‘It’s tricky’: The big issue facing new WBBL season

Too much cricket is never a bad thing unless a tournament like the men’s T20 World Cup clashes with the start of the new WBBL season.

Sydney Thunder skipper Rachael Haynes hopes the upcoming WBBL season won’t be overshadowed by the men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, with the two competitions to overlap over the next month.

The new WBBL season gets under way on Thursday when the Heat host the Sixers, just a couple of days before Sri Lanka and Namibia clash to start the final qualifying stage of the men’s World Cup.

Staging the two competitions simultaneously in Australia threatens to dilute both products, with fears eyeballs will be taken away from the domestic T20 competition.

Rachael Haynes and Heather Knight celebrate. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“I think it is a bit tricky for the women’s game,” Haynes said.

“It’s great to have iconic events like that.

“I know having a home World Cup is really special, so I definitely don’t want to take anything away from it, but it’s no secret that there’s not a lot of women’s cricket upfront at the start of this season, much like we’ve seen in the past.

“It’s great that we’ve got WBBL, but it’s a shame that it’s clashing with the T20 World Cup. I know that the administrators have tried their best to limit where the clashes take place against the Australian men’s team.”

No WBBL matches will be played at the same time as Australia’s games at the World Cup.

Both Haynes and Sixers superstar Ellyse Perry hope that the men’s event will actually aid the WBBL by sparking interest in cricket with other big events on like the rugby league World Cup and the AFLW finals fast approaching.

Haynes, who recently retired from international cricket, also lamented the women’s national side not being given an opportunity to play a home series to start the summer in style.

Ellyse Perry and Rachael Haynes helped launch the new WBBL season. Picture: Hanna Lassen/Getty Images for Cricket Australia

“It’s going to be interesting. It feels like there are a lot of people competing for a similar time,” Haynes said.

“I think that’s why it’s really important that cricket puts some markers to really show off and own our summer. I think that’s why it’s disappointing that there are no women’s internationals to really kick off the season like we’ve seen in the past.

“It’s a bit tricky because obviously this T20 World Cup was impacted by Covid, so it’s been pushed back. That’s tough for administrators to juggle.

“We respect that there are other challenges around that as well. It’s not ideal, but we’ve seen in the past that the community really gets behind the competition.”

The veteran batter wants women’s cricket to be given more clear air in the future and is pleased to see the BBL starting in December once the women’s competition is over.

“I definitely think there’s been an attempt to do that. We’ve seen the WBBL go stand-alone and then the men’s Big Bash follows,” Hayne said.

“I think every attempt has been made to do that, but there probably just need to be a bit more consistency in that happening. I would like to see some distinct windows for our Australian women’s team and also for our domestic players.”

Originally published as ‘It’s tricky’: The big issue facing new WBBL season