BBL star’s drastic solution to international exodus

Cricket Australia is facing the prospect that every single platinum player announced on Monday for the overseas draft on August 28 could be confirming they’re only staying for the first part of the tournament before jetting out to take up more lucrative offers from the UAE and South Africa.

At the most the BBL might get one platinum star committing for the entire seven-week season – not an unexpected result – but one that showcases the extreme battle the BBL faces to keep big name internationals in Australia when the cash being offered abroad is so astronomical.

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Afghan leg-spinning superstar Rashid, who will himself only stay in the BBL for 8-10 games before heading to the UAE, insists the mass exit is not all about money and called on CA bosses to slash the current seven-week duration.

“I think the shorter it is the best it will be,” Rashid told News Corp.

“If you go around the world to all the leagues (with the exception of the IPL), they’re not that long and it takes 25-30 days where the league just finishes up.

“Definitely in future as a player, you always want to start the competition and you want to finish that competition. I’m not a fan of leaving the team in the middle.

“Last year as well, I was there in Australia for 75 days but I still missed the last three or four games to play (due to national duty).

“ … I think the shorter the league, the maximum amount of the players will be available to play the full competition.”

Rashid is almost without question the No. 1 player in the inaugural BBL draft, but appears certain to be retained by the Adelaide Strikers, where he was born as a global T20 star.

The 23-year-old feels enormous loyalty and gratitude to the BBL as one of the leagues that launched his extraordinary career, and has declared that despite the exploding competition around the world, the Bash is still one of the best tournaments there is.

The challenge for CA is maintaining that status in a fiercely competitive T20 market where the biggest chequebook invariably wins – and length of season must be addressed when the next TV rights broadcast deal is signed in two year‘s’ time.

“I always enjoyed playing Big Bash. It’s one of the top three. (In terms of) leagues you enjoy the most and the competition is pretty hard,” said Rashid.

“Toughest cricket there and it makes you mentally (stronger) and skills wise better and better.

“(But) I think a month (long season) is something which does allow you to have the maximum amount of the best players playing the whole competition.”

Teams must take at least one platinum ($340,000) or gold ($260,000) level player in the draft, and financially there is no reason why clubs shouldn’t take someone from the top shelf given CA is propping up the $80,000 difference between gold and platinum contracts.

However, there is talk that the Perth Scorchers may decline to sign a platinum player because they will want someone available for the entire BBL season.

It’s unclear how many gold level players will be available for the full duration, but a team like the Scorchers may prefer to sacrifice on international quality for a tradesman who will commit for the full seven weeks.

That defeats the purpose of what the draft was created for – with CA and broadcasters determined to inject genuine star power into the early weeks of the BBL.

Other clubs like the Brisbane Heat are likely to take a different view though, and feel that if a superstar like Faf du Plessis, Liam Livingstone or Keiron Pollard can win them a few games early in the season, then it will be worth the investment, before their places are hopefully taken by returning Australian Test stars for the second half of the tournament.

It’s possible the Melbourne Renegades might look to take Rashid Khan as the No. 1 pick and at least force Adelaide to match the offer – because it’s essentially a free hit. The Renegades would then get the next pick anyway.

Rashid has already been in dialogue with Strikers coach Jason Gillespie and expects to be in Adelaide again.

“I did have the chat and definitely, I’m not thinking about any other team to be playing for. I’m more than 100 per cent sure I’ll be able to play for the Strikers,” said Rashid.

UGLY BIG BASH FEUD AVERTED, BUT MORE TROUBLE INCOMING

Cricket Australia looks set to broker a peace deal with Chris Lynn, while Steve Smith will be given until the 11th hour to play BBL despite declining to sign with the Sydney Sixers now.

Sources say Lynn could play more than half of the Big Bash season with the Adelaide Strikers before leaving to take up a big money deal in the new T20 league in the UAE with CA’s blessing.

The pragmatic compromise being worked towards by CA boss Nick Hockley would save the game from the prospect of an ugly legal showdown with Lynn who might have been motivated to challenge any move to block him from going to the UAE as a restraint of trade in court.

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It’s not a perfect result to have the BBL’s greatest ever run-scorer walking out on the competition mid-season, but it beats the alternative of him not playing any part in the summer at all after he was dumped by the Brisbane Heat earlier in the year and unveiled as a signing by the UAE.

Nothing has been finalised with Lynn but there is confidence a deal can be agreed upon which gives Lynn and CA enough of what they’re both after.

The worry would be that the compromise with Lynn could set a dangerous precedent for future Australian stars eyeing big money from Dubai and feeling they can have their cake and eat it too, but the Queenslander is a unique case as a 32-year-old veteran with no local contract tying him down.

Cricket Australia is making inroads on improving the Big Bash by taking a horses for courses approach to handling each individual case – with a landmark offer to David Warner to play in the BBL with the Sydney Thunder instead of heading to the UAE the prime example.

But another complex case has emerged in Steve Smith.

The Sydney Sixers were hoping to lock Smith away now, but the batting great has told club powerbrokers he is unsure about whether he will need a rest at that time and therefore doesn’t want to take up a roster spot which could go to a player committed to the entire season.

But there is also the question of whether Smith ought to be entitled to a CA topped up contract like Warner, rather than simply accepting an average deal included in the salary cap.

Whether or not the Sixers choose to keep a roster spot upon for Smith in the hope he changes his mind come the end of the Test summer will depend on how they perform in the upcoming BBL draft on August 28.

If the club feels they have all bases covered in the batting department, the club may decide to move on and fill that 18th roster spot with a younger domestic talent.

However, even if the Sixers fill up all their spots, CA is vowing to also show its pragmatism with Smith and not lock him out should he change his mind and fancy a few BBL games.

Last summer Smith was controversially blocked from signing with the Sixers, because rival clubs felt he should have gone into a pool which would have made him available for all teams to have an equal crack at.

But there would be no repeat of that this summer, and sources say the BBL would find a way to help the Sixers get Smith onto their books as a replacement player if he does change his mind late.

It’s understood Warner also expressed concerns to the Sydney Thunder about taking an opportunity that could go to a younger player but was assured they had the space in their cap – and a void in the XI – after losing Usman Khawaja in the off-season.

There is an acceptance that fast bowling stars Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood won’t play BBL due to the workload of the Test summer and the fact a massive Test tour of India will immediately follow in February.

However, Cricket Australia is determined to convince all other Australian Test stars to play.

Marnus Labuschagne joined Khawaja in signing on with the Brisbane Heat on Thursday, but losing Smith from the competition would be a huge blow.

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