Will Cricket Australia follow England’s lead with hardline stance on Australian stars?

Pat Cummins has played more matches in America’s Major League Cricket than the BBL in the past eight years — could a hardline contract stance help tip the scales in favour of Australia’s T20 competition?

The England Cricket Board is taking a new hard-line stance against rival T20 leagues and incoming Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg may watch on with a keen interest.

ESPN Cricinfo is reporting that a civil war is on the verge of breaking out in English cricket, with T20 freelance stars privately blowing up at new restrictions banning them from partaking in overseas leagues that clash with the UK summer.

It’s a bold move in the modern age where players and their booming earning capacity have all the power, but the ECB has had enough and wants to protect its Hundred competition which it is currently trying to sell teams privately.

Perhaps the Big Bash League could follow suit and better protect itself by having Cricket Australia play hardball with its domestic stars.

Cricket Australia is privately determined to ensure that the Big Bash League reclaims its former clear status as the No. 2 T20 league in the world behind the Indian Premier League, but the only way to achieve that in the current market is to ensure you have access to the best players.

When your highest-profile overseas signing is diminutive English opener Ben Duckett, then it’s clear that home grown Australian stars are everything to the BBL.

The next big Test for the Big Bash will be whether Cricket Australia releases players for the competing South African and UAE T20 leagues when their BBL clubs have been knocked out but the competition is still going.

BBL stars such as Marcus Stoinis are in demand around the world.

The relentless international schedule makes it difficult for Test stars to back up and play much of a part in the BBL this summer, but could Cricket Australia enforce a more rigid policy for contractually compelling stars to participate in BBL matches when available?

Even though it was a completely different time of the year, it was chastening to see Pat Cummins and a host of Australian superstars propping up the new Major League Cricket league in the USA, when they are never – or scarcely seen in the BBL.

Pat Cummins is a big moment player! 🌟 🤯 He grabs the wicket of Travis Head, the 2️⃣nd leading run scorer! #MLC2024 | #CognizantMajorLeagueCricket | #T20pic.twitter.com/aP3UWnK38f

— Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 29, 2024

Could CA get so tough that they restrict Australian players from playing any T20 leagues outside of the IPL and Hundred?

Perhaps a middle ground is possible where players are allowed to pursue opportunities around the world, but their ticket to doing so has to be fronting up to be available for the Big Bash first and foremost.

Sydney Thunder all-rounder Daniel Sams.

These big power plays are not easy, and the disgruntled England T20 guns for hire are reportedly considering legal action against the ECB or even the drastic step of boycotting The Hundred competition, as reported by the London Telegraph.

There is a feeling among many in the game that at some point the Big Bash may embrace elements of privatisation, at least on a subliminal level.

It’s a battlefield out there and the Big Bash needs Australian stars headlining whenever possible rather than helping rivals overseas get off the ground.

Originally published as Will Cricket Australia follow England’s lead with hardline stance on Australian stars?