Fall and Fall of Big Bash

[Teen Wolf]

Average attendance at the 6 major venues for this season's H&A games...

Optus Stadium: 35,658
Adelaide Oval: 28,616
The Gabba: 25,765
MCG: 23,335
SCG: 22,188
Marvel Stadium: 21,164

Optus had 5 games, the rest had 4 each for various reasons. Good weather for the Stars' home derby obviously would've seen that MCG figure creep over 30k.

 

[Around the Wicket]

I assume CA makes millions from this, imo they should add a $1.2 million marquee player per side, if they gave each side $1.2 million to spend on 1 international star each they'd be bound to get a good one.

Implement 1 out and out star into each side it's a different tournament.

 

[eth-dog]

Finals should have been Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Thursday QF
Friday EF
Saturday PF
Sunday GF

The Poms are really good at this. Have their T20 semi-finals and GF at the same ground on the same day.

 

[happy_eagle]

I assume CA makes millions from this, imo they should add a $1.2 million marquee player per side, if they gave each side $1.2 million to spend on 1 international star each they'd be bound to get a good one.

Implement 1 out and out star into each side it's a different tournament.

This along with having the national team players involved post SCG test would improve the standard of the competition significantly.

 

[big_e]

I assume CA makes millions from this, imo they should add a $1.2 million marquee player per side, if they gave each side $1.2 million to spend on 1 international star each they'd be bound to get a good one.

Implement 1 out and out star into each side it's a different tournament.

Serious question: which players that didn't play in this year's BBL would you spend that money on?

Personally, I don't think that level of star power exists in world cricket at the moment (outside of the big name Indians - Virat, Rohit, etc - who obviously aren't available), but I'm all ears. Lots of very good cricketers, but big enough stars to move the needle? Not sure.

 

[happy_eagle]

Serious question: which players that didn't play in this year's BBL would you spend that money on?

Personally, I don't think that level of star power exists in world cricket at the moment (outside of the big name Indians - Virat, Rohit, etc - who obviously aren't available), but I'm all ears. Lots of very good cricketers, but big enough stars to move the needle? Not sure.

Yeh gone are the days of Gayle, Bravo, Pollard, Russell, ABD etc..

There are higher quality international players available for sure, but none are really the type to get people through the gate.

 

[largebus]

This along with having the national team players involved post SCG test would improve the standard of the competition significantly.

I think this is way more important than chasing "big name" internationals that the average BBL punter couldn't recognise on the field.

The two best teams in BBL history, the scorchers and sixers, win because they develop and retain their local talent and not because they blow their entire salary cap on mercenaries.

 

[JackOutback]

Serious question: which players that didn't play in this year's BBL would you spend that money on?

Personally, I don't think that level of star power exists in world cricket at the moment (outside of the big name Indians - Virat, Rohit, etc - who obviously aren't available), but I'm all ears. Lots of very good cricketers, but big enough stars to move the needle? Not sure.

Looking at the IL20 lists and it's not that different than the BBL with the exception of some English Test stars. Root and Wood are probably the only two that might get a few fans through the gates. South Africa's league obviously has its former Test stars like AB and de Kock. The Big Bash simply needs to prioritise getting Test players available for most of the tournament and getting the timing right so it doesn't lose many players come finals.

 

[happy_eagle]

I think this is way more important than chasing "big name" internationals that the average BBL punter couldn't recognise on the field.

The two best teams in BBL history, the scorchers and sixers, win because they develop and retain their local talent and not because they blow their entire salary cap on mercenaries.

Absolutely. It is bizzare that we are the only T20 league that doesn't have its best players playing.

