“Cut it down to five to six weeks”: Alex Hales bats for shorter BBL season alluring participation of high-profile overseas players

The Big Bash League is facing very tough competition from the upcoming T20 Leagues around the globe. SA20 League in South Africa and ILT20 League in UAE are set to start in the upcoming days, and the majority of the overseas players will head to these tournaments due to monetary benefits and shorter tournament lengths.

The majority of the overseas players playing in the BBL at the moment will now leave the tournament and move to their respective leagues. Big Bash League is a pretty long tournament, and it goes from December to February. The longer duration has been an issue for overseas players.

Till the 2018-19 season, there used to be just 31 games in the season, but it has been increased to 61 games since then. It is safe to say that the popularity of the tournament has gone down after that. However, the BBL is set to get shortened again, and it will be reduced to 43 games from the 2024-25 season after a bumper new deal till 2031.

Alex Hales bats for shorter BBL season

English batter Alex Hales has been a regular in the BBL season for the last few seasons now, but he will leave the tournament in between this time around. Sunday’s clash between Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder will be his last BBL 12 match. He said that it is very strange to leave BBL in between.

Hales said that BBL is a very long tournament, and it is tough for overseas players to commit as they can play multiple tournaments within the period and can earn a lot more as well. He insists that he wants to continue playing in BBL12, but the situation is not in his control.

“(The BBL) is just a very long tournament at the moment so it’s tough for people to commit to that when they can play two tournaments in the same timeframe that are probably a bit more lucrative,” Hales told AAP.

Hales said that a shortened BBL season will attract a lot more overseas players to play in the tournament. He insists that Australia is his favourite place to play cricket in the world. Hales also revealed that many of England’s top players wanted to play in the BBL during the T20 World Cup, but the longer duration is a roadblock.

“Everyone wants to come and play in Australia, If you cut it down to five to six weeks, you’d get way more commitment from overseas players,” Alex Hales added.

The shortened edition of the BBL will definitely help the tournament as the players will not have to leave the tournament in between in order to play in other T20 Leagues.