Cricket Victoria to Operate One BBL Team Moving Forward
Cricket Victoria has announced a significant restructuring of its Big Bash League (BBL) involvement, confirming it will operate only a single BBL franchise in the future. This decision follows the ongoing privatisation of Australian cricket and aims to raise funds through the sale of the second franchise to a private investor.
Chief Executive Nick Cummins confirmed on Wednesday that Cricket Victoria plans to maintain just one BBL team, potentially reviving the historic name "Bushrangers," while the other franchise will be sold off. This move effectively ends the existence of both the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades, two clubs with 15-year histories and notable former players such as Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.
“Our intention is to go back to the original BBL team that we had, and have a team that is for everyone in Victoria, that wears the ‘big V’, that would still be called Melbourne,” Cummins said on SEN. “It’s a city-based team, but ultimately, a team that all Victorians connected to Victorian cricket can get behind,”
The Bushrangers previously competed in the state-based T20 competition that existed before the BBL's establishment in 2011. The decision to revive this traditional Victorian branding is supported by market research conducted earlier this year. Cummins explained that extensive focus groups held in January and February revealed fans would not support the other team if one was sold, but they would support a unified Victorian team.
“We ran extensive focus groups back in January, February, around this, about: ‘OK, if we sold a team would you support the other team?’ All fans said no, they wouldn’t. ‘Would you support a team that was a Victorian team?’ And fans said yes, they would.”
Cummins acknowledged that the decision would disappoint some supporters of the Stars and Renegades, recognising the clubs' significance to many fans.
“It’s been part of all of their life,” he said. “The Stars and the Renegades do mean a lot to a lot of people and we’ve recognised that, and [are] very conscious of that.”
He expressed hope that the majority of fans would support the new Cricket Victoria-run team, although the final name remains undecided. While "The Bushrangers" is under consideration due to its emotional and heritage value, Cummins noted concerns about the name's gender specificity, especially given the existence of both a men's BBL and a women's WBBL team.
“‘The Bushrangers’ is in play, and that’s something that holds a lot of emotion and heritage for a lot of fans. What we need to consider though is that the Bushrangers is fairly gender-specific and, as opposed to when the Bushrangers existed previously, now we’ve got a WBBL team as well as a BBL team so we are mindful of that.”
Sale of Second Franchise to International Investors
The second Victorian franchise is expected to be sold to international investors, with multi-club owners from the Indian Premier League (IPL) closely monitoring Cricket Australia's privatisation process. This process is anticipated to take several months, resulting in a transitional phase for the BBL during the 2026-27 season and leaving the Victorian franchises in a state of uncertainty.
One proposal under consideration is for the Melbourne Renegades to continue operating on a caretaker basis until new ownership is established the following year.
Upon completion of the sale, Cummins assured that the traditional Melbourne derby between the privatised team and Cricket Victoria's team would continue and could potentially attract even greater interest than before. The derby attracted over 68,000 fans in January, marking the highest attendance for the BBL season.
“A, the derby will remain, there’ll still be two teams in Melbourne,” Cummins said. “But B, we think that second team will be able to activate parts of our community that perhaps haven’t been all that engaged in Big Bash.”
Context of BBL Privatisation and Other States' Positions
Cricket Victoria and Cricket New South Wales faced unique challenges compared to other state cricket bodies during the BBL privatisation discussions, as both operated two franchises each. Cricket New South Wales has opted not to participate in Cricket Australia's privatisation process, a decision shared by Queensland.
