Just a few years ago, the Big Bash League attracted players from all around the world.
In the 2017/18 season, Kevin Pietersen, Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Kieron Pollard, Jason Roy and Rashid Khan were just a few of the international stars.
Not all of them were at the peak of their powers, but the chance to watch a legend like Pietersen or the next big thing like Archer was a thrilling thought.
In 2024, it’s not quite the same.
Of the imports in the league, Melbourne Stars all-rounder Tom Curran is perhaps the name most familiar to most non-diehard Aussie fans, while Hobart Hurricanes batter Shai Hope is the most experienced in terms of international cricket (209 games for West Indies).
There are no Indian stars and just a handful of Kiwi and English payers, many of whom are no longer in the frame for international selection.
They’re not likely to pique interest in casual fans to get off the couch and down to the ground, or perhaps even change to the game’s stream.
“It fails to attract big-name stars for the whole tournament,” former Australia Test opener Ed Cowan said on the ABC Sport Daily podcast.
Cowan singled out the likes of Melbourne Renegades’ Jacob Bethell, the 21-year-old who broke into England’s Test side with stunning striking in The Hundred, and fellow Englishman Sam Billings, who will turn out once again for the Sydney Thunder, as members of the “next tier” that the BBL can sign.
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“But we’re not talking about the crème de la crème of international cricketers,” Cowan said.
“The flavour of that big superstar, blockbuster name — think Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum — that historically have really given the star factor, let’s make no mistake, the Big Bash doesn’t have that.
“So, while I get excited by the Big Bash, I do often think ‘jeez this could be an amazing competition if we just nailed the international piece’.”
But Cowan said there is one player who could go some way towards making up for that dearth of overseas drawcards.
David Warner and Shane Warne in a photoshoot before the inaugural BBL season in 2011. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)
David Warner, after a brief post-retirement cameo late last season, is returning to the BBL full-time for the 2024/25 season and it could be a major moment for the league, according to Cowan.
“Feels to me like this is almost like a Shane Warne moment,” he said.
Warne gave us one of the early iconic BBL moments when the Australian leg-spinner was on the microphone while bowling for the Melbourne Stars and predicted exactly how he would dismiss New Zealand great McCullum.
The crowds flocked to the ground to see him long after his international retirement in 2007, and people tuned in to watch.
“It really got the buzz happening for the Big Bash. It was about blockbuster stars playing great cricket,” Cowan said.
Warner has been with the Sydney Thunder since the first BBL season, which started in 2011, just two weeks after his Test debut.
But his status as a constant in the national side in the decade-plus since restricted him to just a handful of games in the lime green.
“This is one of the great all-time T20 players, maybe the best T20 player Australia’s ever produced,” Cowan said of his former Test opening partner.
“This is the star factor that the Big Bash needs.
“It’s star factor for a team that has underperformed in Australia’s biggest sporting market, so I’m incredibly excited about his return.”
The ‘lifetime’ leadership ban placed on Warner after the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018 has also been lifted, with the opening batter replacing Chris Green as Thunder captain.
