AUSSIE ACE HITS OUT ON BBL’S CHRISTMAS IDEA
STARS skipper Adam Zampa has emphatically declared he doesn’t want to play BBL games on Christmas Day and defended teammate Marcus Stoinis for skipping Monday’s match in Sydney to be with his family for the holiday.
Having sport on December 25 has become one of the most talked about issues in Australian sport after the NBL broke new ground by having the Kings host Melbourne United on Sunday night.
A crowd of 7012 attended the game while a further 300,000 people tuned in on television prompting NBL officials to consider holding a double-header in 2023.
Christmas has been the final frontier for cricket with Boxing Day reserved for the biggest Test of the year, while the BBL is played every other day including Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in the hectic summer schedule.
On Monday Cricket Australia boss NIck Hockley said officials were “open minded” to playing on December 25. But the nonstop nature of modern cricket means players rarely get to spend time with their families, and it’s why Zampa is so opposed to the idea.
“I don’t really want to play on Christmas Day,” he said after the Stars were beaten by the Sixers on Boxing Day.
“Our schedules are hectic enough as is, particularly for the Stars. Obviously the Boxing Day Test is on so we’re not in Melbourne, we’re away quite a bit this time of year.
“To add in a Christmas Day game would be out of the question.”
The hectic schedule is one of the reasons why T20 specialist Marcus Stoinis did not travel to Sydney for the game, instead choosing to stay in Perth to be with his family ahead of Thursday’s match against the Scorchers.
Stoinis plays in domestic T20 competitions around the world and has toured extensively with the Australian side for a number of years, which is why Zampa had no issue letting him and Nathan Coulter-Nile sit out the game in Sydney.
“I’ve taken Christmas Eve games off as well just because we do travel a lot,” the spinner said.
“It’s a long 14-game season.”