My Take on This Year's Bash

[The Fonz]

It's been an interesting season for the Bash.

On the plus side:
DRS helped eliminate the howlers
No X-Factor
No Bash Points

On the minus side:
The other 6 teams can't hold a candle to the Scorchers and Sixers. They will most likely play their 3rd final in a row and 6 of 12. It's a joke how bad the other teams are.

Case in point, the Heat who were second last for most of the season shot up to 3rd while the Strikers who were meant to best of the rest, have fallen off a cliff.
And it's not surprising the Heat shot up - Renshaw, Khawaja, Hain and Labuschange are huge ins while the Strikers lost Rashid and Lynn.

CA made a big deal of the draft but which of them are here now - Joe Clarke of last-placed Stars, Colin de Grandhomme of the Strikers.

I don't think the season is too long - I think it's good that the teams play each other twice. If anything, they may wish to get rid of the Thunder/Renegades and just have 6 teams - 1 per state. If everyone plays each other twice it's 30 regular season games as opposed to the 56 we have now.

 

[eth-dog]

The season is too long. 10 games is plenty.

 

[CURVE]

I don't agree with reducing the BBL to six teams, but I do think one of the Melbourne teams needs to go, 5 or the last six wooden spooners have been Melbourne teams. I'm not sure if they have the talent in Victoria or if the Renegades and Stars coaches are capable of identifying talent in their state, but something needs to be done. Merge them, relocate one, just do something.

Perhaps one of the Sydney team may also need to go, but it is a little harder to justify at the moment as both teams have qualified for the finals the last three seasons and the Thunder are still in with a chance this season.

I like the idea of going back to 10 games, it will shorten the tournament and reduce overlap with other T-20 tournaments which will hopefully mean the overseas players can stay for the entire tournament. I do think the quality of the BBL dropped off when they extended it to 14 games because players would leave mid tournament and more often than not the replacements don't have the same impact as the players they replace, and teams fall away.

I do like that they got rid of the bash points and the X-Factor and keeping the surge (and introducing it to the WBBL) and bringing in DRS were great as well, although the fact that the DRS is only available at select WBBL games needs to be rectified for next season.

Overall though I do think the BBL is stagnating a little and if CA want to bring a bit of excitement back to BBL, they may need to look at bringing another franchise or two into the league, probably at the cost of the Renegades or Stars in Melbourne and Thunder in Sydney.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Such a fresh take, OP. Well done, definitely worthy of a new thread!

I don't agree with reducing the BBL to six teams, but I do think one of the Melbourne teams needs to go, 5 or the last six wooden spooners have been Melbourne teams. I'm not sure if they have the talent in Victoria or if the Renegades and Stars coaches are capable of identifying talent in their state, but something needs to be done. Merge them, relocate one, just do something.

Perhaps one of the Sydney team may also need to go, but it is a little harder to justify at the moment as both teams have qualified for the finals the last three seasons and the Thunder are still in with a chance this season.

I like the idea of going back to 10 games, it will shorten the tournament and reduce overlap with other T-20 tournaments which will hopefully mean the overseas players can stay for the entire tournament. I do think the quality of the BBL dropped off when they extended it to 14 games because players would leave mid tournament and more often than not the replacements don't have the same impact as the players they replace, and teams fall away.

I do like that they got rid of the bash points and the X-Factor and keeping the surge (and introducing it to the WBBL) and bringing in DRS were great as well, although the fact that the DRS is only available at select WBBL games needs to be rectified for next season.

Overall though I do think the BBL is stagnating a little and if CA want to bring a bit of excitement back to BBL, they may need to look at bringing another franchise or two into the league, probably at the cost of the Renegades or Stars in Melbourne and Thunder in Sydney.

Your sleepy little town is never getting a BBL team, sorry to crush your hopes and dreams.

If the ACT govt ups their game, they might be able to keep a WNCL team. Most likely CA ditches them in favour of a six-team comp that incorporates white and red ball cricket.

