Cricket Australia Chief says Big Bash League to let in private investment to make it 2nd best league after Indian Premier League ‘unashamedly'
However, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was commissioned by CA have assess the current situation of the BBL. Last week, BCG submitted their report and also suggested a change in the scheduling of the league, which at this point starts mid-December annually.
CA CEO Todd Greenberg acknowledged allowing the private investments to make the league the next best league behind the Indian Premier League, and also that it would not go ahead if it were to displace the traditional Sydney New Year's Test and Boxing Day Test in Melbourne
'I hail from Sydney so I'd like to return back there at one point in time,' Greenberg said on SEN Radio on changing the SCG Test. 'So, no, it's certainly not on the agenda.'
'Well that's certainly the vision of everyone in cricket here in this country is to make sure that we run a league and we run a T20 tournament that is sitting just beside or behind or adjacent to the IPL,' Greenberg said.
'It's going to be very hard to chase the IPL, given the scale of cricket in India, but unashamedly, we want to run a league that comes second. And to do that we're going to need to make sure that player availability and player salaries are commensurate with everything else that goes on around the world, and there's one thing you need for that, you need money, you need investment. We'd be naive if we weren't asking ourselves these questions and making sure we've got an eye on what's next,' he added.
Greenber did suggest that BBL Is in a good state: 'Nothing has been decided at this point in time. The report does tell us that the BBL is in a very healthy position, but one thing we're sure of is we don't want to take that for granted. So it's incumbent on us, as leaders of the sport, to look at what the future might hold for us.'
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Deccan Herald
36 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
KSCA's pride turning into dead asset
Bengaluru: The M Chinnaswamy Stadium, one of Bengaluru's biggest landmarks, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The unfortunate events of June 4 have put the stadium's very existence in question. On that fateful day, lakhs of Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans assembled at the venue to celebrate their beloved team's maiden IPL win but their joy soon turned into tragedy as 11 of them lost their lives in the ensuing stampede as the ecstatic crowd pressed forward for a glimpse of their the iconic venue has attracted more than its share of attention in the last couple of months, there are at least four grounds in the mofussil centres that are crying for some action. Well-equipped enough to host first-class matches, including India A fixtures, the facilities in Mysuru, Shivamogga, Hubballi and Belagavi -- all built at a total cost of around Rs 75-85 crore -- have been reduced to KSCA's white elephants with little or no match allocations in the last three years. .Now, without a shadow of doubt, KSCA has been one of the pioneering bodies in domestic cricket in the country in not only taking the game to mofussil centres -- having built four fully functional grounds across the state that very few associations could boast about -- but also successfully tapping into the hinterland talent through the launch of its pioneering project Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW) wherein Talent Resource Development Officers (TRDO) would travel deep into the interiors of the state to unearth talents. Launched in 2001 during Brijesh Patel's second tenure as KSCA secretary, its success even inspired the Board of Control for Cricket in India to implement the system at the national level. .In later years when Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath assumed the association's reins, they focussed on developing infrastructure in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Subsequently, three brand new stadiums were commissioned in Shivamogga, Hubballi and Belagavi while the Gangotri Glades -- later renamed the Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Stadium -- was upgraded with better facilities. An unprecedented 60 turf wickets were laid across Karnataka, covering most of the districts. .Successive regimes over the years under different sets of administrators have shown vision and dedication to improve infrastructure in the aforementioned centres. All these venues have, or at least had, well-equipped dressing rooms, quality outfields, seating for spectators and practice facilities that have been deemed fit enough to host even India A games, in which the likes of Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Cheteshwar Pujara, among others, have taken part. .It was with this intent of popularising and developing the game that the successive administrators allotted Ranji Trophy and other first-class matches to smaller cities which certainly attract more crowds than you would ever see at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. That doesn't mean there are no takers for domestic cricket in Bengaluru, but the distance, traffic and matches on weekdays make it difficult for fans to turn up at the stadium. Also, Ranji matches are the only chance for fans in smaller cities to witness some of the internationals in action. .In the last four seasons, however, only three Ranji Trophy matches have been allotted to mofussil centres with all three of them falling in the 2023-24 season. While Hubballi hosted two, Mysuru got the other. Shivamogga had to contend with the CK Nayudu Trophy Trophy early last year and a few women's matches. Even the city-based Maharaja Trophy T20 was held only in Bengaluru the last year though Mysuru and Hubballi have successfully hosted the tournament on multiple occasions stampede: Legal action to be taken against RCB, KSCA as Cabinet accepts Justice D'Cunha's year, too, it was going to be restricted to only M Chinnaswamy Stadium but the tragic events of June 4 still casting long and dark shadows over the venue, the city police denied KSCA the permission to host the event. With no choice, the event had to be shifted to Mysuru. .But why not split the matches between Mysuru and Hubballi? And what about the Ranji Trophy matches in the upcoming season? What's the fate of the Women's World Cup matches