Australia’s T20 Big Bash League will be holding more matches from the upcoming seasons, claimed the BBL chief Anthony Everard. As per the reports, eight more matches will be added to the schedule.
The addition of the games doesn’t necessarily mean adding another week to its length, as Cricket Australia is trying to balance the swelling tournament with the international summer and the domestic competitions also to take place.
BBL chief said there is a window to fit extra matches and even the school holiday period could be cropped for it. He further added BBL final has happened in the first week of February in past and can also be kept as an option, omitting more pressure of hosting more than two matches on a single day.
Going by Everard’s words, the plan wasn’t penned down in this season, and rather was roaming in the minds of directors from past 18 months.
“We feel we could fit the extra games within the existing window if we wanted to. There’s no question the school holiday period and the window we currently occupy has proved very popular with fans. Alternatively we could push it out by one week and play the BBL final in that first weekend of February, which is actually what we did a couple of years ago. So we’ve got those options available to us.”
Happy with the response of the matches in this and past couple of seasons, Everard said fans won’t mind watching their side playing an extra home game, and that the head management is doing their best to make it happen.
“We felt adding the extra eight games, one more home game per club was the best way of driving the BBL strategy and attracting new fans. That decision was made late last year, and we’ve got a busy couple of months now to bring it to life’, he said.
The final of 2016/17 season of BBL will take place between Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers at the WACA in Perth.