 

[JackFlash]

Sometimes less is best. Reducing the number of games is a good idea, but no way will Cricket Australia will get rid of a Melbourne or Sydney team.
It's only 7 years ago when 80,000 people turned up for the derby game at the MCG, how do we get back to that sort of interest?
Start the Tests earlier (November?) and the Sydney Test should be in December as a pink ball night game. We will rarely see 5 Test match series anymore except for Ashes and maybe Indian tours, if they schedule a 2-game series again then Perth and Brisbane could easily accommodate starting late October or early November. Some radical changes need to be implemented or the BBL will fall away even further. Schedule the BBL immediately after the Boxing Day Test with the Finals scheduled for the last week of the month. That means the Boxing day Test is the final Test of the year.
How do they entice overseas players? A shorter season should attract more O/S players who will stay for the entire tournament. It's essential those overseas players are available for the finals. Australian TEST players must also be available.
The umpiring and DRS have been off all year in all formats of the game, Stoinis was definitely out and it was a poor decision yesterday, that was just one of many, it would've been robbery if the Renegades had got up. Fans are confused. It needs to be improved and rules made more clear.

 

[Nicho50]

My biggest issue is a team like the Renegades had a great start which helps by having Dre Russ, Hosein and Mujeeb in the side. Mujeeb and Hosein have been huge losses replacing them with Fawad, the sri lankan leggie and Roccochilli is a massive downgrade no disrespect to them but Hosein and Mujeeb are world class international 20/20 bowlers.

Finals time comes around and you have Steve Smith rolling back for the sixes and now there is talk of certain players not being able to play because of the test tour ahead but others are allowed?

The depth of quality across the board is not there. They need to increase the import players to 4 x per playing line up and shorten the time frame of the schedule so you can keep these guys they sign for the whole tournament.

Its crazy when you watch the first few games of the season and all the excitement and you have Rashid Khan, Hales, Vince, Dre Russ, Faf etc playing now you flick it on and you have imports like Critchley etc playing.

 

[juss]

I suggested 6 teams based on states in another thread, would hopefully strengthen the teams as the best talent would fill the rosters.
The season is a touch long, 6 teams home and away would be a good sweet spot.

The biggest issue is the team's rosters are so variable through the season, you gain or lose 2-3 players at different points and it completely changes a team.
Not sure what they can do about this, but it's an issue that should be tackled.

 

[Aussie_boy]

I certainly wouldn't be against a return to a state vs state format, the positives probably do outweigh the negatives, there would be a bit more genuine support for the sides. I do think the T20 contracts being seperate to the Shield/ODD contracts is a big positive of the BBL though.

Only question is they want 10 games for an 8 team comp, would that mean a return to a 6 team comp would require teams to play more games? (40 games vs 30 games). Don't think the broadcasters would be too happy with less games.

 

[big_e]

I certainly wouldn't be against a return to a state vs state format, the positives probably do outweigh the negatives, there would be a bit more genuine support for the sides. I do think the T20 contracts being seperate to the Shield/ODD contracts is a big positive of the BBL though.

Only question is they want 10 games for an 8 team comp, would that mean a return to a 6 team comp would require teams to play more games? (40 games vs 30 games). Don't think the broadcasters would be too happy with less games.

The BBL is getting shorter at the request of the broadcasters, from the start of the next TV deal.

 

[Plugger35]

I still don't get why people think the competition needs to be shorter when it started less than two weeks before Xmas and ends in late Jan/early Feb.

That seems like the right length to me and even if it is shorter I don't think that is going to make much difference to the quality of the games or the overseas players that it will attract.

People have also argued that the Australian test players aren't able to play enough BBL games and a shorter competition might help that but apart from Smith they have all been garbage since they have returned to play BBL in the last couple of weeks so that argument doesn't hold much water either.

 

[Cleavy]

I still don't get why people think the competition needs to be shorter when it started less than two weeks before Xmas and ends in late Jan/early Feb.

It just feels at least 1 week too long to me.

 

[eth-dog]

I still don't get why people think the competition needs to be shorter when it started less than two weeks before Xmas and ends in late Jan/early Feb.

That seems like the right length to me and even if it is shorter I don't think that is going to make much difference to the quality of the games or the overseas players that it will attract.

People have also argued that the Australian test players aren't able to play enough BBL games and a shorter competition might help that but apart from Smith they have all been garbage since they have returned to play BBL in the last couple of weeks so that argument doesn't hold much water either.

