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Australian Test cricket veteran Usman Khawaja says more needs to be done to ensure the country’s best players can play in Big Bash League.
And if that comes at the expense of Australia’s ever-established home Test match schedule, so be it.
Australia’s historic love affair with its exhibition Tests in Melbourne on Boxing Day and Sydney just after the New Year means Cricket Australia has its hands tied when trying to create a domestic T20 franchise league that can compete with rival competitions across the world.
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In the BBL’s 13-year history, Australia’s top players have never been able to play in the competition due to international commitments – not major roles, anyway.
All-format stars David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have played only cameo roles with their domestic franchises, while former Test greats like Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson have been able to commit fully to the team after international retirement — and the competition is weaker for it.
Even white-ball specialists Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell were unavailable for large parts of the league’s history due to domestic ODI and T20 commitments.
Overseas, South Africa’s domestic league franchise, the SA20, England’s The Hundred and, more obviously, the IPL, have all carved out exclusive windows in which to play their seasons, ensuring their international stars can play in the competition.
Meanwhile at home, Cricket Australia has extended its commitment to the current schedule by six years with all but one state, Victoria – whose government remains in talks with CA over an agreement for the same extension, starting from the start of the 2025-26 summer.
Khawaja says there is no answer, but more questions need to be asked about the schedule if the BBL is to compete with leagues around the world.
“I love the Boxing Day Test and I love the Sydney Test where they are, but we have to be realistic,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
“If we want the Big Bash to be the best brand it can be, we need our international players playing in the Big Bash. It’s so simple; it always has been.
“There’s a reason the IPL is so big: they get all the best players from around the world, plus they have all the best Indian players playing in the IPL.
“Traditional as we are, we have to figure out a way to get our international players to play in the BBL. You play the Big Bash a bit later, after the Test series, or you mix up the calendar and change the traditional Test playing times.
“I’m not sure which way forward is, I just know you have to do one or the other. I think this year will be a much better Big Bash calendar. Cricket Australia has already tried to set everything a bit early; those one-dayers we played earlier at the start of the Test summer.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of players playing in the Big Bash this year that you didn’t last year because the clash was so difficult because the World Cup set everything back.”
Around the world, the T20 revolution isn’t just around the corner – it’s here.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already begun to monopolize the cricket calendar with its own IPL juggernaut, plus part ownership in the SA20 and the American Premier League Cricket.
As a more lucrative and viable option for players outside cricket’s three major nations – India, Australia and England – domestic franchise cricket is beginning to gain preference over international cricket.
West Indies players have for several years now turned down national center contracts to make themselves more accessible to the lucrative leagues around the world.
And it’s no wonder why, given the realities of cricket’s economy.
Khawaja says Test cricket will remain unscathed among the big three.
But beyond that, the ICC has some problems if it wants international cricket to remain the pinnacle of the sport.
“Cricket is a business; it’s all about value and money,” Khawaja told 7NEWS.com.au.
“I think there is still a lot of value and money in Test cricket. There is still a lot of value and tradition in Test cricket in Australia, England, India, even South Africa in many ways. Countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan also have a rich, incredible history in Test cricket.
“This will be difficult for the traditionalists to turn away – especially from the big countries. These are the other countries where you worry about international cricket.
“I don’t think there is a problem in Australia, I don’t think there will be a problem in England and especially in India. You worry about the other teams.
“Because let’s be honest, these guys are trying to make a living. If they are paid five times more to play franchise cricket around the world than for their international cricket teams, you cannot expect them to play international cricket for their national cricket teams.
“I think it’s something we need to look at in cricket as a whole. But at the same time, we have to be really open and transparent about what’s going on in these other countries; the revenue they generate, where does it go, is it done efficiently? And once you understand and feel a little comfortable with it
“Because at the moment everyone is responsible for themselves and it can be difficult, but I don’t know what the financial situation of the Pakistan Cricket Board is, I don’t know what the financial situation of the South African Cricket Association is there – it’s difficult to get a full assessment .
“So we have to bear in mind that we actually have to continue to invest in international cricket, especially Test cricket, if we want it to stay. Especially with the other smaller countries—we say smaller, they are not smaller countries; financially speaking, yes.
“It’s one of those things where, as stakeholders in the game, we love Test cricket, I think there’s still a place. But one-day cricket is always the only one – unless it’s a world cup, I’m not too sure about the relevance of one-day cricket. The World Cup that happened last year was great, but when two teams play against each other, it’s kind of like, what are they playing for? We’re not too sure.”
Khawaja is currently in New York for the T20 World Cup and was there to see Pakistan again fall agonizingly short of victory against arch-rivals India.
He says it “feels weird” to be at a cricket World Cup in the United States, but is overwhelmed by the amount of organic support there is for the game in America.
There are 20 teams competing in the 2024 T20 World Cup, including the USA and Canada, who opened the tournament in front of a packed stadium on June 2, as well as associate nations such as Uganda, Namibia, Oman, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Netherlands and Scotland – who top Group B of Australia and England.
And while it may not mean much for the future of Test cricket if the game’s shortest format attracts more countries to play competitively at international level, Khawaja says it can only be a good thing for the health of the game.
“T20 cricket has opened up a whole new world for countries that have never played cricket before,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to get into Test cricket. It’s the hardest way to get into cricket, it’s the hardest form of the game, it’s the longest, there’s a lot of expense involved.
“We’re seeing teams like Afghanistan, the USA and teams from around the world actually become real rivals in the game. This would never have happened without T20 cricket.
“To see that, you know the game is going in the right direction. We tune in from all over the world and T20 does that, makes it easy.
“Those teams that you thought of as minor teams in the past — minnows, as you called them — they’re not minnows anymore, they’re actually becoming T20 powerhouses.”
For the first time, the T20 World Cup is being broadcast exclusively on Prime Video.
Every match of the tournament is available to Prime Video members in Australia at no additional cost to their Prime membership.
Australia’s next match will be live on Prime against Namibia at 12.30am on Wednesday morning, while the USA will face India the following morning.
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