Cricket Australia hopes to capitalize on new format of Twenty20 ‘Big Bash’

MELBOURNE - Cricket Australia wants to capitalise on the popularity of the KFC Big Bash and faces one of the most important days in history on Friday when its senior officials plot a course to rescue the game’s fading popularity.

It has been planning for several years to try to recapture the hearts of young Australia by putting a six or eight-team Twenty20 competition smack bang in the middle of summer - Australia’s version of the Indian Premier League.

The teams would be city rather than state-based, so the Sydney Cityslickers or Waveriders - or something similar - would play instead of the NSW Blues.

According to Fox Sports, that in itself is a gamble because while you might be able to buy a cricket team you cannot buy history or the most cherished ingredient in any club’s framework - supporters’ hearts.

Endless meetings have failed to resolve key aspects of the competition - when it starts, how many teams it has, how players are chosen for it, whether franchises are privately owned. You cannot blame Australia for being cautious - the game’s future is at stake - but the time has arrived for tough, firm decisions.

If the competition is to start next season - as most officials hope it will - the CA board meeting is seen as the one which should roll out the rubber stamp. It is a bold move but one the game must take.

Cricket Australia officials have been given data which suggests the greatest crime they could make is to do nothing. The game’s growth has stagnated. It needs a pep pill.

If successful a new Twenty20 competition to replace the already successful Big Bash can revitalise the game in this country. If it fails, the scars will be deep and long-lasting. (ANI)