‘BBL is on every player’s bucket list to come and play’, says Dobson

New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) While franchise cricket is driving cricket’s global growth via various leagues worldwide, it means the players are spoilt for options to participate in the tournaments that can benefit them the most.

In the last few years, the window of Big Bash League (BBL) has seen South Africa’s SA20 and UAE’s ILT20 enter the fray of attracting best overseas cricketing talent, making it a crowded market. But Alistair Dobson, the General Manager of Big Bash Leagues (BBL), believes the tournament is still present on every player’s wishlist of featuring in during their playing careers.

“What we do know is in our discussions with players and agents around the world, who we’re in regular contact with all of them, that the BBL is still a destination of choice. It’s still on every player’s bucket list to come and play in the BBL in their career and I think the crowds we have and the venues we play in and the conditions that players play in continue to put us in really good shape.”

“We had really solid increase in the salary cap in both our leagues in the last MOU 12 months ago. So all those things put us in really good shape. We’ve made some changes to our contracting rules which allow some pre-signings outside the draft. So we feel like we’re in good shape. That said, it is an interesting time.”

“There’s lots of cricket going on around the world and players are rightly being rewarded for what they do for the game and the fans they bring in and the entertainment they provide. So we still feel like we’re in good shape with that, even though the competitive nature of the global market is growing every year. We’ve seen the players that have already been announced, signed with our BBL clubs and some to come suggest we’re still a really popular destination,” said Dobson to reporters in a virtual interaction on Monday.

Last week, Nick Hockley announced he will step down as Cricket Australia CEO in March 2025, bringing a five-year tenure to an end. Dobson hailed Hockley’s role in growing the BBL and WBBL respectively, as well as managing relationships with various stakeholders.

“Nick’s been an incredible supporter of the Big Bash from the moment he stepped into the role. Whether that’s the recent MOU with our players that saw such an increasing salary cap that Nick drove and obviously great relationships now with our broadcasters and a really strong media rights that Nick led that sees so much of the Big Bash whether it’s men’s or women’s on TV every night over the summer and such a great footprint.”

“He loves big crowds, big events and the Big Bash provides that right throughout the summer. So his fingerprints and legacy in the Big Bash will be here for a long time to come and we can’t wait to have another big summer and when he finishes up he’ll look back and hopefully see a really strong and vibrant men’s and women’s Big Bash that he was a part of,” he concluded.

–IANS

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