CA mulling over amending existing BBL laws, trim WBBL fixtures

Cricket Australia (CA) has decided to amend the existing laws and allow Big Bash League franchises to agree on a pre-draft multi-year contract with one overseas player. Over the last few years, BBL franchises were losing key players ahead of the play-offs as many cricketers preferred SA20 or ILT20 over the marquee Australia tournament. To put an end to that, the governing council has decided to allow the clubs to sign multi-year deals with one key overseas player, who would be available for the entire season.

As per the latest rule, all franchises will be permitted to contact international players and will be allowed to sign them before the draft. Meanwhile, this marquee signing will count towards the minimum of three internationals that are allowed to sign in the BBL. When it comes to their salary structure, the cricketers will come under either a platinum, gold or silver-round pick.

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Interestingly, BBL has no restrictions in place regarding the signing of marquee players. In such a scenario, the franchises will be allowed to poach a player who currently plays for other teams in the tournament. England international Sam Billings previously called for the same and advised franchises to offer multi-year deals. Keeping that in mind, BBL has decided to include this, which is historic in many ways.

Meanwhile, the women’s BBL is likely to get shorter in the upcoming season. A longer edition of the tournament won’t be possible given the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and with that, Cricket Australia are likely to move to a 10-round season in a similar format to the men's. It is believed that a 40-game season would create a better schedule and will help women’s cricket gain momentum as per TV deals are concerned.

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However, in case CA decides to have a longer edition of the tournament to give more opportunities to women cricketers, international players will miss a significant number of games. A decision is yet to be made, but the officials are more inclined towards the shorter version of the tournament.