Big Bash season should be cut to 10 games per team

The Big Bash will lose 18 games a season from 2025, but with calls to shorten it now, the answer is obvious to some.

A 10-game home-and-away Big Bash season is the “sweet spot” for the league and there’s growing momentum to see a shortened fixture brought in as soon as next summer.

There has been much debate about the length of the BBL season in recent years, with the competition expanding to a 14-game double-round-robin format four seasons ago.

In its first edition, each team played seven regular-season matches, before increasing to eight per side for the next five seasons and then 10 for a solitary summer in 2017-18.

After his team’s season ended with just three wins, Melbourne Stars all-rounder Beau Webster firmly believes the 10-match configuration is the best one, with more chance to turn each game in to an event.

“You get your big matches between the two Melbourne teams and Stars vs Sixers is obviously a big drawcard as well, so you place a lot more impact on every game,” Webster said.

Fans at the MCG on Wednesday night. Picture: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images

“The 14-game season is quite long and a lot of our international boys will tell you it’s a long time away in another country and they’re probably moving on to another tournament as well, so they end up spending months and months away from home.

“But I think we found a sweet spot with 10 games; the broadcasters and things like that come into it, but I would love to see a 10-game season, whether it’s next year or the year after, and really put an onus on every game and get those crowds building back up to the big numbers we know we can get here at the MCG and all around the country.

“We’re playing seven home games as opposed to four or five, something like that, and we probably lose a smaller venue in the Junction Oval and we only get games here at the ‘G where the crowds are going to build.

“It’s important to get the crowds back in and build back up to those numbers where the Big Bash has been before and I think it’s trending that way again.”

Beau Webster celebrates a wicket. Picture: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images

Despite producing one of their worst ever seasons, which saw them win just three games and claim their second wooden spoon, the Stars aren’t far off the pace, according to Webster.

“Obviously Glenn Maxwell out of the team – top-order batter, four overs (of bowling) and a gun in the field is a very big hole to fill,” Webster said.

“When we get him back next year, there’s four overs, some wizardry in the field and some hopefully match-winning knocks.

“A few changes here and there (to the squad), our internationals were quite good this year … we got a lot out of those guys.

“’Stoiny’ (Marcus Stoinis) missed a fair bit of cricket as well, which is another big hole in our team, so I don’t think we’re too far off in that middle order there, where we probably let ourselves down.

“We put Maxwell and Stoinis back in there and we start clicking in a few of these close games, we’ll be right up there next year.”

Originally published as Big Bash season should be cut to 10 games per team