Big Bash Future

[juss]

A white ball does not move off the straight; which significantly reduces the difficulty of batting to the extent that huge scores are a formality.

But they arent. I watch a ton of BBL cricket and you see scores of anywhere between 80-220 odd. It varies between games based on the quality of batting and bowling and pitch conditions. Bowlers who bowl well in the format take wickets, are hard to score against and restrict batsmen. Batsmen who play the format well score quickly, on short notice, and have good match awareness knowing what to do when.

Come on, be a bit more curious about the format, there are different skills than traditional cricket, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not skilful.

 

[western royboy]

But they arent. I watch a ton of BBL cricket and you see scores of anywhere between 80-220 odd. It varies between games based on the quality of batting and bowling and pitch conditions. Bowlers who bowl well in the format take wickets, are hard to score against and restrict batsmen. Batsmen who play the format well score quickly, on short notice, and have good match awareness knowing what to do when.

Come on, be a bit more curious about the format, there are different skills than traditional cricket, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not skilful.

No one said it’s not skilfull…but in the 360degree view of skills you only get a % of the total

 

[t_94]

But they arent. I watch a ton of BBL cricket and you see scores of anywhere between 80-220 odd. It varies between games based on the quality of batting and bowling and pitch conditions. Bowlers who bowl well in the format take wickets, are hard to score against and restrict batsmen. Batsmen who play the format well score quickly, on short notice, and have good match awareness knowing what to do when.

Come on, be a bit more curious about the format, there are different skills than traditional cricket, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not skilful.

We’re never gonna agree on this point. Red ball batting requires a far greater range of skills and should be assessed accordingly.

I’m not saying white ball cricket is without skill or merit or that I hate it. I like it fine as an addition to red ball cricket but it is less skilled than test cricket. Many great white ball players haven’t been up to test cricket. This is objective fact.

What I am saying is t20 being the dominant format will be a crying shame from my perspective. I acknowledge it’s inevitable however won’t be tuning in to watch Durban - Chennai - Birmingham - Sydney Superchargers or whatever they’re called play in the fifth different soulless iteration of the IPL in one calendar year, at the expense of test cricket.

 

[swingdog]

We’re never gonna agree on this point. Red ball batting requires a far greater range of skills and should be assessed accordingly.

I’m not saying white ball cricket is without skill or merit or that I hate it. I like it fine as an addition to red ball cricket but that it is less skilled than test cricket. Many great white ball players who haven’t been up to test cricket. This is objective fact.

Just look at Jason Roy or Jos Buttler in tests. Horrible.

 

[juss]

We’re never gonna agree on this point. Red ball batting requires a far greater range of skills and should be assessed accordingly.

I’m not saying white ball cricket is without skill or merit or that I hate it. I like it fine as an addition to red ball cricket but that it is less skilled than test cricket. Many great white ball players who haven’t been up to test cricket. This is objective fact.

What I am saying is t20 being the dominant format will be a crying shame from my perspective. I acknowledge it’s inevitable however won’t be tuning in to watch Durban - Chennai - Birmingham - Sydney Superchargers or whatever they’re called play in the fifth different soulless iterations of the IPL in one calendar year, at the expense of test cricket.

Yeh, I enjoy both, I find short form more accessible and easier to consume. It just works for my schedule and the time I have with other priorities.

I think in time, the people will decide which format is the dominant one based on which becomes the most popular. I think it will be T20 cricket, because things change in life and that's what the sport will develop into. Test cricket will still be what it is, but I think T20 has huge untapped growth potential.

Some will embrace it, some won't, but it growing over the next 20 years is in my eyes a certainty. The players will follow the money, once they reach a certain age, they'll aim to be earning a million bucks playing a dozen matches in the IPL for a few hours at a time, rather than slogging it out for 5 days in the sun on far less money.

Sport needs to adapt and evolve to keep up, as does everything in the world. If Test cricket can't do the same, it will lose talent to the format that does. Hence why I reckon they should try and split the Test cricket and BBL schedules as best they can.

