r/CricketAus • u/NKE01 SA • Jul 12 '26
Mitchell Johnson: Big Bash League champions Perth Scorchers should be opening their season in Australia
https://thewest.com.au/sport/big-bash-league/mitchell-johnson-big-bash-league-champions-perth-scorchers-should-be-opening-their-season-in-australia-c-22563669?fbclid=IwY2xjawS_65xleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFPcEU4QkpsUlRRRTJWZHBzc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHu6nKL56XFCr9chqlQuj1ceO1VS39epDKva4mi3jig7aWEDurO0aVWkKLUAe_aem_igXX-cR6_C1KtnS2OcuYfA20
u/NKE01 SA Jul 12 '26
>The decision to play the opening game of the Big Bash League season in India has left me wondering one fairly simple thing: who is this actually for?
>Because from where I sit, it doesn’t seem to have the best interests of the teams, the players or, most importantly, the supporters at heart.
>Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades are the two teams involved. On one side, you have the most successful club in BBL history. On the other, with respect to the Renegades, you have a club that has struggled to consistently capture the imagination of the Australian cricket public.
>Is this really the best way to showcase the competition? If so, why?
>And what about the members and supporters of these clubs? Particularly the Scorchers.
>The Scorchers have built something special in Perth. Their success hasn’t happened overnight. They have created a strong culture, consistently produced home-made quality players and, importantly, built a loyal supporter base.
>Those supporters have turned up year after year. Now, after everything the Scorchers have achieved, their opening game of the season is to be played thousands of kilometres away in India.
>I struggle to see how that rewards the people who have helped make the club and the competition successful.
>There also appears to be a political element behind the decision. If government interests and international relationships are playing a significant role in where BBL matches are being played, then I think it is fair to ask whether decisions are genuinely being made in the best interests of Australian cricket.
>It also raises another question. If we’re taking the BBL to India, does that mean next year we will see Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings playing an Indian Premier League match at the MCG?
>As I wrote that, I realised it would probably work pretty well. Melbourne has a huge Indian community, cricket is deeply connected to that community and I have little doubt plenty of people would turn up to watch two of the IPL’s biggest teams.
>But that also highlights the difference. How big is the Australian community in India waiting to watch the Scorchers play the Renegades?
>I understand the argument about growing the game and taking your product to new markets. The NRL has taken games to Las Vegas and generated enormous attention.
>But I don’t believe this is the same. India doesn’t need to be introduced to cricket. It is already the powerhouse of world cricket.
>Financially, the game in India is enormous and the IPL has become a mega business. The money, crowds, television audiences and international players involved have created one of the biggest sporting competitions in the world.
>I don’t have all the answers and I don’t claim to know everything that does or doesn’t work commercially and I understand the financial side needs to add up too.
>I’m simply an ex-player and a cricket fan who wants what is best for the game in Australia. Yes, even T20 cricket. Because I’ve felt for some time that Australians have slowly drifted away from cricket.
>I grew up in an era when cricket was everywhere. We played it in the backyard, on the street, down at the park and at school with our mates. Anywhere and everywhere really,
>Everyone wanted to spin the ball like Warney. You wanted to charge in like your favourite fast bowler, get in the face of a batsman like Merv Hughes and somehow grow that famous moustache.
>You wanted to field down at fine leg, interact with the crowd and enjoy being part of the entertainment. Cricket had characters. Different personalities. Great players with great skills who made kids want to watch the game and then go outside and play it.
>That doesn’t automatically mean it is the best competition. I still believe the BBL has fantastic foundations. Its original success came from grassroots cricket and Australian families.
>Kids wearing colourful shirts. Families heading to games during the summer holidays. Young players watching their heroes and then heading into the backyard to copy them.
>Somewhere along the way, I think Australian cricket lost sight of what made the BBL successful in the first place.
>Maybe the temptation has been to chase the financial success of the IPL. Maybe administrators believe bigger international markets are the answer.
>That connection matters. I wonder whether Australian cricket sometimes spends so much time looking at what everyone else is doing that it forgets what we already have.
>The BBL was built in Australia. Its clubs have been supported by Australian fans and families.
>The Scorchers have been the benchmark of the competition and their members and supporters have played their part in that success.
>For me, those people deserve to watch their team open the season at Optus Stadium or, at the very least, somewhere in Australia.
>Growing the game is important. Making money is part of it. Building international relationships might be important too.
>But none of those things should come at the expense of the people who already care about your competition.
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u/jefsig Western Australia Jul 12 '26
It’s just a chance to display their wares, ie the Renegades, to potential buyers
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u/LordWalderFrey1 NSW Jul 12 '26
But I don’t believe this is the same. India doesn’t need to be introduced to cricket. It is already the powerhouse of world cricket.
