CA to allow BBL franchises to sign overseas players to multi-year deals; WBBL to see 40 games – Reports

In what has been the latest development as per the reports in AAP, it is learned that Cricket Australia is all set to bring massive changes in the Big Bash League (BBL). The governing body will be allowing franchises to sign overseas early for multi-year deals before the draft.

This will allow BBL franchises to take complete control over the players. They will be able to agree on a pre-draft multi-year offer with one overseas player, allowing them to play the cricketer for the entire tournament, and prevent them from leaving the league midway to compete in other leagues.

The changes are expected to be announced next week. Under the new rules, a player signing a contract with the BBL franchises will be allowed to play a minimum of three international games, which will be selected by the clubs. This will depend on the category of the contracts in platinum, gold, or silver-round pick depending on their salary.

It is learned that BBL franchises will be having no restrictions on which player to select. This will allow them to sign another franchise’s overseas talent. The cricketers who sign contracts will have flexibility if they have already signed deals with other leagues around the world.

However, they won’t be given any leeway from the 2025-26 seasons. The reports also claimed that the ILT20, which used to be played alongside BBL in the January-February window, is likely to be shifted to the November window from the next season onwards. This will be a huge positive for the Australian-based league.

This will allow players to take part in the entire edition of the BBL. The only concern for the tournament will now be SA20, which is played during the same window. However, with franchises offering multi-year deals to overseas players might change things for them.

Women’s BBL to be reduced from 56 games to 40 matches from next season – Reports

The reports also claimed that Women’s BBL is all set to be reduced from 56 games to 40 matches from next season. The women’s competition is likely to be moved to a 10-round season in a similar format to the men’s. The tournament next season will be under huge scanner, especially with the Women’s T20 World Cup at the same time.

This means that the next edition of the Women’s BBL will be played without International players. The reports claimed that Cricket Australia wants the tournament to be 40-game because it will allow them to create a better schedule and context for matches apart from maintaining the number of games on free-to-air TV.

Both Cricket Australia and the players are keen to play as many matches as possible and therefore officials would be deciding on how to replace the games that will be reduced from the BBL.

Two options have gained the limelight- one is organizing the state-based T20 league. This would result in a financial gain for players, who earn match fees playing state cricket as opposed to a salary in the WBBL. The other option would be to play more warm-up games in WBBL colors.