4 PLAYERS TO WATCH

As the Big Bash League hits its eighth instalment, the domestic T20 comp has become a launch pad for a new kind of cricket star. Here’s a quartet primed for the big time.

Abigger Bash awaits this domestic T20 season, as the league expands from 43 to 59 matches in total. Every team will play each other twice in a true home-and-away fixture, another first for the competition, which means 14 matches for each team before the top four meet in the finals.

It will stretch the BBL season deeper into February than before. The teams will also be travelling further afield, to matches on the Gold Coast, to Geelong and to Moe. The increased number of games will see some schedule crunch – there will a triple-header on January 13, as well as Stars-Heat on January 27 that will run opposite the Australia-Sri Lanka day-night Test at the Gabba, and the men’s final of the Australian Open tennis.

It’s ambitious, but also a sign of a league confident in itself. Big Bash has become an established part of the summer sporting landscape, offering up compelling cricket – and cricketers.