The Big Bash League is back, if you believe the hype.
That BBL hit and giggle rubbish was deader than disco, if you believed the haters a year or two ago.
TV ratings, crowd figures and overall interest definitely rose this summer and heading into the final match of the season on Saturday night in Perth, Cricket Australia executives should be encouraged by the competition’s revival.
Gimmicks such as the X-Factor and Bash Boost were removed, which restored some credibility to the competition. Fans see contrived rule changes for what they are and nobody aged over seven missed those ones.
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And the introduction of DRS and the innings clock – where teams had to bowl their 20 overs inside 79 minutes or be restricted to only four fielders outside the circle for the rest of the innings – were commonsense initiatives.
Steve Smith of the Sixers celebrates scoring his century. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
But is this spike in the BBL a one-off season of rejuvenation or a sign that it is again on an upward trajectory?
CA got lucky by Cricket South Africa pulling the plug on the three-match ODI series leg of their tour in January which allowed many more stars to be available for their BBL franchises.
And the BBL was also given a boost by the lacklustre Australian Open tennis tournament which lacked star power with Nick Kyrgios out injured, Ash Barty, Serena Williams and Roger Federer in retirement, Rafael Nadal exiting in the second round.
For the casual sports fan, when they have a choice between tuning into a BBL game containing household names like Steve Smith, David Warner or Marnus Labuschagne or watching a grand slam semi-final between two players from eastern Europe they probably know little or nothing about, they’ll go with what they know.
The BBL still does not have the cream of the crop when it comes to the best T20 guns for hire who travel the global circuit.
There will never be a T20 league in the same league as the IPL in all metrics – crowds, TV ratings, players contracts and the all-important overall revenue.
Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)
The BBL can become the best of the rest but not by trying to outbid the dollars that will be on offer at the new competition in the UAE or South Africa’s new league which has been bankrolled by India’s BBL-aligned corporations, or the Caribbean, Pakistan, Bangladeshi, England’s short-form double feature of The Hundred and The Blast or anywhere else.
CA is reluctant to go down the private investment path to bring extra dollars into the sport but also relinquish control from the state bodies who are set up to look after cricket from top to bottom.
The BBL can only keep thriving if CA can fix the schedule and ensure the best local players are available as often as possible.
In recent years, Australia’s ODI team members have played the first few weeks of the BBL and Test players have occasionally played the latter half of the tournament.
Scorchers rising star Aaron Hardie will be in the Australian team before too long. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
That system did not, does not and will not work, particularly because the best of the best, who play in both sides, are unavailable for most of the Bash or badly in need of a rest so they won’t bother squeezing in a few games at the end.
Next summer, the Tests against Pakistan and West Indies are slated to run from December through until the end of January because the Aussies have the ODI World Cup in India in October and November with five more T20s against the host nation tacked on at the end of their tour.
Then they’re off to New Zealand for a couple of Tests and three more T20s in February.
In 2024-25 there’s five Tests against India which will run into January and then a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka jammed in before the Champions Trophy starts in Pakistan in mid-February.
The way the Future Tours Programme is mapped out, CA is snookered when it comes to being able to get its highest-profile multi-format players available for the BBL.
South Africa’s decision to sacrifice a bilateral ODI series to clear space in the calendar so their home-grown headline acts are available for their T20 league was not only smart but the way of the future.
Surely, CA’s powers-that-be see more benefit in investing more resources into the BBL than staging meaningless bilateral series like the three-match snoozefest which was jammed in against England in November.
They can fill their quota of ODIs in between World Cups by playing more overseas or slotting them in at off-peak times like the clashes with Zimbabwe and New Zealand in the Top End at the start of this summer.
As it stands, the BBL in the next few summers is not going to have the wow factor that Smith brought to this year’s tournament with his barrage of sixes.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
It will go back to elite white-ball specialists like Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa being on deck along with overseas T20 specialists – the best ones will play the first half of the season before getting more lucrative deals in the UAE or South Africa or not come at all, further reducing the talent in the BBL and its ability to draw in the casual fans.
As was shown this year with Smith and David Warner, the top Australian players don’t necessarily want a fly-in, fly-out trip to the UAE in January – they’d much prefer to stay on home soil with their families as long as the difference in salary is not an offer too good to refuse.
Even though Warner didn’t fire with the bat, Sydney Thunder still got an upswing in crowds and TV ratings when he was in the line-up while the extra dollars CA threw at Smith to get him decked out in magenta again for the Sixers proved to be a steal after he lit up the tournament with a couple of blistering hundreds.
CA executives have seen how the BBL can prosper, the big question now is whether they can turn the League’s recent jolt in momentum into a Bash that is always Big.
The Slips Cradle
Guest
Money talks! The BBL will eventually be privitised it is inevitable. The vast amounts of money involved in Indian cricket will win out in the end. So we will most likely end up with franchises something in the order of the Adelaide Super Kings and the Perth Indians etc.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Over the past twelve seasons the Scorchers have had more than a million attendances, averaging more than 22000 per game. Your point?
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
I think the whole summer was a good example of pitiful crowds . No draw cards for the test series and test players not available until late in the series .
