Star Australian spinner Adam Zampa contemplates walking out on the Big Bash season

Too many games with low crowds and new Covid rules have taken the fun out of the Big Bash for one Australian star.

Adam Zampa captained the Melbourne Stars on Monday at the MCG (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

The Big Bash is too long, no longer fun and star Australian spinner Adam Zampa has not ruled out withdrawing as the long season and life inside the competition’s biosecurity bubble continues to take its toll.

The T20 World Cup winner was one of 13 Stars players to test positive to COVID in the past fortnight, forcing him to isolate in his hotel room for seven days and ruling him out of two matches.

He returned to the Melbourne line-up on Monday, along with five teammates who had also previously caught the virus, to captain the Stars to victory over Adelaide at the MCG, but revealed he has already come close to pulling the pin on the tournament.

“I considered last week several times to get out of isolation and go home, that crossed my mind,” Zampa said.

“It changes every day, I’m still not writing it off. I’m always going to put my mental health first. If I feel like I’m ever going to walk out, play a game of professional cricket and I’m not up for it, then I know I need some time away.

“It’s a bit of a relief just to be playing cricket again. You obviously go through a mix of emotions finding out you’ve got COVID, knowing you have to spend a week (isolating) and then try and get up to playing professional cricket again.

“A few of the boys are still feeling pretty flat tonight. Personally, it’s taken it out of me tonight.”

Adam Zampa and Beau Webster of the Stars celebrate a wicket (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Veteran fast bowler James Pattinson withdrew from the rest of the Melbourne Renegades games as the season took a toll and Hurricanes captain Matthew Wade also opted not to immediately join his team in the new Melbourne bubble.

Beyond the Covid restrictions Zampa said he has struggled to enjoy the long BBL this summer and suggested the season should have been shortened from 14 regular-season games per side.

“It’s actually really hard, we haven’t been able to have much fun to be honest with you,” he said.

“Other than sitting in your hotel room getting takeaway coffees, there’s nothing else to do. Melbourne is a bit of a ghost town at the moment anyway.

“Big Bash used to be a great time, a very good time, and unfortunately with the world as it is at the moment, it’s getting a lot harder, the season’s probably too long, and it definitely feels like it’s dragging on again.

“I’m definitely personally going through periods where it’s feeling tougher than usual to get up for.

“When it was an eight-game season it actually felt like the cricket was more competitive because you had to play well straight away.”

Adam Zampa was among Australia’s best players at the T20 World Cup (Photo by Michael Steele-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Spending so much time away from home, starting with the T20 World Cup in October, has added to Zampa’s struggles to get up for the BBL.

“Obviously the World Cup was mentally draining, it was such a high as well obviously winning it, and then coming down from that almost felt like it was going to take a few games to get into the (BBL) tournament,” he said.

“Then obviously the up-and-down nature that it has kind of thrown at us with COVID and the hand we’ve been dealt with the last two games previous to this, so it’s hard.

“We know we’ve got like five games in the next eight days as well, so it’s a really big ask, so it’s hard to get up for.”

Originally published as Star Australian spinner Adam Zampa contemplates walking out on the Big Bash season