to speed. He must be matey with the owner to keep his job.

A lot of this is all great, but how would you realistically facilitate it all? Re: big-name overseas players - do you think the BBL haven't been trying to get big-name overseas players into the league? Of course they have. The deciding factor is always money. How do we get money? Well, a lot of places, but the big one is broadcasting rights. Which leads me onto the point re: free-to-air every night - great idea, but Fox has always had massive financial advantages over Seven West, and will always outbid them for everything. Seven pay massive money for Tests, in addition to massive money for AFL and V8s. They can't afford to have guaranteed nightly BBL on top of that. Ten might have more space but they don't have as much funds as Seven West do. Re: make Australian players available - again, great, but good luck trying to schedule international ODIs and T20Is either side of the competition when you're butting into the NZ and South Africa summers afterwards, and West Indies and the subcontinent beforehand. None of these ideas are new, and CA aren't silly enough to think of any of these as completely novel. They know it'll make the league better. They just don't know how to do it. That's the main issue here.

Well, now they've decided to rejoin the world

Too many teams. Revert to the state sides. It allows for cross promotion. 20 over cricket is too short, maybe make the matches 40 overs an innings. Once you are behind in 20 over cricket, there is no way back and therefore fans lose interest. Play the season after the test fixtures are completed so all the Australian players are available.

What a splendid idea to let Perth have a Test. So noble.

Shorter season. Start at Christmas, end at Australia Day. Apart from the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests, no international games to be played.

having all the games on fta was great. you could just turn on the telly and know a game would be on. start with someone with minimal interest and then get them interested by the end of the season by being engaged with the whole thing. now you have to have enough interest to know when theyre on to get to the starting point. obviously gonna make final interest levels comparatively lower

BBL is clearly a big-ticket item for CA re revenue, however I also think Test cricket is a big revenue driver as well. Not sure what the mid-30ish days of BBL matches generate viewer-wise re the maximum 25 or 30 days of Tests each summer, but reckon Tests would be right up there. And whilst I understand the arguments presented re BBL in the school holidays to allow kids and families to attend; what does that then say about CA's commitment to make Test cricket accessible to the same kids and families by holding most Tests during school term? And noting Tests are a full day event versus a 3 1/2 hour evening timeslot for BBL? It'd probably never happen, but I wonder whether a better schedule would be starting off the mainstream cricket season with the BBL, running from the start of December through to New Years - so maybe 4 and a half weeks. And start the Test summer on Boxing Day at the MCG, with the BBL finals window held between the Boxing Day Test and the New Years Test? Or maybe even hold the First Test, in Sydney over the last weekend before Xmas (to try and deal with the rain issues that have plagued Sydney in recent years), then follow up with the Second Test on Boxing Day at the MCG, then the New Years Third Test at the Adelaide Oval (BBL finals between Boxing Day and New Years). It's still only 2 Tests running concurrently with the BBL, as is the case now. Then finish off with the last 2 or 3 Tests throughout the Jan school holidays, incorporating Australia Day PH.

Yes, tweaking the schedule would be better. Sydney would be better off having a November or early December test to start the season...the pitch would be WILDLY better for bowlers at that time of the year. It's too hard and flat come January, and as you say...the weather... I'd give the new year test to Adelaide or Perth.