Darren Berry thinks the BBL is in “massive trouble” and has pleaded with organisers to address glaring issues such as dwindling crowd numbers and the length of the tournament.
Berry says the standard of cricket in BBL|11 has been “below par” and has called for the competition to be moved to a new window to enable the best players to participate.
“That’s what they need to be doing. I’m not saying it’s easy, it’s a fixturing nightmare, but you’ve got to get the best,” the former Victorian wicketkeeper told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“The standard this year of the Big Bash, I’m sorry, has been below par. The attendances have dropped off – it’s in trouble – the Big Bash is in massive trouble.
“Unless the organisers actually listen – they’ve been told this before and they’ve buried their head in the sand – the tournament goes for too long, they don’t attract the best players, they don’t get the overseas stars.
“It’s in trouble and they must fix it – not next year or the year after – they must fix it starting after the final on Friday.
“If they can find a window to get our best players playing, that would be ideal. I’m not saying that’s easy with the Test match summer, but make it work, find a way.”
Several players have called for the BBL to be shortened after it was extended from 10 games to 14 per team prior to the 2018/19 season.
Berry accused Cricket Australia of being “greedy” when they decided to extend the season despite concerns from coaches.
“When I was involved, and it’s now a long time ago, when I was coaching the Strikers we had these discussions,” he said.
“I said, ‘don’t cook the golden goose’. If you play every night … people get sick of it. That’s only my opinion but it was the opinion of a lot of the coaches at the time.
“I felt Cricket Australia got greedy. They wanted the big dollars of the broadcasting rights, and we understand that, but at the expense of the quality.
“I think we’re now in this situation because they got greedy.”
The Perth Scorchers play the Sydney Sixers in this year’s BBL final at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
You can catch the BBL final live on the SEN app.