Usman Khawaja will raise a few eyebrows for even suggesting Cricket Australia should consider moving the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests if it turns out to be in the best interests of the game.
Khawaja is taking the long-term view and a pragmatic one by saying that if cricket can get even bigger in this country then something needs to change.
“As much as I love the Boxing Day and SCG Test match and I don’t want to move them, if it’s better for the growth of the game and allows Australian players to play in the Big Bash, I think it’s worth talking about,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Test cricket is king in Australia but the BBL needs to be nurtured and CA’s two big assets primarily occupy the prime-time part of the summer when the kids aren’t at school, the holidays are plentiful for everyone and cricket reigns supreme.
Traditionalists will be up in arms that anyone in the Australian set-up, let alone a current Test cricketer, would even think about putting the BBL’s hit and giggle interests before the five-day matches, whose popularity Down Under has survived the 50-over revolution and is now repelling the T20 onslaught.
The problem with the current Australian cricket schedule is that it condenses too much into December and January while neglecting October and November, and February.
Our two uniquely Australian main winter football leagues – the NRL and AFL – are done and dusted by the start of October, leaving a window for cricket to grab the national sporting attention.
This is where the BBL should be used to get eyeballs onto cricket.
Of course it’s great to have the BBL on during the summer school holidays so kids can stay up late to watch matches on TV and even better, go to night games without having to worry about getting to school early in the morning.
But it’s not the be-all and end-all.
Other sporting leagues managed to survive without shoehorning their season into a narrow school holiday window, so the BBL should be able to stand on its own two feet in October and November.
Like the NRL and AFL, fixturing can be weighted towards the weekend with Thursday, Friday and Monday night games thrown into the mix.
David Warner addresses Thunder teammates last summer. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
With matches in Perth and multiple options on the Eastern Seaboard, double and triple headers should be part of the weekend schedule.
A switch to an early-summer slot could also mean drawcard Test players could make themselves available for BBL franchises, get a Shield game or two under their belt in early December before the Tests get underway.
Whether it’s a five-Test contest like the Ashes or a match-up against India or two shorter series, CA would still have enough days on the calendar to run the five-day contests from December to February.
Make the Adelaide Oval match before Christmas the annual start to the Test season, before moving onto the MCG on Boxing Day, the SCG in the new year, then Brisbane and Perth later in January.
Bringing the BBL forward would also mean it is not competing with the South African T20 competition and the International League T20 in the UAE with these tournaments taking big-name players from the global circuit away from the BBL.
Cricketers can earn double their BBL deals for a flight of fancy in the UAE and that gap is only going to widen.
Having the BBL following on directly from the NRL and AFL grand finals would hopefully also get the attention of the youngest demographic earlier in the season, theoretically increasing the chances of kids signing up to play themselves at their local club.
Khawaja also spoke about the opportunities that could flood into Australian cricket through privatisation of BBL clubs.
When it comes to talk about privatising T20 franchises, it basically means Indian moguls and corporations taking over teams as they have done in the various leagues scattered across the globe.
CA chair Mike Baird has recently flown the kite about the prospect of selling 49% stakes in BBL franchises to usher in a huge cash injection for the sport.
Travis Head. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
But T20 franchise owners are not known for being silent partners – they will want to have a huge say in how their playthings operate and it won’t take long for teams to implode.
One thing is for sure – the Australian cricketing public will not put up with any chance of the local franchises, existing or new ones, being branded in IPL paraphernalia. Gold Coast Knight Riders anyone? MI Canberra?
The state associations seem to be overwhelmingly opposed to private investment but the matter is not yet settled and is likely to be one of the main talking points in the boardrooms this summer as the lure of filthy lucre gets stronger.
Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s stint with the Sydney Thunder will bring plenty of new eyeballs to the BBL, both here and in the subcontinent.
Western Sydney has an enormous expat Indian population who will flock to Thunder matches to see Ashwin weave his magic.
BCCI-contracted players are not allowed to play in leagues not aligned with the IPL but Ashwin has retired from international cricket and is without an IPL deal so he is able to suit up in the BBL.
However, he won’t be liming up in Thunder colours until the last fortnight of the BBL in January because, shock horror, he had already signed with an ILT20 franchise in the UAE.
CA is fighting a losing battle if it thinks the BBL will ever be anything more than a third-rate league in its current format – bring it forward to see if it can get a better foothold with an October starting point.
Free air away from Test cricket could be the best thing for the BBL and the five-day fixtures can continue on as Australia’s only true national sporting pastime.
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