Australia’s Big Bash ramps up pay in battle for T20 stars

SYDNEY (AFP): Cricket Australia announced major changes Wednesday to Big Bash League contracting rules, including a hike in player payments, in a bid to lure more top talent to the Twenty20 competition.

The highest-paid overseas players will now command AUS$420,000 (US$280,000) in the draft, up 23.5 percent, as part of a raft of new measures for the 13th edition of the men’s competition.

Australia’s domestic women’s T20 tournament, the WBBL, has also reconfigured its contracting system.

Each of the eight franchises in the men’s BBL must have at least six “marquee” players earning AUS$200,000 or more a season.

The BBL clubs will now each have total player payment pools of AUS$3 million, up from AUS$1.9 million.

“With top international players able to earn more in the Big Bash Leagues than ever before, there’s no doubt clubs will have a high-calibre group of players to choose from,” said Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia’s general manager of Big Bash Leagues.

“The new player contracting rules and uplift in total payment pools will allow both the WBBL and BBL to remain internationally competitive in an increasingly dynamic market.”

Many of the top T20 players in the world are currently competing in the hugely lucrative Indian Premier League, which this year also added a women’s tournament.