Find A BBL Friend: May The Kiwi BBL Arms Race Begin
Dap me up bruv.
Earlier this week it was announced that Auckland Aces had linked up with Hobart Hurricanes to join forces, share wisdom and play some cricket together. As the Hurricanes are a Big Bash League franchise, this mainly exists within the T20 realm and will see both teams prepare for their respective T20 competitions with a warm-up fixture in Auckland. There's also another interesting wrinkle to this as it also includes women's cricket, ensuring a relationship between Hobart's Women's Big Bash League team and Auckland Hearts.
Basically, it's a collaboration between Auckland Cricket and Hobart Hurricanes. This is very similar to the collaboration between Canterbury Cricket and Sydney Thunder, although I'm not sure of the current status of this partnership; Sydney also share such a partnership with Lahore Qalandars (Pakistan) where they share resources and Lahore's 'Rising Stars' team are currently in a quadrangular tournament with Thunder, Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes' academy teams.
The Auckland x Hobart collabo is also super funky because it includes the women's side of things as well, which I don't think the Canterbury x Sydney Thunder collabo featured.
When Canterbury started their partnership and now with Auckland starting theirs, a lot of the focus is being put on the games. The crux of this Auckland partnership is that it offers warm-up games for all teams involved and in both instances (Canterbury and Auckland) hype was placed around seeing the Thunder and Hurricanes in Aotearoa. For me however, as this is now a trend of kiwi associations, I'm far more intrigued in the scope of these partnerships and what it means for Super Smash cricket.
I've made no secret of my view on the future of the Super Smash and my prediction is that the continual rise of the BBL will coincided with a decrease in the relevance and significance of the Super Smash. This is largely based on the premise that it is very difficult/near impossible for kiwi cricketers to play in both tournaments and as players want to play in the best competitions (for the most money), players will be forced to chose between the two competitions. BBL is a clear winner.
What would ruin my prediction is if NZC saw this coming and altered the schedule of the Super Smash to allow kiwi cricketers to celebrate T20 cricket in Aotearoa and play BBL. At the moment, NZC are doing the opposite by scheduling the Super Smash and silly T20 internationals at the same time.
This comes with NZC putting their eggs in the Super Smash basket by scheduling it at peak holiday time - wanting big crowds and lots of cash - while also scheduling their plethora of limited overs Blackcaps cricket at the same time. That means that the best players in Aotearoa aren't playing much Super Smash; best players results in the best entertainment.
Given that, I'm not overly confident in NZC's foresight to align with the BBL. They haven't shown any foresight in sussing out their own competition and this is likely to result in a dramatic outcome where players opt to play BBL, instead of Super Smash and perhaps instead of Blackcaps T20 games.
In a weird twist, Auckland seamer Mitchell McClenaghan signed with Sydney Thunder recently and not Hobart. Ah and what'd'ya'know, one of the best T20 bowlers in Aotearoa won't be playing much Super Smash, he'll be playing BBL. Then you have Brendon McCullum; get the picture?
Now I'm super interested in how the future of these partnerships could look. If I were NZC or a kiwi association, I'd be aligning with BBL and while the focus is on the warm-up games, the relationships formed between the parties involved is far more important with the growth of BBL in mind. What you need to remember is the BBL franchises aren't concerned with developing talent for Australia's benefit, that is the role of Cricket New South Wales for example. Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers are out to win cricket games, everything is designed to win games and be the biggest, best BBL franchise.
This is franchise sport, with a salary cap of $1.4milly. So as part of my overall prediction, I'm imagining a scenario where (purely an example) the Hurricanes identify an Auckland youngster as a player they want to develop into a BBL gun. The Hurricanes can sign this player for a multi-year deal that locks them in on lower salary that fits their age/status, thus allowing the Hurricanes to better manage their salary cap with a player who offers a package they don't already have in their system.
Take Glenn Phillips, to further this example. The Hurricanes could sign Phillips up for a few years and the salary wouldn't be huge as Phillips definitely has potential, but it's potential. You're only allowed two overseas players in the squad of 18 and you're wise to splash cash on those contracts, but you're also allowed two 'replacement overseas players'. Phillips could be on standby and if he's needed, he'll go join the Hurricanes where they get Phillips relatively cheap.
The major pay-off is in a year or two, when Phillips is a legit T20 gun and Hobart get the return on their investment. Or Hobart could just make Phillips their overseas player right now, but with the idea on investing in Phillips for the future. This would allow Hobart to spend more money on top-tier Australian talent and they'll have one of the best young hitters in Aotearoa on their books.
Cheap, young, Australian talent is the ideal scenario for these BBL teams which is why they pour resources into their academies. Cheap, young talent is next and young kiwis are going to be in demand in the near future, especially with these collaborations between BBL franchises and kiwi associations that we're seeing. The super-ideal scenario would be where the BBL alter some rules to allow for a kiwi roster spot to not count as 'overseas' players, some sort of dispensation. That's the holy grail and you can forget about BBL team from Aotearoa and instead hope for kiwi cricketers not being overseas players as the best outcome overall.
How would this benefit Auckland or any other kiwi association? The BBL franchises would make this financially appealing when agreements are reached - maybe Hobart are giving some dosh to Auckland? - or there could be a reimbursement when a player contributes to a BBL team. On top of that, we could see BBL franchises help kiwi associations with coaching, off-season trips, resources, sponsorships; there are many ways this could be highly beneficial for kiwi associations other than straight up cash.
Ultimately though, the kiwi associations will at the very least have a relationship with a BBL franchise and that's the most important reward. The alternative is that a player leaves their association and joins a BBL franchise as an individual, which is evident in the cases of McClenaghan and McCullum; Auckland don't get any benefit in McClenaghan playing for the Thunder.
Northern Districts probably didn't get much in return when Ish Sodhi left their Super Smash campaign to play a few games for Adelaide Strikers.
When Henry Nicholls played for Sydney Thunder, well that was during the Canterbury x Thunder collabo so they got reimbursed.
Auckland probably didn't get anything in return when Colin Munro played for Sydney Sixers.
With the landscape that has been designed by NZC, kiwi associations would be wise to ensure that there is at least some return for their players opting to further their careers in the BBL. They can't trust that the Super Smash will follow the BBL's trajectory and I reckon there'll be an arm's race to align with BBL franchises. That's where the money is for players and associations can either follow suit, or watch from the sidelines.
Peace and love 27.
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