Australian cricket may be fundamentally changed by the outcomes of a meeting between Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and his state counterparts in Melbourne on Monday.
A model for the restructuring and possible sale of private stakes in Big Bash League clubs is the major reason for the conclave, but there are wider issues also at stake.
The shape of the CA board itself may well come under review as a result of the meeting, with some states pushing for a return to a more representative group of board members, directly appointed by their states.
This model was advocated recently by Greg Chappell in a column for this masthead.
South Australia, chaired by Will Rayner, and New South Wales, chaired by John Knox, have in recent years both butted heads with CA over certain directions taken by the central governing body.
Knox’s face-to-face meeting with Baird, who was nominated by CNSW to join the CA board and ultimately become chair, will be a key aspect of the day. Under the game’s current structure, CA is effectively owned by the six state associations and handing out annual cash distributions, meaning the CA board’s ability to make strategic decisions is somewhat limited.
Under the plan, the BBL will likely be carved out of CA into a separate commercial entity that will oversee any future privatisation and also be a taxable entity under Australian law – unlike the not-for-profit status of CA and the state associations.
Cricket Victoria, which will send a board director as the alternative for absent chair Ross Hepburn, is set to be challenged over its decision to merge the staff of the Melbourne Stars and Renegades and also extinguish the two brands.
While the licences are technically owned by CA, debate is expected over whether the teams will remain as the Stars and Renegades for this summer at least.
The Australian Cricketers Association, which will not be represented at the meeting, informed the players of their opposition to the proposed sale model over the weekend.
The “self-determination model” shared with state chief executives last week would allow for states to take full ownership of their clubs, with CA covering the cost of any salary cap increases until 2031, while all states would retain the option to sell stakes or not. States that sell 100 per cent of a club – as CV are hoping to do with the Melbourne Renegade – would keep 51 per cent of the proceeds, with 49 per cent to go to CA.
A central “future fund” has also been agreed, with the money to be limited to certain strategic uses, and also ring-fenced until after the expiry of the current rights deal in 2031.
Whatever the outcomes, there is agreement across the unruly federation that the BBL salary cap will have to be significantly grown in the coming seasons in order to retain and attract the best talent while also attracting better media rights value when the current deal with Foxtel and Seven expires in 2031.
Media rights expert Colin Smith, who has advised Cricket Australia on broadcast deals and also the IOC on cricket’s recent inclusion in the Los Angeles Olympics, said that without a salary cap rise, Australian cricket was looking at a considerable rights fee downturn.
“If they stay with the status quo in some form, that will mean the next round of rights will reduce in value,” Smith told this masthead. “They won’t get increases out of the BBL, and unless they get England and India every second year, the value of Test cricket will reduce as well.
“What that means is CA’s revenues will be really challenged. The key challenge to drive revenues into the sport is to make the BBL a thriving league alongside Test cricket. The opportunity cricket has got is to make the BBL really compelling, by making sure the star players are playing, both Australian stars and also international stars.
“They have to ensure the BBL is more commercial and more attractive to fans because that has a significant advantage for television. They need a compelling summer sport that will hold audiences.”
Smith is an advocate for a centrally managed BBL club sale process, similar to what the ECB did with the eight clubs in the Hundred competition last year, but noted that the main concern for CA was diversifying its revenue to be less reliant on international cricket’s fluctuations.
“Currently the rights would be about 80 per cent for Tests and about 20 per cent for BBL and other content,” he said of the seven-year, $1.5 billion deal signed in 2023. “We also know that ODIs at national team level don’t attract attendances any more, nor does it attract viewership.
“ODIs will retain their part in cricket for the World Cup, that still has strong value, but in terms of [bilateral] tours, it’s not going to happen any more.”
Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.