Because 7/8 weeks is 2 weeks too long

 

[Plugger35]

Because 7/8 weeks is 2 weeks too long

Why is it 2 weeks too long? What are people going to be watching for the 2 weeks it isn't on, the tv ratings suggest that people are still watching it.

 

[eth-dog]

Why is it 2 weeks too long? What are people going to be watching for the 2 weeks it isn't on, the tv ratings suggest that people are still watching it.

Because it drags on. It always has. And as far as the TV ratings, why would channel 7 and Fox want it shortened if the ratings were good?

You can want the full 14 games but you'd be in the minority. I'd rather have the Shield back earlier.

 

[Plugger35]

Because it drags on. It always has. And as far as the TV ratings, why would channel 7 and Fox want it shortened if the ratings were good?

You can want the full 14 games but you'd be in the minority. I'd rather have the Shield back earlier.

They are basing that on the ratings from the last couple of years when ratings and crowds were down due to Covid, they have picked up this summer.

Also no one is watching the Shield at 7pm at night like they do with the Big Bash, December and January is the time of year that the Big Bash should be on, the Shield can wait until February and March.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Think its too late. Changes needed to be made years ago. We used to be losing international players to the Bangladesh Premier League which was bad enough, now the SA20 and International League T20 have come along with bigger budgets and it’s hard to see how they catch up again.

How they never got our own international players playing in our prestige tournament was embarrassing. Surely hasn’t happened in any other T20 comp around the world. David Warner has played like 7 BBL games, how is that possible?

 

[The Fonz]

When I posted this, I was unaware of the test players being unavailable for the challenger/final
Its just insane.

The Heat are surging now but take out Renshaw, Labuschagne, Swepson and Khawaja out and what do you have?

It's just crazy how they shoot themselves in the foot.

If its a Scorchers - Sixers final, the Scorchers lose Agar/Morris vs Lyon/Smith

Huge advantage to the Scorchers.

 

[Plugger46]

I don't like the idea of having ten games

I go to every Stars game when they come to AO.
the uneven nature of the draw means i may not see them every season

 

[Teen Wolf]

I don't like the idea of having ten games

I go to every Stars game when they come to AO.
the uneven nature of the draw means i may not see them every season

Fear not. Strikers and Stars will be in the Toyota Party together, meaning they'll play each other twice every season!

 

[Plugger46]

Fear not. Strikers and Stars will be in the Toyota Party together, meaning they'll play each other twice every season!

they surely can't keep the same two teams playing twice...

 

[ep2018]

Fear not. Strikers and Stars will be in the Toyota Party together, meaning they'll play each other twice every season!

Oh geez I hope that's not real. Very likely the top 4 finishing teams this season will be the entire proposed 'Qantas party', two of them would miss in this format, a big reason why I hate groups and conferences in sport. Good teams in strong groups miss out whilst average teams in poor conferences make it through.

 

[Yoda_]

I understand its all about winning in Australian sport but no one gives a shit about Hain, or Matt Critchely. Stephen Eskinazi is probably only known because he is a local by default.


Add to that BBL has very little involvement from our own Australian players and it's easy to see why the competition is going stale.

Who are the next stars, the next face(s) of the BBL? Old Davies, Aaron Hardie, Will Sutherland, then who? Tough question to answer and that is a worry.

 

[FKASC]

I understand its all about winning in Australian sport but no one gives a s**t about Hain, or Matt Critchely. Stephen Eskinazi is probably only known because he is a local by default.


Add to that BBL has very little involvement from our own Australian players and it's easy to see why the competition is going stale.

Who are the next stars, the next face(s) of the BBL? Old Davies, Aaron Hardie, Will Sutherland, then who? Tough question to answer and that is a worry.

Johnson from Heat

Hobson from Scorchers

 

[juss]

Johnson from Heat

Hobson from Scorchers

Paddy Dooley only 25 is relatively young in cricket terms.

 

[irish]

Hurricanes need a deep review ! Honestly some of the efforts were nothing better than pathetic ,Tim DAvid and Meredith Ellis excepted rest showed up for the pay check
Wade , Mcdermott , short , didn’t look interested , we’re not worth the price to get in the gate, as always the imports were poor

Needs a broom thru the team , and the coaches performance based pay might help