Here is how the teams (except for Melbourne x2 and Hobart that dont have any national side players) would be strengthened by having test player availability

Perth
In: M.Marsh, C.Green
Out: Whiteman, Eskinazi

C.Green, Crawley, M.Marsh, Inglis, Haride, Turner, Evans, A.Agar, J.Richardson, Tye, Behrendorff

Adelaide
In: Head, Carey
Out: T.Kelly, Nielsen

M.Short, D.Short, Head, Carey, Lynn, A.Hose, Overton, R.Khan, W.Agar, Thornton, Payne

Brisbane
In: Khawaja, Labuschagne
Out: J.Brown, Perison

Khawaja, Bryant, Labuschange, Billings, Renshaw, Walter, Neser, Bartlett, Johnson, Swepson, Kuhnemann,

Sydeny Sixers
In: Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon, S.Smith
Out: Dwarshuis, J.Edwards, O'Keefe, D.Hughes

S.Smith, Philippe, Vince, Henriques, Silk, Kerr, T.Curran, S.Abbott, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon

Sydney Thunder
In: Cummins, Warner
Out: Hatcher, Ross

Warner, Hales, Bancroft, Kohler-Cadmore, O.Davies, Sams, Cummins, C.Green, McAndrew, Sandhu, T.Sangha

(you'd imagine in this situation that guys unlucky to get a game like Dwarshuis would go to Adelaide where fast bowlers are needed)

 

[juss]

Average attendance at the 6 major venues for this season's H&A games...

Optus Stadium: 35,658
Adelaide Oval: 28,616
The Gabba: 25,765
MCG: 23,335
SCG: 22,188
Marvel Stadium: 21,164

Optus had 5 games, the rest had 4 each for various reasons. Good weather for the Stars' home derby obviously would've seen that MCG figure creep over 30k.

Considering how shit the weather has been across the eastern seaboard in recent times, thats outstanding results.

As someone who is very pro T20 as a big part of the future of cricket, and someone who very much enjoys the BBL as part of the summer, it makes me happy.

I've always wondered what it would be like if BBL teams were state based rather than franchise based, and if you could create some interest by playing VIC vs WA vs QLD vs TAS vs SA vs NSW, everywhere we have franchises now, but with 6 teams total and everyone plays each other twice.

Either way, I like the resurgence of popularity in the Aussie domestic T20 comp.

 

[akkaps]

For the majority of the countries out there, they have a secondary/state based or even tertiary T20 tournaments, which benefits them for multiple reasons.
1. They can weed out the grade crickets in the other leagues and prioritize quality in their franchise league.
2. Gives their Internationals an alternate option to still play domestic T20 games.

Australia - Big Bash League (8 teams)
India - Indian Premier League (10 teams), Sai Mushtaq Ali Trophy (38 teams), + multiple other T20 leagues that still feature International players in each state
Pakistan - Pakistan Super League (6 teams), National T20 Cup (18 teams)
England - The Hundred (8 teams), T20 Blast (18 teams) + Div 2 (18 teams)
South Africa - SA20 (6 teams), CSA T20 Challenge (8 teams) + Div 2 (8 teams)
New Zealand - SuperSmash (6 teams)
West Indies - Caribbean Premier League (6 teams)
Sri Lanka - Lanka Premier League (5 teams), SLC Invitational T20 Cup (4 teams), Major Clubs T20 (26 teams)
Bangladesh - Bangladesh Premier League (7 teams), Dhaka Premier League (9 teams) + Div 2 (15 teams)
Ireland - Inter-Provincial Cup (3 teams)
Zimbabwe - Zim T20 (6 teams)

The state based T20 leagues are usually played whilst the national team is touring, hence International players are not able to play in the state based leagues. And therefore time is carved out for the International players to be available for the franchise league. This is why I have no issue with CSA sending a completely different Test team to NZ.
There is no alternate Australian T20 tournament for Internationals to play, hence a priority should be made for the Internationals to play the BBL.

 

[The Fonz]

Good idea in theory but not sure you can do this and still allow the higher seed to host.
Scorchers/Strikers are in Perth and then go to Sydney/Gold Coast and if they win that, go to Gold Coast/Sydney.
Could they do Friday/Saturday/Sunday with all the travel?
If finals were all designated in one venue this is possible, but then there's no reward for your regular season performance.

Finals should have been Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Thursday QF
Friday EF
Saturday PF
Sunday GF

The Poms are really good at this. Have their T20 semi-finals and GF at the same ground on the same day.

 

[nobbyiscool]

I know we lost a couple of games to weather, and had a couple more that were weather impacted, but I was watching the cricket last night as it hosed down outside and I thought given all the rain we've had up and down eastern Australia, they were bloody lucky in how they managed to dodge the rain this season, it could've been a disaster.

