BBL fixture mess threatens to hurt competition

CRICKET Australia must start prioritising the Big Bash League or risk constricting a product that should be given a licence to thrive.

At a time when interest in the competition should be peaking as finals approach, teams are losing their best players to national duty.

There is a simple fix that has been floated by cricket fans.

International one-day and Twenty20 matches in Australia need to be shifted to November to run before the start of the Test series. To make it work, simply move one of the existing pre-Christmas Tests (either Perth or Adelaide) to about January 11, after the SCG Test. That way, all forms can coexist within what is a crammed schedule.

Imagine if players like David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins and the Marsh brothers returned to BBL ranks once the Test series finished for the pointy end of the domestic T20 season.

As it stands now, not only do we rarely see these players, but we get hit with a double blow when the best performing BBL and limited-overs players are pulled out for national duty, like Aaron Finch, Cameron White, Travis Head, Chris Lynn (when not injured), Mar- cus Stoinis and headline-grabbers Short and Alex Carey.

Cricket Australia can’t have it both ways.

They can’t look to grow the game on one hand, but on the other hand stick determinedly to a fixture that rips the best players away when the competition heats up. potentially D’Arcy

The BBL finals, in particular, need to have Australia’s best available players. But they won’t this summer, because they collide with a Twenty20 match between Australia and England. The BBL is in good shape, but if the fixture mess is not resolved, it runs the risk of becoming stale through selfinflicted wounds.