Image courtesy of: The Guardian
Bailey wants the BBL to be shortened
Australia Twenty20 captain George Bailey has lashed out at Cricket Australia’s decision to cut the Ryobi One-Day Cup down to just three weeks in order to expand the Big Bash League (BBL).
Bailey was also critical of the board’s decision to hold all Ryobi Cup matches in Sydney as it does not allow younger players to get accustomed to the different pitches the country has to offer.
Bailey is also lobbying to get the BBL shortened as the Twenty20 tournament will now run from December 20 until February 7.
“I like the balance of last year and the spread of one-day and Shield cricket,” Bailey said. “On the back of this being over in three weeks I think it’s going to be really challenging to see six Shield games in six weeks for a number of states, that’s going to put a lot of pressure on fast bowling depth to be hitting the ground running come the start of the Ashes. So that’s going to be a Shield challenge on the back of that.
“Ideally a quick fix would be to shorten the Big Bash – it seems to be getting longer and longer, we’re playing seven games in what amounts to about 12 weeks. No bones about it, that’s really important that the commercial side of it and the amount of money that the TV companies are putting into it, they should have some say in getting the format and the scheduling they want. But I guess there has to be a balance. Certainly in T20 the players would be happy to play a more condensed tournament, looking at some double-headers and back-to-back games.”
Bailey himself had difficulties adjusting between the three formats last season and his batting average plummeted as a result.
However, he also questioned Cricket Australia’s decision to move away from a successful schedule in order to devote more time to Twenty20 cricket.
“This is a tournament style set-up, but it’s not how it’s been done in the past when we were playing a lot better cricket,” Bailey said. “So if it’s a quick fix to try to get us playing better cricket I’m not sure. Your one-day side is going to be away for two-thirds of the competition anyway. I think it’s a difficult thing to get right, scheduling, but from a players and players association perspective we’d like to be consulted more.
“For guys who might be just on the fringe of that Australian side come January they’d be loving the opportunity to play some one-day cricket for their state at the end of the Big Bash, to get two or three more games in, and much the same when we’re playing Tests it would be nice for the guys on the fringe of the Test side to find a way to be playing four-day cricket to push their way in.
“I think the players and the players association are really keen to have more of a say on these types of issues, on scheduling. I’m not saying it’s an easy fix, it’s really difficult to fit everything in and get it the way you want, but I think it’s really important the players are consulted as much as possible around the states, to try and get a balance for what’s best.”