Fox keen to discuss one-day cup shake-up

Lack of talent the biggest hurdle for a rebranded domestic one-day cup.

Steve Smith hits a six on the way to a century for NSW in the Marsh Cup clash against Victoria at North Sydney Oval on Monday Picture: Getty Images

Cricket Australia’s broadcast partner says it wants to discuss a proposed radical shake-up of the domestic one-day cup if it frees up the best white-ball cricketers to play in the tournament.

The Marsh Cup has become marginalised ever since the explosion of the Big Bash League and in recent years it has largely been used as a pre-season warm-up tournament for the Sheffield Shield.

Fox Cricket, which has exclusive rights to the Marsh Cup and broadcasts 13 games, is aware of the backroom push to separate white-ball and red-ball contracts in a move that would allow the likes of Chris Lynn, Jono Wells, Chris Green and Dan Christian to participate.

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“Anything that gets the best players involved we would be very keen to discuss,” Fox Cricket boss Matt Weiss said.

The push for Big Bash clubs to compete instead of state associations has also resonated with some leading figures in the domestic landscape.

One state floated the idea of the one-day cup slotting in between the WBBL and BBL seasons and being played under the Big Bash banner.

That would help teams show off emerging talent and sell memberships before the Twenty20 season, avoiding the annual rush as players come together about three days before the first game.

But there are genuine concerns over the talent pool, given that would see an extra two teams participate.

A round of one-day cricket using BBL teams would require 88 domestic cricketers, up from 66 in the current format (six teams) and 64 in the BBL (eight teams with three overseas players).

Melbourne Stars boss Nick Cummins said there was merit in exploring the splitting of red and white-ball contracts.

Cummins highlighted Big Bash stars Green, 27, (Thunder) and James Faulkner, 30, (Hurricanes) as players still in their prime who are excluded from 50-over cricket.

“For a state talent manager it’s a challenge because playing five or 10 Marsh Cup games doesn’t really necessitate taking up a spot on a state list,” Cummins said.

“So those players are often the ones that miss out. A red-ball specialist will get a state contract, but not necessarily play more games for their state if you consider the Big Bash is still playing for the state cricket association.

“Chris Green plays 14 games for the Sydney Thunder, whereas someone who has a red-ball contract is not necessarily playing 14 days of cricket.”

But Cummins was unsure whether the one-day cup should be rebranded using the BBL.

“Big Bash has been set up to inspire the next generation of cricket fans, boys and girls, and I’m not sure that’s the role of the 50-over competition,” he said.

“It’s generally been regarded as a pathway to the Australian one-day side and ultimately playing for Australia in the World Cup, rather than a fan engagement tool.”

T20 star Kane Richardson backed the current set up.

“If you’re playing white-ball cricket without a contract you get upgraded anyway,” Richardson said. “I’d like to keep it as state cricket, it’s separate.”

Meanwhile, rumours are rife that Glenn Maxwell could join Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore for a seven-figure sum in the 2021 IPL auction.

The cutthroat nature of the competition was clear when Maxwell was released by Kings XI Punjab after last year’s delayed edition of the COVID-19 impacted competition, a team that paid in excess of $2m for his services at the 2020 auction.

Steve Smith, who made a one-day century for NSW on Monday, was also dumped as captain of the Rajasthan Royals and released, while Aussie white-ball captain Aaron Finch, named in the ICC’s T20 team of the decade, was also giving his marching orders.

That trio are among 35 Aussies in this year’s auction, on Thursday night in India.

Finch and Maxwell will be together in Christchurch to watch, with six other members of the Aussie T20 squad also hoping to hear their names called out, with big numbers to boot.