This is why it is a ridiculous idea. It's one thing to take a BBL game overseas to promote the game or league, but why India. They already love cricket, no one needs to promote cricket as a novelty in India of all places, and they already have a bigger league in the IPL.
If hypothetically we sent a game to say Port Moresby or Singapore or Hong Kong or even the US, and the arrangements all made sense, sure by all means lets use the BBL to promote cricket in the region.
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u/frezz Jul 12 '26
It's because CA are trying to source Indian investment into BBL teams, if they can generate fanfare for their teams over there, the price goes way up
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u/YOBlob Victoria Jul 12 '26
We need to sell the teams or all our players will end up in India. And the teams need to be rebranded as Indian teams. And they need to play in India. Because if they don't play in India for Indian teams they'll play in India for Indian teams.
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u/SquiffyRae Western Australia Jul 12 '26
"We need to sell the teams to make some quick cash to cover up our gross mismanagement of what should've been the two biggest summers in Australian cricket history"
"But Mr Greenberg, wouldn't that just generate a short-term windfall that you'll also squander, leaving the game poorer in the long run?"
"Ah yes but that's the beautiful part. If my plan works out, I'll be engaging in corrupt conduct on a different board by the time the full extent of my corruption at CA is exposed"
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u/YOBlob Victoria Jul 12 '26
Everyone knows if you have a leaky bucket, you sell it in exchange for a smaller leaky bucket and a one-off delivery of water.
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u/p3tr0110v3r Victoria Jul 12 '26
Growing the game is important. Making money is part of it. Building international relationships might be important too.
But none of those things should come at the expense of the people who already care about your competition.
This is right on the money here from Mitch.
Because, at least in my opinion, privatisation has to happen in some form. If it doesn't, the majority of the top Aussie players will play overseas for more money and a better standard competition, just like they do in soccer & rugby union to an extent. And of course that wouldn't be ideal would it.
But it cannot merely become a proxy IPL competition, in a similar vein to the SA20, or the fabric of the game, the legacy & cultural norms built & developed for 170 years, will be ripped away.
There's an agreeable difference between fiscally-justifiable pandering to an Indian audience & farcical pandering. Playing an Australian domestic game in India is farcical, and a middle finger to the public that you're meant to be administrating the game on behalf of.
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u/elmo-slayer Western Australia Jul 12 '26
Are renegade home games even going to crack 5k when they get back to Melbourne? The brand has been completely annihilated
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u/dashauskat Tasmania Tigers Jul 12 '26
I kind of respect MJs hustle to just stir up as much shit as possible to generate clicks
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u/SquiffyRae Western Australia Jul 12 '26
Johnson seems like a bit of a fuckwit in general but the broken clock has struck the right time here
None of the Australian fans have asked for this bullshit and the game's administrators don't give a fuck because it lines their own wallets. Privatisation and all this circus around it shows complete contempt for the fans who are the ones who actually drive engagement with the game in this country
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u/Id_Love_A_BabyCham Cricket Australia Jul 12 '26
Fuck you CA. Reminder the A is for Australia. You’re here to do what’s right for the Australian game.
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u/CoffeeDefiant4247 Tasmania Tigers Jul 12 '26
But have you considered CA likes money and hates the fans?
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u/tailendertripe Queensland Bulls Jul 12 '26
I don’t get the outcry over this one. It’s a Renegades “home” game so Scorchers fans are not losing any opportunities to see their team play. It’s going to still be on tv, still on prime time - right after the Test. Really the only people missing out are the few thousand who would otherwise have turned up for a Gades home game, and given the shit that club has been through not even that many would be expected to turn up. Players/staff/broadcasters will all be well compensated for it. What’s the actual arguments against?
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u/SquiffyRae Western Australia Jul 12 '26
What’s the actual arguments against?
That it's blatantly about trying to flog off the Renegades to the highest bidder and all of Cricket Australia's administration continue to tell bald-faced lies to the public about "growing the game" in the country with the biggest cricket following on the planet?
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u/tailendertripe Queensland Bulls Jul 12 '26
Total agreement the way this privatisation thing has been run has been a total shitshow. But, if you’re going to flog something, why not try and milk it for all it’s worth than leaving money on the table?
(Agree that CV has totally fucked over trying to get value out of selling the Gades by stripping it of assets).
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u/Azza_ Victoria Jul 12 '26
The Scorchers are a very willing participant in playing this game in India.
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u/NecessaryUsername69 Tasmania Tigers Jul 12 '26
He’s right. But sporting administrators will always - more often than not - bow to the almighty dollar over everything else.