STATES URGE CA TO GO PRIVATE

The push for private investment in the Big Bash League is gaining crucial momentum with two senior state officials now backing the move for change.

Queensland Cricket chief executive Terry Svenson has declared it’s time for Cricket Australia to have a serious discussion about engaging in a privatisation model which could bring more money into the BBL and also allow the game as a whole to reinvest and grow. Cricket NSW boss Lee Germon has also thrown his weight behind the push and says the All Blacks’ engagement with private equity should serve as an important lesson to Cricket Australia not to be frightened to shake up the status quo.

BBL bosses hope the introduction of an international player draft can help reinvigorate a competition under siege from cashed-up private leagues overseas but Svenson believes a move to private equity will be a vital step if Australian cricket is to remain competitive globally. State-based support would be imperative in changing the current system, and the signs are there a groundswell is underway.

“I think we should embrace the discussion. I don’t think we should rule any investment opportunity either in or out immediately and we should take the right due diligence to (looking at) an opportunity for private equity to enter our game,” Svenson said. “We certainly don’t advocate for 100 per cent ownership but we think there’s a role for it to play. What that role looks like needs to be done through some really strong due diligence.

“The first thing we have to do is find a way to remain competitive globally with our competition and like any sport we’re not unique – we want the best players playing. We can’t forget the essence of what the Big Bash and WBBL was started for, it was about family entertainment. And we just want to continue to be able to invest in that entertainment.”

Cricket NSW chief Germon believes Cricket Australia can no longer close the door on private investment as it has done since the move was last considered 12 years ago.

“We need to seriously be looking at this. I think there were a lot of preconceived ideas about what private investment or private equity looks like based on traditional models. And those models have evolved significantly over the past three years. From majority ownership to minority ownership,” said Germon.

Svenson says private investment can help get the biggest names playing the Big Bash, increase high performance resources to lift standards across the competition, but ultimately to protect the long-term future of Australian cricket.

“How do we grow our revenue base to reinvest? And if private equity is going to be one opportunity, we all should be looking at it,” Svenson said.