 

[eth-dog]

Good idea in theory but not sure you can do this and still allow the higher seed to host.
Scorchers/Strikers are in Perth and then go to Sydney/Gold Coast and if they win that, go to Gold Coast/Sydney.
Could they do Friday/Saturday/Sunday with all the travel?
If finals were all designated in one venue this is possible, but then there's no reward for your regular season performance.

It's T20. Perth to GC is 4 and a half hours. Perth to Sydney half an hour less. Gold Coast to Sydney 90 minutes. Easily doable.

 

[akkaps]

If travel times are an issues, lets scrap the Scorchers. Save the BBL a shit ton of money as well

 

[The Fonz]

Not sure if you paid attention but the Scorcher games were in clumps to avoid travel.
This isn't going to happen back to back to back

It's T20. Perth to GC is 4 and a half hours. Perth to Sydney half an hour less. Gold Coast to Sydney 90 minutes. Easily doable.

 

[troybe]

Westralia should have their own T20 comp

 

[Cleavy]

Mass ILT20 exodus leaves BBL finals lacking star quality

Opportunities for players has never been higher but fixture clash undermines tournament

www.espncricinfo.com

"Several ILT20 franchises have the advantage of a global footprint. Evans will be aware that if his form continues in an Abu Dhabi Knight Riders shirt over the next month, it could result in contracts with their affiliates in the US (Los Angeles), the Caribbean (Trinbago) and even India (Kolkata) down the line. There is no equivalent with Scorchers."

says it all...

 

[happy_eagle]

Mass ILT20 exodus leaves BBL finals lacking star quality

Opportunities for players has never been higher but fixture clash undermines tournament

www.espncricinfo.com

"Several ILT20 franchises have the advantage of a global footprint. Evans will be aware that if his form continues in an Abu Dhabi Knight Riders shirt over the next month, it could result in contracts with their affiliates in the US (Los Angeles), the Caribbean (Trinbago) and even India (Kolkata) down the line. There is no equivalent with Scorchers."

says it all...

Does this end with the BBL being co-owned by the IPL teams ?

 

[Cleavy]

Does this end with the BBL being co-owned by the IPL teams ?

probably, after holding out as long as feasible. depends on the CA management of the time.

 

[JackOutback]

Westralia should have their own T20 comp

Good idea, give the other teams a chance to win the BBL.

 

[big_e]

Mass ILT20 exodus leaves BBL finals lacking star quality

Opportunities for players has never been higher but fixture clash undermines tournament

www.espncricinfo.com

"Several ILT20 franchises have the advantage of a global footprint. Evans will be aware that if his form continues in an Abu Dhabi Knight Riders shirt over the next month, it could result in contracts with their affiliates in the US (Los Angeles), the Caribbean (Trinbago) and even India (Kolkata) down the line. There is no equivalent with Scorchers."

says it all...

Also relevant is this paragraph:

But wages are not the only consideration: most players had signed ILT20 contracts long before the BBL's overseas draft. When Overton signed off from the Big Bash with an Instagram post on Monday, he denied a fan's comment that Gulf Giants will pay him more. "They aren't," he said. "I had signed for them before I got drafted with the Strikers."

 

[BACCS]

Anyone of the same opinion the draft should be scrapped next season and reduce the comp into a one month timeframe? It doesn’t look like we are really losing any of these players for significantly more money (or even more money at all in Overton’s case), they just had uncertainty with the draft and couldn’t just re-sign with their teams (eg Billings). If the comp is 4 weeks we can avoid the clash with these comps too.

 

[Cleavy]

Finals should have been Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Thursday QF
Friday EF
Saturday PF
Sunday GF

The Poms are really good at this. Have their T20 semi-finals and GF at the same ground on the same day.

How do they decide the venue?

 

[big_e]

Anyone of the same opinion the draft should be scrapped next season and reduce the comp into a one month timeframe? It doesn’t look like we are really losing any of these players for significantly more money (or even more money at all in Overton’s case), they just had uncertainty with the draft and couldn’t just re-sign with their teams (eg Billings). If the comp is 4 weeks we can avoid the clash with these comps too.

Yeah, the draft hasn't worked like they thought it would. I'll post the entire article where it was announced as it represents CA's plans.

