Big Bash chief wants clubs to be flexible

Big Bash chief Kim McConnie believes clubs need to come to terms with signing star players on shorter deals, suggesting the "trade off" of a longer season must be flexibility.

The KFC BBL's expansion from 35 games two seasons ago to 59 this summer has seen the length of the competition extend to two months, providing an added challenge for teams looking to secure elite international talent.

While the BBL's star power remains high with the presence of T20 guns Rashid Khan, Brendon McCullum and Jos Buttler this season, the threat of overlapping domestic T20 leagues has become increasingly apparent.

The likes of AB de Villiers, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Chris Gayle all signed up for shorter stints in the Bangladesh Premier League.

De Villiers and Russell were also among a host of big names, including Mitchell Johnson who cited a longer season in his decision to not play for the Scorchers in BBL08, that signed on for a lucrative UAE T20 league before it was eventually cancelled. 

The extension of the BBL season into February also means it now overlaps with the start of the Pakistan Super League.

But McConnie, who was appointed head of both the BBL and the WBBL in 2017, says the league isn't overly concerned with having to compete for talent with rival domestic T20 leagues.

"That's the nature of what we're going to have to face and I think we can use that to our advantage," she told cricket.com.au.

McConnie insists that overseas spots in the BBL remain highly coveted, and she believes shorter contracts are the key to keep luring the game's best players.

She cites the Sydney Thunder's recruitment of Joe Root, who played seven games for the Sydney Thunder before leaving for national duties, as a blueprint.

"We will continue to go after the big names. It is one thing that appears to be on most overseas players' lists to want to come and play in the BBL," McConnie said.

"If we make sure we continue to deliver the best competition, I think they'll come.

"What I do think we'll have to start to trade off is flexibility. We saw that with Joe Root and that was a good test for us.

"But we will have to say, 'gone are the days where you're going to come from beginning to end and be here for the full season'. Joe Root was a great example – he came in … he brought something to it.

"That's the trade-off we'll make. We're just going to see some of these overseas players for portions of the season."

While star power remains high on the BBL agenda, McConnie points to canny signings of lesser-known players made by BBL clubs in recent years.

Nepalese teenager Sandeep Lamichhane was the latest example, though the leg-spinner departed after just four games to play in the Bangladesh Premier League, while the likes of Jofra Archer and Rashid Khan have become cult heroes after arriving in the league as virtual unknowns.

McConnie also suggested retaining Australian players recently retired from other formats should be a priority.

"We continue to have strong interest from overseas players and I think what the BBL has always been built on has always been the diversity of players that we have," she said.

"We have great domestic talent, rising stars, we have international big names. As we look at the season, we need to make sure we keep recently-retired players, we need to keep ticking each of those boxes.

"Because if we start to rely too heavily on one and not another, that's when the formula of the BBL starts to fall down."

The timely recruitment of overseas talent, said McConnie, could be used to offset international call-ups, which sometimes see clubs lose as many as five or six of their best local players.

"There's portions of the season where we lose some of the Australian players to their (national) duties – they (overseas players) could come in," she continued.

"But even beyond that, because it's a longer season now, it's a different cadence to the season midway through. It can help them start the season like the Thunder did, or you can get them midway.

"They could actually complement (a squad) when we start to lose some of the Australian players.

"I think that could be something we look at more and more."