Cricket Australia Pushes Ahead With BBL Privatisation Despite Opposition, Renegades to Be Sold by Christmas

Cricket Australia has confirmed it will push ahead with Big Bash League privatisation, pressing forward with the plan despite ongoing opposition from New South Wales and Queensland, with the Melbourne Renegades set to be sold by Christmas.

The decision was given the green light at a CA board meeting, with the governing body choosing Sydney as the location to announce the venture it hopes will bring hundreds of millions of dollars into grassroots cricket and player payments. In a bid to win over players amid pushback from the Australian Cricketers' Association, CA enlisted top-level men's and women's cricketers to help make the announcement.

The Renegades, now being administered out of CA's headquarters following Cricket Victoria's move to merge its two Melbourne franchises earlier this year, are expected to be the first club sold under the new model. Western Australia has also joined Victoria and Tasmania in backing the plan, with the all-conquering Perth Scorchers set to be floated on the open market, partly to help fund the redevelopment of the WACA Ground. Queensland remains wary of being worse off either way, while the exact scope of which franchises will change hands and when continues to be worked through on a state-by-state basis.

The privatisation push explains the increasingly active BBL free-agent market this offseason, with the competition's revised contracting rules already producing headline moves like Adam Zampa's switch to Hobart Hurricanes.