that Chinnaswamy has been allotted?.DH's attempt to reach out to KSCA president Raghuram Bhat didn't elicit any response. .Karnataka were fortunate to get four Ranji Trophy home matches each in the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons. But the KSCA dispensation held all the matches in the former left-arm spinner took over as president in 2022, he had cited paucity of time as the reason for not hosting any game outside of Bengaluru. KSCA did conduct three matches outside of Bengaluru the next season before deciding to have all four matches in the capital the last Dayanand Shetty rued lack of cricket in the Hubballi region. "We neither get KPL (Maharaja T20), nor Ranji Trophy matches. The stadium (at Rajnagar) sees no activity almost throughout the year. Even the players who have played at the regional level in KSCA recognised leagues aren't allowed to have "nets". I don't understand the point of having a facility and not using it.."We were next only to Bengaluru and Mysuru in terms of performance, but now our teams are losing to even Tumkuru and Ballari sides. We have complained to KSCA officials in Bengaluru about this apathy but no one seems to care," he lamented. .Ranji Trophy and 'A' games are the only top-end fixtures smaller cities get to host, and if they are denied even these contests, then those venues will turn into white elephants, defeating the KSCA's avowed purpose of strengthening the roots of the game beyond the State capital.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Rashid Khan Opens Up On Rehab Mistakes, How A Break Helped Him Rediscover His Best Following Back Surgery
Afghanistan star spinner Rashid Khan, currently participating in The Hundred in the UK, opened up on how he made a mistake by returning to cricket just a few months after a back surgery following the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, which led to a decline in his performance. The spinner also admitted that, in desperation to perform well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with Gujarat Titans (GT), he over-exerted himself in the training, feeling he was "letting his team down." The IPL 2025 season was Rashid's worst ever, as he took nine wickets in 15 matches, averaging a disappointing 57.11 and leaking runs at an economy rate of 9.34. He was taken to the cleaners by the capped and uncapped talent alike as he was tonked for 33 sixes. The season saw him struggle with his speed and accuracy. However, following a two-month break after the IPL, Rashid came back better than ever, crossing the 650-run mark with a match-sealing 3/11 for defending champions Oval Invincibles' win over London Spirit at Lord's. In a chat with ESPNCricinfo, Rashid admitted failing to grasp the doctor's advice following his back surgery. "After IPL, I needed the kind of break where my body gets back to normal," Rashid said. "I worked a little bit on my strength. And especially coming back from back surgery, I had not had much time to rehab properly. That's where I made a mistake to restart my cricket so quickly at that time. And I feel like I did not let myself properly recover, and I pushed it a little bit at that time, and I can see the disadvantage of that now. But after IPL [2025], I felt like I needed that kind of two months off where I could just focus on my fitness," said Rashid. "And when I came on Tuesday, I felt so good, in a good rhythm, and the ball was coming nicely out of my hand, and [my] body was allowing me to go through. So these things matter a lot - sometimes you do not think about that a lot; you just try your best to push yourself. But I feel to be out of the game for some time and focus on my fitness - and also [focus] mentally and physically - that played a huge role," he added. On a sluggish Lord's pitch, Rashid bowled at speeds varying between 94-98 kph and looked in total control. "On Tuesday, I was bowling at 94-98 kph - that is my pace, and the speeds I am known to bowl at. I feel I was missing that before because my body was not allowing me to go through my action with that full energy. Last night, against Spirit, when I came to bowl, I was getting that good feeling, and I was touching that speed with which I could put the batsman in trouble, and also not allow him much time to read from the surface," he added. After a few months of his back surgery, despite a warning to pay attention to his rehab, Rashid started playing competitive cricket from March 2024 onwards against Ireland, mostly T20Is, though. He was also a part of Afghanistan's historic run to the semifinals in the T20 World Cup 2024. Soon after that, he faced niggles in his back and hamstrings, causing him to miss the Big Bash League (BBL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL). In January 2025, he played some Test cricket, playing the second Zimbabwe Test at Bulawayo, bowling a combined 55 overs and picking up 11 wickets. But the toll of these marathon spells was felt during the Champions Trophy and the IPL. In the CT, he could pick just one wicket in three matches and leaked runs at an economy rate of 6.25. "When I came back to cricket after surgery, I was told not to rush back in the longer formats [Tests and ODIs] that quickly as that was not going to help me," Rashid said. "About eight to nine months after I had started to play post-surgery, I bowled 65 [55] overs in the Bulawayo Test. That really pushed my back a little bit, and I felt it at that time. I should not have been in whites." "In T20s, it is fine - you can manage yourself - but for the longer formats, I was advised that you should be away from that format for some time. That is the kind of mistake I have made. But the team needed that. At that time, we had lost a few games in Test cricket, but that is something where I rushed myself a little bit, and I did not give myself time, and I felt it later on. Yes, I think I have done a mistake where my body was not allowing me that and I am facing a problem. The thing i,s the stiffness in your back does not allow you to go with full rhythm," he added. During the IPL, the spin wizard admitted trying too many things and bowling too many overs in the training sessions. "I was trying my best to get back on track and deliver the best for the team, and do what I am famous for, what I am known for. But sometimes, you are trying your best, you are pushing yourself too much, [and] it doesn't help. You just need