Join now and get your first month for just $1 ><\/a><\/p>\nSpeaking to reporters on Thursday, CA chair Mike Baird confirmed there was \u201cno timeline\u201d on the BBL\u2019s potential privatisation, adding that it still wasn\u2019t an inevitability.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe need to consider all the information. It involves a lot of people, a lot of stakeholders,\u201d said Baird, speaking at a press conference announcing CA\u2019s four-year agreement with Westpac as the organisation\u2019s new principal partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone that stands still is falling behind. Is there an opportunity to grow the Big Bash, to grow the game? That\u2019s something we have to consider.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we make a decision, we\u2019ll get on with it. We can\u2019t sit there forever, so there\u2019s some urgency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a range of things that have to be ticked off.\u201d<\/p>\n
CA chief executive Todd Greenberg continued: \u201cUnless it benefits all, it won\u2019t work. It has to benefit the entire sport of cricket, from top to bottom.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s opportunities for the game to flourish, we\u2019re up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Jack Leach is still the best spinner’ | 01:28<\/p>\n
CA\u2019s long-term intention is to create a January window where Australia\u2019s best cricketers will be available to play in the Big Bash, which Baird described as \u201ccritical\u201d. Under the T20 competition\u2019s proposed revamp, the national men\u2019s team won\u2019t have any matches scheduled following the SCG New Year\u2019s Test, ensuring Test and white-ball stars were available for most of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Just as the Indian men\u2019s team doesn\u2019t play matches during the Indian Premier League, CA will need to similarly convince the ICC not to schedule fixtures for Australia between early January and mid-February.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, privatisation would also allow for Big Bash salary caps to rise, attracting more overseas players to Australian shores.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen talking to our fans, that\u2019s what they want to see,\u201d Baird responded when asked about Test players featuring in the BBL.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw even the energy last year when Steve Smith came back for a couple of days; it lit up fans, stadiums, social media, obviously with his performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can get the best players out there, that\u2019s going to do great things for the competition and great things for fans. That\u2019s undoubtedly a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greenberg continued: \u201cWe want the best players playing, but it\u2019s one thing to say it, but it\u2019s another thing to do it, so you have to make some hard decisions about scheduling, about remuneration for players.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a competitive marketplace, players have choices all over the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur eyes are on the prize.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Greenberg confirmed there was no chance of the MCG and SCG Tests moving away from their traditional timeslots.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been anchored for a long period of time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be no discussions about moving them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Healy excited to return with next gen | 01:39<\/p>\n
Shoehorning Test cricket and the Big Bash League into December and January creates some logistical hurdles for CA to overcome, specifically regarding player welfare.<\/p>\n
England crammed their five Tests against India into 44 days to create an August window for this year\u2019s Hundred, ensuring the country\u2019s best players were available for the entirety of the white-ball tournament. The condensed schedule has been blamed for captain Ben Stokes and fast bowlers Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer missing this week\u2019s decisive fifth Test against India at The Oval.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, many South African players have chosen franchises over national commitments since the privately-owned SA20 was introduced a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n
With the Australian home summer set to pursue a similar scheduling model, the Hundred and SA20 serve as cautionary tales for CA on the risks of prioritising T20 leagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, Test cricket is primary. It is an essential part of our summer. It stands above all else in terms of what it brings to the game,\u201d Baird said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything that we would do would be balanced on the basis of keeping Test cricket, keeping control of the game, the schedule, and giving players opportunities that they currently don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greenberg also brushed aside concerns over player workload, declaring that \u201cyou\u2019ll never hear Mike and I looking to compel players to do anything\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has to be rest and recuperation, particularly for the bowlers,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s on us to try to find those scheduling opportunities, give them rest, give them reward, and then give them opportunity to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to work really smart on scheduling and finding strong remuneration, so they do want to play, so they do lean in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re not in the business of compelling our players to do anything. We want to make it a viable opportunity, so they want to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cricket Australia has no intention of moving blockbuster Boxing Day and New Year\u2019s fixtures from the sport\u2019s calendar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-36473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}