‘We’ve never sat still’: Controversial Big Bash rule here to stay, expansion on the cards

That’s the overwhelming verdict from fans and cricket powerbrokers ahead of the BBL|14 final.

The Sydney Thunder defeated the Sydney Sixers by four wickets on Friday to book their spot in Monday night’s final against the Hurricanes, to be held at a sold out NINJA Stadium in Hobart.

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Hobart are chasing their maiden BBL title and David Warner’s Thunder their first since 2015-16.

The buzz around the Big Bash is as high as it’s ever been since the early glory years of the competition.

A few years ago interest in the BBL dipped with fears Cricket Australia’s golden goose had been cooked. So what’s changed to make the Big Bash great again?

Schedule call proves a masterstroke

Whoever you ask, it seemed the BBL had gone too hard by extending the season to 14 games for each team. It led to fading interest during an elongated 61-game fixture that just went too long.

But two years ago, the Big Bash reduced the season length to 10 games each — a simple but genius decision that simply made each game matter a lot more.

Scheduling change is the one area that can have the single biggest impact on a sporting league.

Most sporting fixtures, like the AFL and NRL, are inherently flawed with teams playing some but not all opponents twice, while the NBA’s bloated 82-game regular season could well be shortened by 15-20 games.

The NFL’s 17-game season is the model for all sporting leagues that every game should be appointment viewing and genuinely matter to the outcome of the season.

A high quality Test series between Australia and India also helped, as cricket fans turned to the Big Bash to fill their cricket diet in December and January.

“I think the inclusion of Sam Konstas in that Boxing Day Test really ignited the love of cricket again,” Fox Cricket’s Brett Lee told news.com.au.

“Then that spills over to the Big Bash.

“When you’ve got people engaged watching cricket and watching young superstars m...
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