Will Big Bash Make An Impact?

Australia will become the latest country to start their own lucrative Twenty20 cricket competition when this Friday the Sydney Sixers take on the Brisbane Heat at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It’s certainly had its fair share of hype, with each of the states ditching their traditional colours for more 80’s-retro outfits, some of which are cringe worthy.

Worryingly, it joins the IPL in India as a franchise-based slog fest.

Yes, it will draw massive crowds and will probably be viewed in the bigger picture as a successful competition.

However, my biggest concern continues to be the integrity of the sport when it comes to such tournaments.

Businessman and investors are only looking for one thing out of leagues like the aforementioned; money. They know that income will come and lots of it, so really it’s a no brainer.

You could argue that all sport these days is money-based and you’re probably right. However, when you look around the world at other sports, the most heavily invested sports and teams are playing at the highest level.

Take Manchester City in the English Premier League. Absolutely ridiculous amounts of money being spent by the sheiks, but now City are challenging for the title in arguably the best league in the world.

There can be no doubt that Twenty20 cricket is the glamour side of cricket. Test cricket is still the ultimate level. But with competitions like the Big Bash, money is thrown at players to play a form of cricket that requires less skill.

Twenty20 may be the younger brother to Test cricket, but boy he’s getting more girls than Test cricket had all his life.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Twenty20 cricket is great fun and I’ll definitely be heading down to the SCG for a few games this season. But the long term future of test cricket does worry me.

With more tournaments like this, the crowds only get smaller during tests. Therefore the less financial backing and eventually serious complications will have to be looked at.

Twenty20 cricket is important for cricket worldwide, as long as the players know that test cricket will forever be the greatest check on ability, character and determination.

For more information regarding the upcoming Big Bash League, visit the following link for all the news: http://www.weekendnotes.com/big-bash-league/.