Mitcher
Guest
25 ( potential) days of Test cricket in 31 days. Now THAT would be exciting.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
If Inglis played for the Giants he may have got the gong!
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Stoinis, elite? Maxwell,on his day. Zampa, lousy fielder. Scorchers have success because of their elite players. Let's talk about Turner,zero,in some eyes,to hero. Bancroft, brilliant fielder and canny batter, AJ Tye, now bowling 10 km faster than five years ago. Inglis, best wk not called Carey. Behrendorff, same old, same brilliant. Plus. Household names from one side alone . Maybe not elsewhere...
jammel
Roar Rookie
Correct mate. It is deeply deeply offensive to have any fun on Australia Day. BBL or otherwise related.
Space Trains
Guest
A BBL final on Australia day makes sense. Except it is now impolite to enjoy Australia Day.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Spot on. Last night was proof of the point of the article!
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
Like most things in life, if you're going to do something, do it properly and keep it simple. November - Shield and (if they're actually a requirement) ODIs December - Tests (i.e. finish with the Boxing Day Test) and Shield January - BBL February - Shield finishes There you go Cricket Australia - I just solved your problems. You're welcome!
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
Isn't that the point though? When our best players are playing well, people will watch. Pitiful crowd last night, and no wonder given the players on the plane.
Simoc
Roar Rookie
I think the BBL has been shortened in the new TV deal. It's a pity we don't see any Indians play. They'll probably be allowed to play in SA. But good that Pakistanis are playing here now. I want a 4 week or thereabouts tournament where the overseas players come for the duration unless they're internationals. There was a good mix of low and high scoring games. Its hard to believe Heat are in the final given their elite collapsing ability. Just get rid of the power surge and the overly loud dj.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Honestly, the calendar is just a mess, so I'm really not sure what they can do. Once the tournament has been tightened after the next one, it should end in mid-to-late January, so I'm still not sure how often you'd get many of the test players playing, as New Years Day is not always the last test, there's frequently another one. Doing the best they can, I'd try and structure the domestic season like this: 1. September to December; Sheffield Shield; 2. December to January; BBL; 3. February Marsh Cup (or whatever it's going to be called). Under my season, the Shield would end before the Boxing Day test, possibly as early as the 20th or something like this. The BBL could literally start the next day if they felt the need. Limit the BBL to four weeks and have it end by the 20th or so of January, maybe a little later if you really need to. A week off and then ODI tournament in February. If Australia has a test series in say March and they want players getting red-ball practice, why not bring back Australia v Australia A (or whatever you want to call it), pick the best twenty-two, proper, four day FC match. Heck hold two for all it matters. It also doesn't really matter if these players are being pulled out of the domestic ODI tournament, as that tournament has already been relegated to a pretty low status. The downside to this structure is that you'd have at least two tests, potentially three, taking place after all FC cricket has ceased, so not great for guys trying to break into the team. But honestly, that doesn't happen now, you're generally picked from the squad that is already playing the tests. In terms of international, home, ODIs and T20s, you simply play them after the BBL ends or earlier in the summer, before the tests. My prefernce would be to play them earlier in the season and have T20Is in late Jan, early Feb, as the players will be fresh off the BBL and ready for the format. Let's be honest, ODI cricket is the distant third cousin now anyway, so...
MKUltra
Roar Rookie
I believe it would be in CA’s interest to make the BBL as professional a T20 league as is possible,ideally to position itself as the best T20 comp outside the IPL. To me that would mean having the best international T20 players coming here too play, it has been noticeable the quality of international imports that have been featuring in the SA20 competition compared to the BBL,with a shorter BBL coming in 2024 will hopefully mean the competition will be able secure the best talent.
jammel
Roar Rookie
I'd also suggest playing matches a little earlier in the evening - maybe 645 or 700pm kickoff times for the kids...my kids rarely stay up to the very end.... and it is a family sport. Test cricket is the pinnacle for me. But all my friends follow the BBL and whatsapp/SMS daily on the BBL. So it's still a quality product. Just make it shorter. I liked the wickets this season. You don't need 220 every match on tiny grounds. The wickets promoted some quality cricket.
jammel
Roar Rookie
Yes - too long IMO I agree. The top 3 sides should play in a finals match, maybe with best of 3 for 2vs3 and then 1vswinner of that qualification playoffs. There should be BBL on Australia Day :) Or the final should be on Australia Day with the tournament then wrapped up. Love the tournament otherwise.
boes
Roar Pro
All good points - its still too long - and you end up with a scenario where the 'weakest' teams play in the finals. Not in terms of how many wins but in terms of the team that plays the match. The season starts with 'marquee' internationals who then usually leave around Christmas and new year, then the test players came back in and now they have left (at least for this year) In previous years when there is international white ball cricket the best of the Aus BBL players leave the comp as well. I think part of Perth's success is that they have relied less on 'imports' and have managed a core squad that know their roles and work as a team. drawing the finals out over almost 2 weeks is a bit much. Should be done and dusted in no more than 5 days.
E-Meter
Roar Rookie
Not sure. I work with a bunch of cricket nuts of varying ages, and I heard the BBL discussed twice. When Smith scored those centuries! But during the Tests, you couldn’t shut them up. Real cricket starts next Thursday.