Ed Cowan warns Big Bash League privatisation could 'spiral out of control'

Former Australian Test opener Ed Cowan believes that the Big Bash League doesn't need to rush privatisation to compete with other T20 leagues around the world.

A Cricket NSW board member, Cowan told the ABC Cricket Podcast fears of a player exodus to rival leagues was premature, and a move toward privatisation could "spiral out of control".

Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed earlier this month that they would go ahead with an opt-in model that allows states to take their BBL teams to market with the option of selling stakes or entire franchises to private investors.

"[In previous seasons] they've been able to reshape scheduling, to reshape international stars and the salary cap around that. We've seen already there's no friction to attracting some of the world's best players," Cowan said.

"Ben Stokes is going to Adelaide, Finn Allen has just signed a mega deal. So the argument that is put forward is we're gonna lose players to the South African League. We haven't lost one yet.

"There's a view that the business could be run more effectively, which would enable some time to work out whether you actually do need to sell your star assets or not.

"Because when you start burning the furniture to warm the house, it can spiral quickly out of control from there."

The BBL has, in recent seasons, reshaped the fixture of the competition to make it shorter and in turn has increased viewership and attracted some of the games biggest names.

In the 2025/26 BBL season fans were treated to the likes of Colin Munro, Chris Jordan, Muhammed Rizwan and Sam Billings tearing up the competition. Coupled with Australian Test stars like Steve Smith, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc who joined the tournament after their international duties finished.

Compare that with recent seasons of The Hundred where Mitchell Marsh, Adam Zampa, Jos Buttler and Trent Boult were some of the biggest name players in that competition, all of whom have played in the tournament or are set to play in the upcoming BBL16 season.

Cricket Australia believes that privatisation would allow the BBL to keep up with other T20 leagues around the world, like The Hundred in the UK and the SA20 in South Africa.

"There are opportunities now for our best Australian players to play in other leagues at the same time potentially with bigger salary caps. So when we talk about should we wait for two years or four years? No, we can't wait," CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said.

"Those challenges are on our doorstep today. So we've got to make some decisions about how we compete.

"We're a relatively small country in a big global sport. So it's incumbent on us to make decisions that we can compete with elsewhere and that's exactly what we're doing."

Cricket NSW has been the most vocally opposed to the current model, while Queensland Cricket has also said it will likely have further questions but intends to hold on to its BBL franchise for the time being.

"We will closely monitor the sales process and at this stage, intend to retain 100 percent ownership of the Brisbane Heat, but of course remain open to private investment at the appropriate time," Qld Cricket Chair Kirsten Pike and CEO Terry Svenson said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Cricket Victoria is in support of the move, and will be the first to sell a license with the Melbourne Renegades set to be put to market to be sold in full.

"Private investment will unlock value for reinvestment across Victorian cricket, from the grassroots through to the elite game," Cricket Victoria Director Shaun Richardson said in a statement.

CA and the state's cricketing associations will continue negotiations ahead of the BBL16 and WBBL12 seasons starting, which are likely to be the last seasons involving the original eight franchises.

Click here to read article