![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/bf4c86786d7aea7377942b26f6887332223e1e92.png\")
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April 22, 2026 \u2014 5:42pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Cricket Australia will plough on with plans to sell off Big Bash League clubs in defiance of vocal protests by Cricket New South Wales, after the CA board green lit the next stage of the process to test the market with potential investors in Australia and overseas.<\/p>\n The board, chaired by former NSW Premier Mike Baird, met on Monday night for an update from chief executive Todd Greenberg and did not blink in the face of calls from NSW for \u201cdue consideration\u201d of an \u201calternative strategy\u201d sent to CA and the states last week.<\/p>\n In a letter to its own member associations, NSW explained why it was opposed to CA\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our view, it is crucial that the Australian cricket community retain control over cricket in Australia,\u201d CNSW chair John Knox and chief executive Lee Germon wrote last week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that allowing in external investors would be to the long-term detriment of all aspects of our game, including player availability and development, talent realisation, and community programs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe BBL plays a significant role in the development and promotion of our game. The profits from the BBL are used by the States today to grow grassroots participation, as well as to develop high performance pathways and players.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder teams drive participation, fandom, and high-performance cricket. External owners of these teams would not be aligned to these goals. The reduction in profits retained by Cricket NSW could therefore reduce our ability to invest in grassroots, pathways and high-performance, to the detriment of New South Wales and Australian cricket now and for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n Three state figures contacted by this masthead but speaking on condition of anonymity indicated they doubted the NSW alternative strategy would change entrenched positions, although one conceded there remained many \u201cunanswered questions\u201d in what is still a non-binding process.<\/p>\n While CA is still awaiting a positive response from Queensland Cricket, the central governing body is confident that is only a matter of days away.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick From there, CA and the assenting state associations would look at expressions of interest and valuations collected via Barrenjoey Capital Partners in Australia and the Raine Group for overseas investors \u2013 the same firm that oversaw the sale of clubs in the Hundred competition in the UK.<\/p>\n There are no plans for CA to pause the process for deeper discussion of the NSW strategy, though CA accepts that NSW has the ability to speak separately with other state associations \u2013 the effective owners of CA \u2013 and attempt to talk them around to a different point of view.<\/p>\n \u201cAll states were asked to inform Cricket Australia whether they wished to proceed to the next phase, which involved testing the market and seeking valuations for our clubs,\u201d Knox and Germon wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cWe informed Cricket Australia that we do not believe it is in the best interests of NSW and Australian cricket at this time, financially or strategically, to privatise the BBL teams, including the Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers.\u201d<\/p>\n Cricket Victoria, which had been an early dissenter to the idea of private investment before flipping its position during the summer, has scheduled a meeting with its own state delegates \u2013 Premier clubs, sub-district and regional associations \u2013 to discuss the state\u2019s position on Thursday night.<\/p>\n Baird, who was named the new chief executive of NRMA Group on Friday, explained to this masthead in September why he felt that private investment in the BBL was necessary.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether in sport or business, if you have competitors that are active, and providing opportunities, you need to consider that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very confident in the BBL and WBBL, we think they still remain one of the best leagues in the world, but we can\u2019t be complacent, and what we\u2019re seeing are shifts in terms of focus and salaries, and unless we respond, we have a risk of being left behind. That\u2019s something we need to wrestle with.<\/p>\n \u201cThe [overseas] investment in players is significant, it\u2019s at an all-time high, and as an administrative body you\u2019ve got to respond to that. So part of what we\u2019re weighing up is how to stay competitive, how do we make the best league for our fans and players, and there\u2019s undoubtedly work to do as the rest of the world is moving.\u201d<\/p>\n Baird left the CNSW board to join CA in 2021, and became the CA chair in early 2023.<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776847271_514_2ea2e0d97f173214288b1ae987b4139f2ab57364.jpeg\")
Steve Smith salutes during this summer\u2019s BBL.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Australia\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/7cf73d140b7dc626ca43423e7a451c166e9f5350.jpeg\")
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Cricket NSW\u2019s John Knox (left) and Lee Germon (right) want Cricket Australia\u2019s Todd Greenberg (second from left) and Mike Baird to consider their proposal to protect the independence of the BBL.Michael Howard<\/p>\n![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774855031_693_bf4c86786d7aea7377942b26f6887332223e1e92.png\")
Daniel Brettig<\/a> is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 22, 2026 \u2014 5:42pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-623555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623555","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=623555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}