 

[eddiesmith]

I don't actually understand the argument above and think it lacks a lot of merit.

Is longer cricket necessarily better cricket? Would a 10 day 4 innings/team Test match be better than a 5 day 2 innings/team game based on that argument?
Almost every H2H sport I can think of, is over within hours, not days.

Is it wrong for people with things to do, work, busy lives, families, etc to want a past time (watching a sport they like) be over in one reasonable sitting rather than go for an entire work week equivalent of 5 full days?

Rather than thinking logically about a reasonable answer to those questions, it's easier to just go all "old man yells at cloud" and blame the twitter generation having no attention spans and blah blah blah....

There's a hell of a lot of benefits to T20 cricket. Shorter does not equal worse, and it offers a different display of tactics and skills when every ball and over is important.

The BBL will be as successful as T20 cricket's popularity allows it to be in future.

My personal thought is that with so much competing now in the world for people's time (and money), that the short form of the game that is scalable, watchable, and more accessible will become the dominant form of the sport, as in the most played and watched, within 20 years. The BBL will piggy back off that transition, even if it is in a bit of a lull at the moment.

A rebrand to state based teams wouldn't go astray either I don't think, as I think it's difficult for people to connect with the franchises at the moment.

The next paragraph explained exactly what I meant, the BBL is a s**t quality of cricket, even for the hit and giggle format. But people who actually like it don’t care about the quality because it’s a short game.

 

[akkaps]

Here's another league that I just found. The Legends League Cricket which was played earlier this year is set to be redeveloped for a second season as a privately owned franchise league with 6 teams. All players will have retired from international cricket, so there will be now bearing on the FTP.
The second season is set to start in September

 

[western royboy]

Yeh, I enjoy both, I find short form more accessible and easier to consume. It just works for my schedule and the time I have with other priorities.

I think in time, the people will decide which format is the dominant one based on which becomes the most popular. I think it will be T20 cricket, because things change in life and that's what the sport will develop into. Test cricket will still be what it is, but I think T20 has huge untapped growth potential.

Some will embrace it, some won't, but it growing over the next 20 years is in my eyes a certainty. The players will follow the money, once they reach a certain age, they'll aim to be earning a million bucks playing a dozen matches in the IPL for a few hours at a time, rather than slogging it out for 5 days in the sun on far less money.

Sport needs to adapt and evolve to keep up, as does everything in the world. If Test cricket can't do the same, it will lose talent to the format that does. Hence why I reckon they should try and split the Test cricket and BBL schedules as best they can.

Who will fund the grassroots? Not the IPL franchises. Big problems looming.

 

[swingdog]

Who will fund the grassroots? Not the IPL franchises. Big problems looming.

Given people still turn up to watch mostly grade cricketers in the BBL, maybe it's not such a problem.

The T20 advocates in this thread sell it on it being entertainment that fits in with their lives, so maybe skills aren't important to them?

 

[western royboy]

Given people still turn up to watch mostly grade cricketers in the BBL, maybe it's not such a problem.

The T20 advocates in this thread sell it on it being entertainment that fits in with their lives, so maybe skills aren't important to them?

Why fly a kite when you can…pop a ? I’ve no idea who won the IPL or the BBL? It’s manufactured cricket. But I’ll watch or listen to a Test anytime I can.

 

[juss]

Given people still turn up to watch mostly grade cricketers in the BBL, maybe it's not such a problem.

The T20 advocates in this thread sell it on it being entertainment that fits in with their lives, so maybe skills aren't important to them?

The two aren't mutually exclusive. It's not either long form or skill.

You'd think T20 cricket requires no talent or skill at all based on how some people tall about it. It just requires a different skillset.

 

[Seedsfan]

The bash is a lame duck

 

[CakeEater]

The bash is a lame duck

Turning into a Maxwell esque leave now

 

[swingdog]

The two aren't mutually exclusive. It's not either long form or skill.

You'd think T20 cricket requires no talent or skill at all based on how some people tall about it. It just requires a different skillset.