Spoiler: BBL confirms draft to lure T20's global superstars

An overseas player draft featuring four tiers of boosted salaries has been unveiled to entice the game's biggest names down under for BBL|12.

The BBL has confirmed the long-planned introduction of an overseas player draft for the 2022-23 season to lure T20's biggest superstars to Australia for this summer's tournament.
After twice hitting hurdles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it's third time lucky with officials signing off on a lucrative, four-tier draft structure late last week.
It marks the biggest change to contracting since the competition's inception 11 years ago, with foreign players to nominate for the draft across gold, silver or bronze tiers.
Cricket Australia is prepared to pay top dollar for the best T20 talent, and league officials will elevate select players who they determine are the most enticing draft prospects to a platinum tier and bolster their salary, even if they are only available for part of the tournament.
Officials believe it's better to have T20's global superstars play a portion of the competition than not at all, and hope subsidising the top salaries from a central pool will see clubs take players who may not be available for the entire tournament.
CA has not publicly confirmed the salary bands, but it understood that bronze level selections (the lowest salary band) will earn a six-figure sum with the platinum tier worth more than three times that.
A date for the draft itself and the order in which clubs will pick is yet to be confirmed, but players are able to nominate for the draft from today.
The draft is a major step for the KFC BBL in its battle to compete in the expanding global market of cashed-up domestic T20 leagues, with planned new leagues in South Africa and the UAE to clash with the BBL this summer.
International scheduling also poses its challenges with all ICC full-member nations having tours or home series earmarked for December or January.
Players will have to declare their availability prior to the draft, and each club will have a retention pick to secure players who featured for their club in last summer's BBL, such as Rashid Khan with the Adelaide Strikers and Andre Russell for the Melbourne Stars.
"We've been working on it for a little while in ways that we can work with our clubs to get the best overseas players in and we know part of that is making sure we can be as competitive as required from a salary perspective," said Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's General Manager of Big Bash Leagues.
"A draft is a way for us to work with clubs outside the salary cap but also a way that's really transparent and fair for all clubs."
The next major challenge for the league is getting Australia's own all-format superstars into the BBL as the 61-game season competes with the international summer schedule, with the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood currently without BBL deals.
This summer's schedule features a yet-to-be confirmed three-match ODI series against South Africa as the only internationals after Sydney's New Year's Test until the end of the BBL.
A late request from South Africa to move the January ODIs is yet to be resolved, but with a new Future Tours Programme for international cricket to be unveiled later this year and negotiations on the next Memorandum of Understanding between CA and the players' union to come, there is opportunity to create a window for the league.
"Just as important as overseas players is the best local players," Dobson said.
"Going forward, whether it's the FTP (Future Tours Programme) freeing up the schedule or working with the national team around the size of the squads and the ability for players to be released into the BBL.
"As we go into a new MOU (between CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association) and a new FTP cycle, all those big things that drive a lot of outcomes for the for the BBL is front of mind for everyone."
The draft will consist of four rounds with each club required to make a minimum of two picks, but a maximum of three.
Only platinum players are eligible to be selected in the first round (picks 1-8).
Trent Woodhill, the BBL's Player Acquisition consultant, told cricket.com.au there was strong interest from players and agents worldwide and he was anticipating an attractive cohort of nominations in the draft pool.

"The pressure is on the clubs to make good picks," he said.

"Players just love playing cricket in Australia, it's a favourite place for so many different nationalities, so that's the pull – great wickets, great crowds and a great opportunity to enjoy summer."

With the overseas player draft now confirmed, the domestic contracting embargo for BBL|12 has also been lifted, meaning clubs are now able to enter binding discussions with Australian players.

There is no draft for domestic players, with local player contracting remaining the same.

The competition's all-time leading runs scorer, Chris Lynn, is a free agent after parting ways with Brisbane Heat last month, while the fourth highest runs scorer, Jon Wells, has attracted interest from several clubs after his contract wasn't renewed by Adelaide Strikers at the end of last season.

While yet to be confirmed, it's anticipated the Power Surge innovation will remain, with the Bash Boost point and X-factor substitution to be scrapped.

No decision has been made on the introduction of a Decision Review System (DRS) for BBL|12 with the league still working through the logistical hurdles.