Cricket Australia assessing options for BBL after report calls for change to summer shcedule

The Big Bash League could be pushed back in a bold move aimed at making more of Australia’s Test stars available for most of the tournament.

The Big Bash may start at Christmas and continue into February under recommendations now being considered by Cricket Australia about the future of its T20 competition.

Cricket Australia has confirmed details of a report handed down by consulting firm Boston Consulting Group which has urged the sport to embrace privately selling off minority stakes in the Big Bash clubs and also consider future expansion.

The unsolved riddle for Cricket Australia has always been how to carve out a window for the BBL not impacted by Australia’s international schedule.

BCG’s recommendation is to start the Big Bash later than its current mid-December start and launch it over the Christmas and New Year period when the ratings piggy-backing off the back of the Boxing Day and Sydney Tests are enormous.

Broadcasters are comfortable with Australian stars being unavailable for the first two weeks of the tournament until after the Sydney Test, but then there is a hope that the rest of January into February will be dedicated Big Bash time.

If Cricket Australia decide to act upon the privatisation recommendation, the hope would be the extra money and salary cap provided by new owners can play a greater part in convincing Australian Test superstars like Pat Cummins to commit to playing.

The next job for Cricket Australia would be to convince International Cricket Council schedule makers to not have Australia playing any international cricket between the Sydney Test and mid-February.

The fact Australia is due to fly to India in mid-January 2027 to play five Tests against India shows the challenge ahead in carving out a dedicated window.

In South Africa and England where privatisation has taken off, it’s been far easier to manipulate the schedule to prioritise the franchise competitions.

But in Australia, where international cricket and the Big Bash all needs to fit into the December and January school holiday window is a unique case.

Cricket Australia Chairman Mike Baird said his organization was committed to examining all possibilities to make the Big Bash as big as possible.

“We will work closely with the States and Territories, the Big Bash clubs, the players and our broadcast and commercial partners to consider the recommendations on how this value can be unlocked,” he said.

“It is very important to understand that no decisions have yet been made, and that any action taken will be for the benefit of the BBL, WBBL, fans and Australian Cricket more broadly.

“That would include providing strong benefits across the game including investment in participation initiatives and player development.”

The Big Bash League — rather than Tests — could be shuffled.

CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said the starting position was the Big Bash was already in a position of strength.

“Over the past 15 years the Big Bash Leagues have set the standard in Australian sport for innovation and fan engagement and the BCG Report is a strong validation of all the work done across Australian Cricket to achieve this success,” Greenberg said.

“As well as creating amazing fan experiences, under its current operating model the League and its clubs are valuable assets with significant potential for growth.

“The success of the T20 format has been a huge boost for the game globally in attracting new audiences and increasing participation. We need to ensure that the Big Bash remains among the world’s top sporting competitions.

“We will now undertake an exploratory process of the recommendations in this report to ensure any action we take achieves this potential and is in the best interests of Australian Cricket and cricket fans.”

REPORT CALLS FOR SHAKE-UP TO CRICKET’S SUMMER SCHEDULE

— Daniel Cherny and Robert Craddock

The Melbourne and Sydney Tests are likely to be ring-fenced despite a report commissioned by Cricket Australia recommending CA explore a summer shake-up that would maximise the involvement of Aussie stars in the Big Bash League.

A Boston Consulting Group report, presented to state cricket leaders this week, has encouraged CA to look at options that would provide as great a window as possible for Australia’s Test guns to play in the Twenty20 competition.

But batting icon Doug Walters has called for caution, urging the primacy of Test cricket.

The schedule advice is one of several findings from the leading consultancy firm, which has also pushed for CA to follow the lead of England by selling off minority stakes in its eight BBL clubs.

The twin moves of private ownership and clearing space in the calendar — both of which are only recommendations at this stage — would bring the league into line with other competitions around the world, including the Indian Premier League, South Africa’s SA20 and England’s The Hundred.

Sales of teams in The Hundred recently poured $2 billion into the English game.

It’s understood the report broadly finds the eight BBL clubs to be valuable propositions that would be enticing for private investment, a concept towards which there has been a general aversion within Australian sport.

But sources confirmed BCG has also advised that there is considerable upside in the value of the BBL which would be gained by freeing Australia’s top stars to play in the league.

Though there has been tinkering around the edges, including an ill-fated move deep into February seven years ago, the BBL has largely remained the domain of the school holidays window from mid-December to late January.

Mitch Starc has not played in the BBL for more than a decade.

Pat Cummins has played one BBL game since his Test comeback in 2017.

This has meant that Australia’s Test guns have been consigned to bit-part players in the competition.

In particular fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have barely been sighted in the league.

Starc’s last appearance for the Sydney Sixers came more than a decade ago, while Cummins has played just one match for the Sydney Thunder since he returned to the Test arena in early 2017.

Even batters like Travis Head and Usman Khawaja, and off-spinner Nathan Lyon, have been spared considerable BBL duties in recent seasons given their only theoretical availability has tended to come at the end of the Sydney Test – a staple of the first week of January – and often sandwiched between several Test series.

Though it’s believed the report does not explicitly call for Boxing Day or New Year’s Tests to be shifted, the radical idea of the Sydney Test being moved has at least been brainstormed at state board level.

A shift to the timing of the SCG Test is considered unlikely.

Sources however have indicated that such a shift is unlikely to be seriously contemplated.

If the MCG and SCG Tests remain immovable objects, administrators will be seriously hamstring for options given CA must work within the broader global scheduling framework.

A recent World Cricketers’ Association report called for four 21-day windows to be blocked out annually for “core international cricket,” leaving the rest of the year as a free-for-all for short-form franchise leagues.

Walters, the Australian great who played 74 Tests from 1965 to 1981, said the calendar had to remain centred around Test cricket.

“It’s important the Test matches stay where they are,‘’ Walters said.

“The Big Bash should work around the Test dates and not the other way around. It would be a sad day if you had a situation where a Test was moved because of a T20 game.

“Test matches must remain the priority.‘’

Originally published as Cricket Australia assessing options for BBL after report calls for change to summer shcedule