Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts has put his support behind the extended BBL season, saying it does have a place in February.
Many have canned the decision to extend the BBL season to 56 games and with crowds down in major stadiums, it appears fans are feeling apathetic towards it as well.
“A couple of years ago when we were developing how we wanted to manage the formats going forward, over 80 per cent of the 10,000 fans we surveyed said that they want an expanded Big Bash and they want more day/night test cricket,” Roberts told SEN Test Cricket.
“They were the two things they were urging us to do when we asked the questions.
“There’s no doubt that we can learn and improve in terms of how we plan the Big Bash.
“I think it’s important to remind ourselves that this expansion of the Big Bash has only seen the competition expand to the number of matches we’ve had in the WBBL and the same number of matches as there are in the IPL.
“So it’s not like it’s ballooned to an unmanageable level.
“Our challenge isn’t that we’ve got too much cricket overall, our challenge is not spread over a broad enough season.
“If you compare the number of hours of cricket on TV relative to the AFL and NRL, we’re only at about 60 per cent in terms of the number of hours.”
When asked if Cricket Australia was committed to keeping the BBL in February, Roberts confirmed they were.
“We need to make sure we do the best possible job of (keeping the Big Bash in February),” he said.
“There’s no doubt there’s an appetite for BBL on weekends in February and it is cricket season at the end of the day.”