Fall and Fall of Big Bash

[corbies]

Any reason why NZ can't enter a team or teams? The super smash had zero big names and all the test player sat out the comp.

Australians barely turn up to watch the NZ national side play against Australia. What interest would they have in watching the Wellington Firebirds?

 

[Hamingja]

The other factor is that having eight teams in the BBL, and having separate contracts, gives much more opportunities for players to either play at that level, or to earn more money.

It also significantly reduces the quality of the competition. Players like Harris, Wakim and Doran last night should be nowhere near a T20 franchise.

I'm fine with a franchise system rather than state system for T20. I think that was needed to be able to split the contracts at state level. The players mentioned above are decent to good red ball players and if a state team had to contract for all three formats, potentially red ball cricketers get shafted in favour of a big bash slogger.

With other T20 comps taking overseas players away, there is never going to be enough talent for 8 teams, wind it back to 6 and the likes of Harris, Wakim and Doran are pushed out and we can see better quality cricket.

 

[Hamingja]

Australians barely turn up to watch the NZ national side play against Australia. What interest would they have in watching the Wellington Firebirds?

About as much interest as the Sydney Thunder? What difference does the away team really make in a franchise system.

 

[giggler99]

Before the ECB introduced The Hundred, they did research which found that the younger you were, the less attachment you had to a county.

Young people identified with being from or living in Manchester, for instance, but couldn't care less about Lancashire for instance. This was particularly the case for migrants.

They also believed that it gave opportunity for people who move around the country to support their new local side rather than the one from the place they were born in.

I suspect it would be similar here.

The other factor is that having eight teams in the BBL, and having separate contracts, gives much more opportunities for players to either play at that level, or to earn more money.

Plus having city-based teams instead of states allows for derbies, which are traditionally the biggest attended matches in almost any sport - including the biggest attendance at a domestic cricket match in Australia.

It's never going back to state T20 teams, and I'm staggered that people still go on about it.

I think Australia is a lot different to English county’s. State V State already had a strong and passionate history not only through cricket but mainly from the football codes through state of origin. If I remember correctly the Bushrangers were getting pretty big crowds in the old state v state T20 competition toward the end just when T20 was getting popular. They had the big V on the shirt which was a nice selling point and the whole state was behind and could relate to the team.
The move to a franchisee base competition I feel would have isolated a lot of the country fans too. yeah derbies are fun but so was interstate rivalries.

 

[JackOutback]

About as much interest as the Sydney Thunder? What difference does the away team really make in a franchise system.

I agree, in a franchise competition, it matters little if you're playing the Renegades or a NZ team. I do think the competition would benefit from combining the two Melbourne and Sydney teams and bringing in two NZ teams (south island and north island) to remain an eight team competition.

 

[western royboy]

I think Australia is a lot different to English county’s. State V State already had a strong and passionate history not only through cricket but mainly from the football codes through state of origin. If I remember correctly the Bushrangers were getting pretty big crowds in the old state v state T20 competition toward the end just when T20 was getting popular. They had the big V on the shirt which was a nice selling point and the whole state was behind and could relate to the team.
The move to a franchisee base competition I feel would have isolated a lot of the country fans too. yeah derbies are fun but so was interstate rivalries.

There is no clear delineation between who is a Stars fan and who is a Renegades fan.

The mythical line up the middle doesn’t / hasn’t worked. Allegedly the West of the State is Renegades and the East Stars, but it’s never been pushed.

Playing games at Marvel is a waste -the pitches are usually ordinary and that impacts on the quality of the game

 

[Black Diamond]

Starting off both teams with Eddie and JB as presidents was also pretty stupid.

Both very polarising, former TFS hosts, and came off as piggy backing on football rather than leveraging cricket’s own strengths. Yes, I know JB was a good cricketer but that is not what he is known for now.

Stars in particular started as a very unlikeable entity and haven’t improved much. It is like they have never been able to escape the Eddie/Warne/Pietersen shadow. It is like that hubris is part of the franchise’ DNA.

 

[corbies]

About as much interest as the Sydney Thunder? What difference does the away team really make in a franchise system.

Yeah exactly, they don't add anything to the Australian domestic competition.

 

[Black Diamond]

The thing is Thunder and Renegades are there now.

Why would their respective supporter bases swing in behind the Sixers or Stars? They wouldn’t, and their absence would be a hit to the game for a while.

You would almost need a rebrand of the Sixers and Stars like what they did with the Melbourne Tigers.

 

[big_e]

I think Australia is a lot different to English county’s. State V State already had a strong and passionate history not only through cricket but mainly from the football codes through state of origin. If I remember correctly the Bushrangers were getting pretty big crowds in the old state v state T20 competition toward the end just when T20 was getting popular. They had the big V on the shirt which was a nice selling point and the whole state was behind and could relate to the team.
The move to a franchisee base competition I feel would have isolated a lot of the country fans too. yeah derbies are fun but so was interstate rivalries.

State v State T20s were popular but state v state in other formats are attended by a few dozen pensioners and that's about it. Which suggests to me that it was T20 attracting people, not that it was state v state.

Also, remind me how state of origin Aussie rules is going? Players don't want it, broadcasters don't want it, and nobody under about 45 would even know what you're talking about.

 

[JackOutback]

State v State T20s were popular but state v state in other formats are attended by a few dozen pensioners and that's about it. Which suggests to me that it was T20 attracting people, not that it was state v state.

Also, remind me how state of origin Aussie rules is going? Players don't want it, broadcasters don't want it, and nobody under about 45 would even know what you're talking about.

Agree with you in general, but think the latter example is wide of the mark. If there was a state of origin game featuring the best players in the country, I think it would be a hit with all ages. Players, clubs and the league killed it off, not the fans.

 

[The 747]

There is no clear delineation between who is a Stars fan and who is a Renegades fan.

The mythical line up the middle doesn’t / hasn’t worked. Allegedly the West of the State is Renegades and the East Stars, but it’s never been pushed.

Playing games at Marvel is a waste -the pitches are usually ordinary and that impacts on the quality of the game

I wonder if it would do better putting one of the teams in Geelong and playing out of there (assuming the pitch can be up to par). Avoids Docklands, gives it a place and there are a lot of sports crazy parochial people down that way.