![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/bf4c86786d7aea7377942b26f6887332223e1e92.png\")
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Updated June 4, 2026 \u2014 5:58pm,first published 5:44pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and chief executive Todd Greenberg have denied approving Cricket Victoria\u2019s plans to merge the Melbourne Stars and Renegades in order to free up a BBL licence for sale to private investors.<\/p>\n In an occasionally heated virtual meeting with the chairs and chief executives of the five states other than Victoria on Thursday afternoon, CA stressed that nothing had formally been approved in terms of a caretaker set-up for the Renegades.<\/p>\n This is despite informal discussions between CA and CV about taking the Renegades out of the state association\u2019s office at Junction Oval and temporarily moving it to CA\u2019s headquarters at Jolimont near the MCG.<\/p>\n Baird and Greenberg also dismissed the possibility of sanctions against CV for moving ahead of the agreed process between the states.<\/p>\n State chiefs spoken to by this masthead on Thursday evening were sceptical about CA\u2019s explanations, and were looking ahead to a set of CEOs meetings next week, and then a meeting of CA and state chairs on June 15.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick Those meetings are intended to discuss CA\u2019s revised \u201cself-determination\u201d proposal for the sale of stakes in BBL clubs, while Cricket NSW is also seeking to discuss its alternative strategy for raising revenue without selling off clubs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had productive discussions with several state chairs and CEOs today to ensure talks about the possible inclusion of private investment in the Big Bash Leagues remain fully aligned,\u201d Greenberg said on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe timing of the news about Cricket Victoria\u2019s intentions<\/a> in the event of private investment was not ideal, but we understand their challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very important to restate that Cricket Australia, the States and the ACA [Australian Cricketers\u2019 Association] all have the best interests of Australian cricket at heart, and we will continue discussions to find the best way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick Cummins, the CV chief executive, had earlier told this masthead that, despite formalising plans to merge the staff of the Stars and Renegades and extinguish the brands of the two clubs, the sale of the licence for the Renegades still had to be approved by the CA board and the ACA.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst we\u2019ve got to get the CA board\u2019s final sign-off and then the ACA negotiation has to take place after that,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019re not at the point of looking at buyers or anything like that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross Hepburn, the Cricket Victoria chair, is currently travelling overseas. Contacted by this masthead on Thursday, he stated his view that CA \u201cmust act decisively\u201d and proceed with their hybrid model of a phased BBL privatisation.<\/p>\n \u201cCA needs to be able to reset the BBL competition and stabilise the CA finances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOther than an injection of private funds, no other viable option has been tabled.<\/p>\n \u201cCV continues to be supportive of working with CA to achieve their goals sooner rather than later.\u201d<\/p>\n New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland are the three states most hesitant about selling stakes in BBL clubs, although it was South Australia\u2019s suggestion that a phased approach be tried.<\/p>\n Those states looked favourably upon the views expressed by ACA chief executive Paul Marsh this week that the process needed to be reset.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder the memorandum of understanding [MOU] between CA, the states and the ACA, it is clear that agreement must be reached with the ACA for any Big Bash clubs to be privatised,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cWhilst a potential agreement between CA and the ACA is being discussed, it is not imminent and, as such, any talk of privatising any teams for the coming season is premature.<\/p>\n \u201cCricket Victoria\u2019s [CV] announcement about a merger between the Stars and Renegades with the introduction of a new, privately owned club has created confusion, uncertainty and anxiety amongst players. Whilst this may or may not happen at some point in the future, we reiterate that there is a process to play out here before this can occur.<\/p>\n \u201cAs it stands, Australian cricket is not unified on a way forward and as a result, we are a long way off a solution.\u201d<\/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![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780568533_373_ec762735271f71d766c0f6c697db85e055bf4bbd.jpeg\")
A Big Bash League match between the Melbourne Stars and the Melbourne Renegades.Getty<\/p>\n![\"Glenn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/89c9a5f044c55e07536ff9cc0f10a210e83e3c95.jpeg\")
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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":"Updated June 4, 2026 \u2014 5:58pm,first published 5:44pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-715096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715096","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=715096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}