Predominantly test players can play T20.

Predominantly T20 players can rarely play tests. Warner stands out as the exception.

 

[4Seasons]

Can see one of two future options:

1. The BBL becomes like the A-League in soccer and Australia becomes a feeder for the IPL.
2. The IPL makes an offer CA can't refuse and buys the BBL (Hobart Hurricanes become the Hobart Knight Riders and so on)

After a few years, the IPL decides that "unfortunately there is just no room in the schedule for test matches" and that's the end of cricket as we loved it.

I think there will still be a small window for Test cricket.

 

[western royboy]

Predominantly test players can play T20.

Predominantly T20 players can rarely play tests. Warner stands out as the exception.

Warner always had a very sound technique, his ”looseness” came in other areas it’s what separates Test players from the rest

 

[peternorth]

does the "Big Bash" name attract fans or viewers? Its probably better sounding that RamSlam.
You can see the thought process behind this, BIG and BASH insinuates big hits and lots of bats hitting balls everywhere. But is it enough? Is "big" enough?

How about Huge Hits League?

 

[swingdog]

Cricket is about to reach tipping point with power grab of alternative season | Barney Ronay

The latest announcement of T20 leagues in South Africa and the UAE is significant – franchise cricket is ready to take over

www.theguardian.com

Sent from my iPad using BigFooty.com

 

[giggler99]

does the "Big Bash" name attract fans or viewers? Its probably better sounding that RamSlam.
You can see the thought process behind this, BIG and BASH insinuates big hits and lots of bats hitting balls everywhere. But is it enough? Is "big" enough?

How about Huge Hits League?

Its gimmicky just like what T20 was in the beginning. But T20 has now become a massive industry and is probably the main form of the game that attracts supporters so if the league wants to be taken seriously it needs a more professional name imo instead of the gimmicky crap from the early days.

 

[NYRB]

I hate to say this but the Hundred has overtaken the Big Bash . This is my first season where Ive watched as many games as possible, but when you have players of the calibre of : DJ Bravo, Maxwell, Wade, Narine, Rashid (brief period), De Kock playing in their tournaments it raises the local standards.

But they arent. I watch a ton of BBL cricket and you see scores of anywhere between 80-220 odd. It varies between games based on the quality of batting and bowling and pitch conditions. Bowlers who bowl well in the format take wickets, are hard to score against and restrict batsmen. Batsmen who play the format well score quickly, on short notice, and have good match awareness knowing what to do when.

Come on, be a bit more curious about the format, there are different skills than traditional cricket, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not skilful.

It is a different skill set. I notice in T20, you trying to get all sorts of shots as a bit of surprise tactic to the bowling team eg scoop shot, reverse sweep, swtich in bat , you do basically anything to score. Having power helps in the lower order or come the penultimate over or last over. Guys like: Michael Clarke, Joe Root as much as they are aesthetically pleasing to watch with their array of strokes, I feel wouldnt and havent really ever converted their styles of play to the T20 format. Even a player like Steve Smith, has been criticised a fair bit over the last 12-18 months for his adaption to the format. The game is a totally different beast.

Bowlers , have to have more variety in their bowling. And they use it more (in T20) to slow batters from scoring. Dot balls are a lot more valuable in the shortened form than in test cricket. The main case being is it builds pressure. In test cricket, usually its about building momentum of around 2-3 overs, with line and length, whether it be consecutively as a team or individual and is like a chess battle. To build pressure in T20 cricket on the opposing team is 2-3 dot balls can create a rash shot.


I enjoy test cricket and T20/The Hundred cricket but its almost now at a stage where your comparing swimming in a 1500 metres at the olympics compared to a 100 metres. You can be good at both but you really do need specialist players to be good at either format. Or even something like basketball , eg 3 x3 basketaball and an actual proper 40/48 minute game.

