BBL Needs Retooling to Keep Australian Summer Relevant

If there is anyone in the known universe who doesn’t think that the eighth edition of the Big Bash League has not gone on too long, then they truly have no life outside of the least fascinating version of the game of cricket. With the 59th and final match of the competition to be played this afternoon, the deciding match between the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars, two months have passed since the first match took place a week before Christmas. How many people actually remember who played against each other in that match, and what happened? It is an interminably long tournament, and interest has fluctuated throughout depending on whether you have been on holidays or not and able to actually take it all in. Some matches have been fascinating, some have been a dead loss, and then there are a whole bunch of matches in the middle that became predictable before the first innings had concluded.

We know that, at least for the four remaining years of the current television deal, the competition will not be shortened, as the networks have paid out their billion plus dollars knowing they will get this many games to broadcast. I believe this will end up being a problem down the track. Even as Cricket Australia has flagged tightening the schedule next season to have the BBL finished by the beginning of February it means having the same number of matches played this season being squeezed into less days of an already packed schedule, which risks turning fans and viewers away from one or more of the current versions of the game – Tests, ODI’s, T20 or all domestic formats. As much fun as I find it watching cricket from 9.30am to midnight, it is not practical in regard to the working and family lives of the majority of people. Sadly, myself included.

Notwithstanding that no shortening of the BBL is forthcoming, I still present my own solution to the BBL competition for consideration here:

1. Bring in the Canberra Comets as the ninth team. The Comets played in the domestic one day series for a time during the late 1990’s. Though at the time it was deemed the supporter base was not large enough to support a team, much has changed in the two decades since. At all underage national championships both male and female, the ACT/NSW Country teams have dominated, reaching several finals. They also now have a team in the Futures League, ensuring the large NSW player base has a platform to graduate to the higher levels. Manuka Oval is now a Test match ground and is perfectly placed to host BBL games with access far reaching to the south and west to regions where travelling to Sydney to watch games is out of the question. It would also give country NSW kids a team to support and watch and more importantly aspire to play for. The base is already there and setting up the team should not drain the resources of Cricket Australia so much that it is a burden. There would be a question raised as to is there enough depth in playing talent to cope with another team in the BBL, but there is part solution to that question…
2. Increase international imports for each team to three. Giving each team the chance to have three internationals could immediately free up eight players from other squads. This is not a given, as the Scorchers and the Hurricanes played for most of BBL08 with only one international, but it does give each team a better scope to find international players to boost their team and their ability to draw in fans. There have been problems in attractive players such as AB De Villiers given the plethora of other T20 tournaments happening around the globe and the money they are paying the best players to attend, but if Cricket Australia agreed to promote a shorter and more compact BBL it could be more conducive to attracting international players than the overblown one we now have. This could be achieved by…
3. Each team only plays each other once. With the addition of a ninth team, this would mean that each team would have four home games and four away games, which mirrors more closely the format of the competition as it was when it started eight years ago. The reduction in home games from seven to four should mean that each game will be better attended than they have been in BBL08, filling grounds like the SCG, MCG, Marvel and Optus Stadiums that have been half full for most of the tournament. This would also cut the number of matches in the preliminary round from 56 games this season to 36 games next season. By doing this, we would achieve…
4. The BBL window shrunk to 4-5 weeks. If this was implemented next season, the BBL could start on Friday December 20, a few days later than this season. And depending on scheduling of Tests and ODI matches, it could be completed on the Australia Day long weekend. This would mean the tournament would be a little over a month long. Surely the positives of this would mean that spectators interest could be held for the entire tournament, that international players could happily come known they would be here for a month and not two months, and that the other pillars of the Australian summer, such as the one day domestic competition and the much maligned Sheffield Shield competition would be given room to breathe and actually feel as though they are a part of the summer again instead of just pigeon holed into whatever small gaps appear after the other tournaments have taken all the prime scheduling. If done well, it could also mean that Australia’s international players may even be able to play for a portion of the tournament, something it needs to help showcase it to other parts of the world.

These are by no means the only fixes that could be applied, but to me are sensible steps to reclaim the higher ground for cricket of all levels in Australia during the summer. The BBL is only a cash cow for Cricket Australia while it makes money, and the over-saturation of the tournament this year has already shown signs of killing off the goose that lays the golden eggs. The tournament is too long, and everyone can see that. Cricket Australia needs to fid a way to negotiate with its TV partners to try and tackle this now and not in four years’ time, otherwise we may find that it is too late to save what can still be a terrific, fun and enthralling tournament from becoming a lacklustre drawcard that drags the rest of Australian cricket down with it.

Of course, we know that just won’t happen, until it is too late.

P.S – the first game of the BBL this season was the Brisbane Heat against the Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba. Just in case you had forgotten.