CASHED-UP UAE COMP MAY PINCH OUR BEST PLAYERS
THE Big Bash’s stranglehold on the home summer has been sensationally challenged for the first time by Mitchell Johnson’s $350,000 defection to a rival Twenty20 League.
Test great Adam Gilchrist wrote last week that Cricket Australia’s decision to extend the BBL by several weeks would test the commitment of big-name international stars who can pocket more money for less work elsewhere around the world.
Gilchrist’s prediction has immediately come to fruition with Johnson’s camp confirming the inaugural United Arab Emirates Twenty20 League launching in direct competition to the BBL in DecemberJanuary is more appealing to the fast-bowling great than the Bash which runs for more than twice as long.
Marquee players like Johnson will be paid $350,000 for just 24 days’ work in the UAE.
In the BBL, top-player wages max at an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 and this year’s tournament will run for seven weeks. It’s understood the fledgling UAE League is also close to announcing the signings of T20 superstar Andre Russell and England captain Eoin Morgan to giant marquee deals.
Russell and Morgan have been two of the highest-profile and successful international imports to have played in the BBL over recent seasons.
Cricket Australia hasn’t expressed concerns about a rival league directly clashing with its season and is confident the foundations set by the BBL over the past eight years and the enticement of playing cricket in Australia will stand up against pop-up leagues.
Meanwhile, 13 out of 20 exAustralian players interviewed this week believe CA should allow banned duo Steve Smith and David Warner to play in the BBL, and 71 per cent of fans who voted in a Sydney newspaper online poll agreed. But CA insists it will not alter the 12-month bans it handed down for ball-tampering.
“At no stage have we, or are we, considering lessening the sanctions,” a spokesman said.