{"id":48476,"date":"2026-07-11T08:27:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T08:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/48476\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T08:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T08:27:17","slug":"mitchell-johnson-big-bash-league-champions-perth-scorchers-should-be-opening-their-season-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/48476\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitchell Johnson: Big Bash League champions Perth Scorchers should be opening their season in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The decision to play the opening game of the Big Bash League season in India has left me wondering one fairly simple thing: who is this actually for?<\/p>\n

Because from where I sit, it doesn\u2019t seem to have the best interests of the teams, the players or, most importantly, the supporters at heart.<\/p>\n

Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades are the two teams involved. On one side, you have the most successful club in BBL history. On the other, with respect to the Renegades, you have a club that has struggled to consistently capture the imagination of the Australian cricket public.<\/p>\n

Is this really the best way to showcase the competition? If so, why?<\/p>\n

And what about the members and supporters of these clubs? Particularly the Scorchers.<\/p>\n

The Scorchers have built something special in Perth. Their success hasn\u2019t happened overnight. They have created a strong culture, consistently produced home-made quality players and, importantly, built a loyal supporter base.<\/p>\n

Those supporters have turned up year after year. Now, after everything the Scorchers have achieved, their opening game of the season is to be played thousands of kilometres away in India.<\/p>\n

I struggle to see how that rewards the people who have helped make the club and the competition successful.<\/p>\n

There also appears to be a political element behind the decision. If government interests and international relationships are playing a significant role in where BBL matches are being played, then I think it is fair to ask whether decisions are genuinely being made in the best interests of Australian cricket.<\/p>\n

It also raises another question. If we\u2019re taking the BBL to India, does that mean next year we will see Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings playing an Indian Premier League match at the MCG?<\/p>\n

As I wrote that, I realised it would probably work pretty well. Melbourne has a huge Indian community, cricket is deeply connected to that community and I have little doubt plenty of people would turn up to watch two of the IPL\u2019s biggest teams.<\/p>\n

But that also highlights the difference. How big is the Australian community in India waiting to watch the Scorchers play the Renegades?<\/p>\n

I understand the argument about growing the game and taking your product to new markets. The NRL has taken games to Las Vegas and generated enormous attention.<\/p>\n

\"AshtonCamera IconAshton Agar of the Scorchers and Will Sutherland of the Renegades. Credit: Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images for Cricket Austral<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t believe this is the same. India doesn\u2019t need to be introduced to cricket. It is already the powerhouse of world cricket.<\/p>\n

Financially, the game in India is enormous and the IPL has become a mega business. The money, crowds, television audiences and international players involved have created one of the biggest sporting competitions in the world.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t automatically mean it is the best competition. I still believe the BBL has fantastic foundations. Its original success came from grassroots cricket and Australian families.<\/p>\n

Kids wearing colourful shirts. Families heading to games during the summer holidays. Young players watching their heroes and then heading into the backyard to copy them.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the way, I think Australian cricket lost sight of what made the BBL successful in the first place.<\/p>\n

Maybe the temptation has been to chase the financial success of the IPL. Maybe administrators believe bigger international markets are the answer.<\/p>\n

\"RoyalCamera IconRoyal Challengers Bengaluru’s Josh Hazlewood celebrates the wicket of Gujarat Titans’ Arshad Khan with with teammates during the Indian Premier League final cricket. Credit: Ajit Solanki\/AP Photo\/Ajit Solanki<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have all the answers and I don\u2019t claim to know everything that does or doesn\u2019t work commercially and I understand the financial side needs to add up too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m simply an ex-player and a cricket fan who wants what is best for the game in Australia. Yes, even T20 cricket. Because I\u2019ve felt for some time that Australians have slowly drifted away from cricket.<\/p>\n

I grew up in an era when cricket was everywhere. We played it in the backyard, on the street, down at the park and at school with our mates. Anywhere and everywhere really,<\/p>\n

Everyone wanted to spin the ball like Warney. You wanted to charge in like your favourite fast bowler, get in the face of a batsman like Merv Hughes and somehow grow that famous moustache.<\/p>\n

You wanted to field down at fine leg, interact with the crowd and enjoy being part of the entertainment. Cricket had characters. Different personalities. Great players with great skills who made kids want to watch the game and then go outside and play it.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe Scorchers and Renegades will open the Big Bash season in India. Credit: Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images for Cricket Austral<\/p>\n

That connection matters. I wonder whether Australian cricket sometimes spends so much time looking at what everyone else is doing that it forgets what we already have.<\/p>\n

The BBL was built in Australia. Its clubs have been supported by Australian fans and families.<\/p>\n

The Scorchers have been the benchmark of the competition and their members and supporters have played their part in that success.<\/p>\n

For me, those people deserve to watch their team open the season at Optus Stadium or, at the very least, somewhere in Australia.<\/p>\n

Growing the game is important. Making money is part of it. Building international relationships might be important too.<\/p>\n

But none of those things should come at the expense of the people who already care about your competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The decision to play the opening game of the Big Bash League season in India has left me…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[21954,3824,335,261],"class_list":["post-48476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-perth","tag-big-bash-league","tag-cricket","tag-perth","tag-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}