Dan Brettig | Chief cricket writer at The Age (16.04.26)

0:00One of the biggest sport stories in Australia at the moment, and it has been for the best part of the last year, is the potential sale of one or more big bash franchises, Indian conglomerates, big rich US companies as well, all throwing their hat in the ring, but no one has been more across it than the chief cricket rider for the age in the city morning herald, Dan Bredick, and he's filed another piece in the last 24 hours, which just gives us an insight into how delicately this situation is poised. Thanks Dan, thanks for having a chat. No worries, Tom. Can you bring us up to speed? What's the latest? Yes, so yesterday was the deadline, the cricket Australia set for states to come in or to respond to cricket Australia and say we're happy to continue with the next step in the privatisation float process, which will involve getting valuations for clubs, and at the moment we've got four states, so that's five teams, saying yes we're happy to continue with the process,

1:03which at this point, by the way, is non-binding, so it doesn't mean that clubs are necessarily going to get sold yet, but just that they'll get a valuation. New South Wales, who obviously have two teams, the City Sixers and the City Thunder, have come out and said we don't want to continue with the process, we want to hit the pause button on all of this, and we don't want a valuation for our teams, in particular, and Queensland, the other state that have not yet responded, have said a little bit less, I suppose, stridently, we need some more time to look at all of this before we continue. So you've got four states that have come back and said let's keep going, you've got one that said we don't want to do it, and you've got one that's saying we want more time. Okay, so the state that says they don't want to do it, how much of an issue is that for cricket Australia? Understanding there doesn't need to be unanimous response, but surely there's like some sort of consensus before they push forward. It's a big deal when the City Sixers and the City Thunder in Australia and cricket's biggest state are not part of the process, or not part of the next step in the process as it stands.

2:07It's anything but a united front, isn't it, to have the biggest state in Australia and cricket saying we're not happy with this process continuing, and in addition to that, not only just saying that to cricket Australia, but saying that very publicly yesterday in terms of the cricket NSW CEO, Leigh Jemond. So there's obviously some discussions that have got to happen further between New South Wales and cricket Australia, and that's between Leigh Jemond and Tol Greenberg, the CEOs, and Mike Beard and John Knox, the two chairs. How much of the negativity or the apathy towards selling baby or franchises from New South Wales and Queensland is self-interest, and how much of it is trying to do what's best for the greater good and cricket in this country. How would you split those two elements? Well, I think they would, both states would probably argue that they're one and the same.

3:10What's good for their state is good for Australian cricket, and the fact that if you think about the current Australian test team, how many players in there are from New South Wales, that provides a fair amount of heft to that argument, but by putting the break on this process or trying to do anyway, they're also saying things like, well, we don't necessarily think we need to privatise or to sell stakes in clubs right now. We think there are other ways to raise money, and we think that going into the future there will be more other revenue streams coming into cricket, where we won't need to sell assets to raise revenue or raise capital, I should say. That's the position that they've got at the moment.

4:11It's really a question of how they can work through those issues with cricket Australia in the next few weeks and months. We're talking to Dan Braddock, the chief cricket rider at the age in the Sydney Morning Herald, who's been right across this particular issue, and all cricket issues for a long time now, and this one is particularly important for the future of cricket in this country. What is the rush? Is there a chance that the BBL and cricket Australia gets left behind, unless they bite the bullet at some stage and then short to midterm? That's certainly the opinion of a lot of people around the table, that there's a network of franchise leagues that's growing, and those franchise leagues have private capital, and a lot of them have common ownership, big conglomerates like Mumbai Indians own multiple teams around the world, cricket and night riders own multiple teams around the world, and that network, because it continues to grow, and might be growing in New Zealand, for instance, in the next year or so, right across the Tasman.

5:13That growing network is going to increasingly, I guess, squeeze international cricket and squeeze the cricket boards. That's a common view. But the counter view that is obviously prevalent in New South Wales, in particular at the moment, is that network also comes with challenges for the Australian cricket system, and the Australian cricket system has been unique in that you've got, as we know, every summer, international cricket and the big bash league running alongside each other, and how does that work if you have private ownership, and you have team owners who want the best players playing at the same time and not playing test cricket, for instance. So all of that comes into it, and as you know, lead you more on articulated yesterday, the loss of control, not knowing what a private owner is going to want to do, and whether they're interested or aligned with Australian cricket.

6:14That's the thing that I suppose New South Wales can't get past right now. Yeah, and that will always be a risk. There's no way you can safeguard against that completely. It will always be a little bit of a leap into the unknown if they do choose to sell off some of these franchises. Correct. And, you know, there are obviously checks and balances that can be put in place in terms of what the team, or what a team owner is entitled to ask for, but the other thing that I think is very key to this, and also key, I think, to New South Wales. This position is, you know, John Knox, the chair, is involved through the board's private equity firm, Aries, they are a part, some part investor in the Trent Rockets in the Hunter competition, and that's a moving feast at the moment. There's private ownership in all of those teams, and all of the teams and the counties that are aligned to those teams. They're discovering every day new things about that, and new complexities and difficulties or new advantages.

7:18So I think there's an element of, let's see how that competition, in particular, revolves a little bit more before we sell stakes. Dan, what's your opinion if I can venture into that space? What do you think should happen with the potential sale of Babyl franchises? I think the outcome that probably will make my sense is that there's a partial sale. There's a sale of a couple of clubs, and that, in a way, test the market without losing control, in a way that too many parties feel uncomfortable with. And that, in terms of the process over the last 12 months, or eight months, I should say, since BCG came to Cricket Australia with a report recommending selling stakes, that had for a long time been the most likely option that there were a couple of clubs that would be sold,

8:18and other clubs would not be. So I think that kind of hybrid situation is one that I think is most likely. And also that, within that, there's also the option I should add of states buying the license that they currently have from Cricket Australia, or I think it was a period of 30 years, buying back that license so they own it wholly, and that meaning that money from that state goes back into the coffers at Cricket Australia. Because that's obviously another part of this, the manner of improving the budgetary situation for Cricket Australia. Dan, terrific work as always. I love reading a stuff on the City Morning Herald and the Age, and I look forward to the next iteration of wherever this goes, but it's certainly pretty hot in the kitchen right now. Much appreciated, Tom. Dan Bredig joining us from the City Morning Herald and the Age. He's the chief Cricket writer.