The games are very different and as evident more from the English set up, its heading in a way where specialist teams will be chose in future. I think a player like David Warner type may chose one form of cricket over the another, which would be a bit of a sad day. I heard an interview with one of the English prospects, Will Smeed, who I heard in an interview grew up not knowing much about test cricket, only really watching the shortened forms.

 

[peternorth]

Its gimmicky just like what T20 was in the beginning. But T20 has now become a massive industry and is probably the main form of the game that attracts supporters so if the league wants to be taken seriously it needs a more professional name imo instead of the gimmicky crap from the early days.

uniforms need work. look horrible, cheap and illfitting.

golden cap? ipl have that too but yes>

 

[corbies]

Yeh, I enjoy both, I find short form more accessible and easier to consume. It just works for my schedule and the time I have with other priorities.

I think in time, the people will decide which format is the dominant one based on which becomes the most popular. I think it will be T20 cricket, because things change in life and that's what the sport will develop into. Test cricket will still be what it is, but I think T20 has huge untapped growth potential.

Some will embrace it, some won't, but it growing over the next 20 years is in my eyes a certainty. The players will follow the money, once they reach a certain age, they'll aim to be earning a million bucks playing a dozen matches in the IPL for a few hours at a time, rather than slogging it out for 5 days in the sun on far less money.

Sport needs to adapt and evolve to keep up, as does everything in the world. If Test cricket can't do the same, it will lose talent to the format that does. Hence why I reckon they should try and split the Test cricket and BBL schedules as best they can.

I started writing a response to your initial post from last week but I just couldn't articulate what I was trying to say properly. My point was essentially the compact version of sport that can be consumed within 2-3 hours is already well covered in the market. If T20 cricket didn't exist I think people would just move on to the next consumable entertainment product without a whole lot of fuss.

A lot of us who were attracted to cricket were attracted to its differentiation from the rest of the sporting landscape. That is being heavily eroded for commercial viability and ability to advertise to a casual audience. Its not just in the form of the game but its need to now be franchise based with content created from the admin processes artificially to generate drama.

The need to homogenise sport to meet market forces and attract the most eyeballs makes total commercial sense and is inevitable once the sport reaches a certain level of professionalism. I also can't reasonably argue that our enjoyment and understanding of the game is more important than someone else's (although I'll probably try to/already have).

It doesn't mean we can't be sad about it even if our romanticism about the game was misplaced to start with. I understand that's not the point you were making, it just got me thinking about my own enjoyment of the sport holistically.

 

[madmug]

Predominantly test players can play T20.

Predominantly T20 players can rarely play tests. Warner stands out as the exception.

Considering we have 8 BBL teams & only one Test team, its quite obvious the best players get a test gig.

Even so, not all test players dominate the T20 scene. Maybe they might if they played more of it.

It does require a different skill set.

 

[The Passenger]

Developments in recent weeks/months are indicating a greatly reduced role of the international level in professional cricket, which I find quite sad.

I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a small 4-6 week window for test cricket in both the southern hemisphere and Northern hemisphere, whilst franchise competitions take up the majority of the calendar.

Hopefully it doesn't go that far because I think the sport itself will be poorer for it, but the money involved is just overpowering what the domestic boards can provide.

I'm not sure what this means for the BBL but given signings in the hundred, CSA and the UAE leagues, CA is going to need to go big in 22/23 because the competition is going to be under a lot of pressure.

 

[madmug]

Developments in recent weeks/months are indicating a greatly reduced role of the international level in professional cricket, which I find quite sad.

I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a small 4-6 week window for test cricket in both the southern hemisphere and Northern hemisphere, whilst franchise competitions take up the majority of the calendar.

Hopefully it doesn't go that far because I think the sport itself will be poorer for it, but the money involved is just overpowering what the domestic boards can provide.

I'm not sure what this means for the BBL but given signings in the hundred, CSA and the UAE leagues, CA is going to need to go big in 22/23 because the competition is going to be under a lot of pressure.

Yes, If the BBL becomes more 2nd rate, we may have to create something like a professional French cricket league for TV to keep the coach potato's interest up.

It just requires some lateral thinking from CA.