Cricket: Kiwi players will miss Big Bash League

Ross Taylor. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand players will not be taking part in Australia's Twenty 20 cricket series this season - but don't take that as a sign that the new, improved and lucrative Big Bash League (BBL) will not have any effect on New Zealand cricket.

Private investors, most of them Indian consortia buoyed by the success of the IPL T20 series, will be buying into eight Australian cricket franchises valued at about A$36m (NZ$46m) each, for a much enhanced BBL in 2011-12.

Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor have all been invited to play in the BBL before - but the new series, boosted by all that cash, could put pressure on New Zealand cricket in other ways.

Cricket Australia voted to allow 33 per cent investment from approved private sector individuals and consortia, with the teams still being owned by the states and controlled by CA - but with significantly more cash investment sloshing around.

That money won't really start flowing until another year has passed - and Black Caps cricketers will not play in the old version of the BBL this year because it clashes with the Pakistan tour of New Zealand.

CA is obviously attracted to the large amounts of cash on offer and the runaway growth of the most reduced form of the game. Crowd numbers for the BBL, which started in 2005-06, increased by 80 per cent last year to average more than 18,000 per game. Originally reluctant to join the Twenty20 revolution when it began in England, CA swung behind it when realising what an earner it could be.

The big question for New Zealand is whether the BBL, due to start in December 2011 and go through to January 2012, and how it will affect the game and the international game here.

One immediate answer is that New Zealand's lesser-capitalised T20 equivalent, the HRV Cup, will have to work around the Australian model. The Kiwi tournament has been shifted to December this season (the final is on January 2) from January.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan says December could be the tournament's home if it means luring high-profile cricketers here before they play in the Big Bash League.

"If it is successful we might permanently clear internationals out of that period [December], provided the Australian tournament follows."

The picture is less clear as regards the international season. CA looks set to flex its muscle on the ICC board over the timing of the BBL. To make sure their best players are available, the traditional January internationals need to be moved. The trouble is the Future Tours Programme (FTP) from 2012-20 has Australia pencilled in to play most of January each year.

"The new FTP is still to be determined but, if this were taken into account, a lot of Australia's schedule would have to be pushed elsewhere," Vaughan says.

That in turn makes it difficult to set up a regular domestic Twenty20 competition or international schedule for NZC because they will have to end up obediently following the Australian lead.

CA needs a couple more factors to be settled before they can maximise their bank balance. They have to wait until 2013 to cash in on lucrative television rights in India.

To do that, they need to get Indian players signed up, which will be a significant financial outlay.