to try to be relaxed and cool down, and let the things [be] - it will be fine. You just need to not put too much of pressure on yourself. I was going to the nets every day, sometimes bowling 15-16 overs at one go," he added. Rashid felt that he was "letting everyone down" and even consulted GT's coaching staff regarding his bowling, as he felt good bowling in the nets. Now, looking back, spinner admits the needs to "calm down" and accept one could have "bad days or years". "Sometimes you just need to calm down. You do have bad days, [and] you have bad years, and you have to accept that; it's not like you are going to be on top all the time. These things just teach you so many good things. And that is something which I should have taken - like yes, it is fine. I shouldn't be pushing myself too much. I am positive that I am working hard, but it is just a matter of time it will come," he said. Rashid was also aware given the status and intensity IPL had, people were bound to question if he was past his prime. "Everyone then talk about like, 'Okay, what happened? Is he done?' Is it this, [or] that? But for me, I was just missing my length," he said. When he entered the IPL in 2017, Rashid bowled an economy of just six runs per over until 2022. By the next year, batters, especially right-handers, had a freer, attacking approach against him, with his economy rate gradually increasing to 8.57 (2023), 8.84 (2024) and 9.69 (2025) against the right-handers, as compared to just 5.95 in the 2017 season, which marked his debut. A few seasons ago, Rashid's balls-per-six ratio was 43, but by 2025, it was 10. Rashid was aware of these numbers, but didn't feel too concerned. "Before, when I was bowling 24 balls (four overs per T20 innings), I was missing pitching them on length for like four or five balls. But then the number went up to eight or nine balls. And in those eight to nine balls, they are scoring those extra couple of sixes and couple of big boundaries. I just needed to decrease that. Nothing else. It is not like of the 24 balls, I was bowling every ball badly, [or] I was bowling wides and full tosses. I knew it is going to be fine," he added. Rashid pulled out of the Major Cricket League (MLC), where he represents MI New York, in June after a chat with coaches made him extent of stress he was putting his body under and unable to go with the "full flow". During his time away from the game, he did a lot of strength training, especially for his lower back and did some spot bowling two to three times a week, along with some batting. The gym work gained more focus. The spinner, who got married last October, also got to spend more time with the family, which left him feeling relaxed. "After IPL finished, for three weeks, I did not touch the ball. I spent most of my time with my family, [and] my nephews - going around with them, [and] had fun - just to take all those memories and stuff and bad days out of my mind, and then restart with the cricket. That is what I did just to be refreshed, and then got back on track and got back bowling in the right spot," he added. The break seems to have impacted Rashid positively, as before coming back to The Hundred, he played four matches for Speen Ghar Tigers, in Afghanistan's T20 tournament, picking up 4/19 in the last match. Now, Rashid will be hoping to carry the momentum forward as Invincibles aim to make it a hat-trick of titles.
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Promise and learnings: Sai Sudharsan's foray into Test cricket
B. Sai Sudharsan has been making rapid strides in the last four years. The 23-year-old set the stage on fire earlier this year in the IPL, finishing at the top of the run charts (759 runs). The left-hander, who has already donned the India colours in ODIs and T20Is, added another feather to his cap in June when he made his Test debut against England in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy that ended 2-2. Though Sai Sudharsan played only three Tests and had middling returns (140 runs) with a highest score of 61, the Tamil Nadu batter showed promise in challenging conditions. 'To be honest, the feeling on Test debut was completely different [to the other formats]. Everyone used to say Test cricket is the ultimate, and I finally experienced it. The feeling when I was standing for the national anthem was special... especially playing in England,' Sai Sudharsan told The Hindu. Wearing the India jersey in a Test series at England… it's a feeling I will never forget. Every moment, every session taught me something new. This win is special 🇮🇳🙏 — Sai Sudharsan (@sais_1509) August 4, 2025 On his performance, Sai Sudharsan rued not converting his starts but was happy with the control he showed in the middle. 'It was disappointing not to convert after getting those starts, and I should have made a big knock. I felt it was one of the most significant learnings. Having got through the difficult phase, in India, you could open up and be aggressive. But in England, you have to keep it tight and do what you did in the first hour. These are things I want to learn and structure my batting around,' he explained. 'Even if we have a great season, we will have points to improve. But if it is just an OK series like this, there are a lot of areas to work on, whether it's the mindset or even from a run-making point of view.' Further elaborating on the technical learnings, he added: 'There are a few things that I can improve on, like tracking the ball well, and even timing the ball better. Those things will help me to be in a better position when the ball is swinging or seaming. I need to get more refined on these things, which will help me face any difficult situation I might face in the future.' Sai Sudharsan emphasised that the new-look Indian team's mindset was to beat England. 'It was a great series for us. The captain (Shubman Gill) played some unbelievable knocks. Right from the first meeting, it was clear we were not coming in as a new team looking to gain experience, but to dominate.' On the team's morale heading into the final morning at The Oval when England needed 35 runs with four wickets in hand, Sai Sudharsan said: 'We went in believing we could level the series. The fast bowlers bowled their heart out on the fourth evening, and it was their effort that kept us in the game. So once the rain came, they could come fresh on the final morning and win the game.'
