New Zealand not on Big Bash radar in short term

Ish Sodhi of the Adelaide Strikers celebrates with team-mates after taking the wicket against Sydney Thunder. Photo/AP Photos

New Zealand is unlikely to have a team in the Big Bash League any time soon.

The Australian T20 competition, now in its sixth edition, has gone gangbusters across the Tasman, selling out 20 of 35 games and drawing an average crowd of 30,500.

Interest on this side of the ditch has been boosted by the isolated involvement of our limited-overs specialists - former Black Caps skippers Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori coached teams this season, Brendon McCullum led the Brisbane Heat to the semi-finals, while Ish Sodhi and Colin Munro played notable cameos.

But BBL boss Anthony Everard warns we should not hold our breath on the prospect of fielding an NZ-based team in the tournament.

"I wouldn't say never, but it's not something on the radar at the moment," he told Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch. "Sorry to disappoint.

"The strategy hasn't changed for BBL, which is really about capitalizing on the opportunity to draw news fans in our own backyard and I still think there's plenty of upside in that.

"New Zealand is a market that we know has huge interest and there's no question having North and South Island teams would work well from a New Zealand perspective, but it really has to fit in with the broader Cricket Australia strategy."

While Heat slugger Chris Lynn claimed he would rather play Big Bash than international limited overs for Australia, Everard insists the BBL is not designed as an alternative to national honours.

"That's a minority view," he said. "There's no question the opportunity to represent your country on the international stage is still very much at the forefront of players minds.

"But the responsibility is really incumbent on administrators, on myself and others at Cricket Australia, to come up with a scheduling scenario that's the best of both worlds.

"There are certainly worse problems for sports to have. Essentially, Cricket Australia has two premium products in the market - international cricket and the growing Big Bash League.

"That's nearly 80 days of content to schedule, whereas six years ago, we had half of that. So, good problem to have, but certainly a challenging one to fit everything in."

The 2016/17 edition of the competition reaches its climax tonight, with the final between Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers.

NZ White Ferns captain Suzie Bates will lead the Scorchers into the women's final against a Sixers outfit that features international team-mate Sara McGlashan.