Why did New Zealand decline BBL invitation? Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg on expansion plans, will the BBL be privatised? CA summer of cricket schedule 2026/27, news, analysis

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg remains confident the BBL is well positioned to expand internationally despite an offer to New Zealand for inclusion in the T20 league from 2028 being rejected on Monday.

With the New Zealanders instead forging ahead with their own franchise version, Greenberg said that “history will be the judge” whether the Kiwis have made the correct call in shunning the offer.

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Greenberg and Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird made a presentation to the Cricket NZ board in late February regarding the opportunity to participate in the BBL in a pivotal time for the popular domestic competition.

But the New Zealanders opted against it after what Cricket NZ chair Diana Puketapu-Lyndon described as “extensive discussion” before deciding on a revamp of the long-running Super Smash competition.

“I certainly wasn’t surprised,” Greenberg said at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Monday.

“We’ve had a couple of conversations. We wanted to make sure they knew that they were welcome to join, and there was an opportunity for them to do so. But clearly they decided to go in another direction. That’s completely on them. History will be the judge.”

With Cricket Australia in the midst of deciding whether to pursue private investment in the BBL amid an increasingly crowded franchise calendar, Greenberg said New Zealand was a logical choice for expansion, but not the only option at hand.

It is understood Singapore would also be a candidate to join the domestic league given its relative proximity to Australia, for example, depending on what unfolds over the next couple of months.

“I think expansion is really important because it shows ambition, it shows a level of ambition about growth, and I don’t think we’ll be short of opportunities for expansion,” Greenberg said.

“It felt like New Zealand were a pretty natural fit, given our two countries and the scale and size that we can have. But as I said, it’s a matter, and it’s a decision for them. It didn’t catch us by surprise. It was probably the one that was coming.”

With a decision on whether to proceed with privatisation anticipated to be finalised by mid-April, Greenberg said the decision in New Zealand had little bearing on the broader landscape in Australia.

A current proposal from CA detailing revenue projections from sales and how the redistribution to bodies across the country would proceed currently lies with state boards as they weigh up the benefits and negatives of privatisation.

A range of concerns have been raised for what is clearly a complex decision but there is broad agreement that CA needs to ensure an investment of some kind is made in the BBL to ensure it remains a leading global league.

“We haven’t really thought too much about what’s happening in New Zealand. We’re really focused on ourselves,” Greenberg said.

“I mean, 15 years of the Big Bash have shown enormous growth. I think we’ve got an amazing product. It’s highly profitable. And the decision that rests on Australian cricket is what we do next. So it’s a (big) decision, but I’m less worried about what everyone else is doing. I’m really worried about what we’re doing.”

Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins, who was alongside Greenberg at the launch of CA’s announcement of the schedule for 2026/27, said there was much to consider in regards to the offer from the national organisation.

“I think Cricket Australia have put together a really compelling offer which we’ll consider over the next couple of weeks as the board and management,” he said.

“The driving principle for us is we’ve got to do what’s best for Victorian cricket and that will sit at the front of our mind in any decision we make. There’s no doubt, coming just then with the announcement of New Zealand, that the landscape is much more competitive than when I started at Sydney Thunder at BBL 3 when we had the window to ourselves.”

Cummins cited the example of English superstar Kevin Pietersen, who was a star for the Melbourne Stars last decade as the leading run-scorer in three straight seasons, and whether he would have played at all if he was a current cricketer.

“There was no pressure. Someone like Kevin Pietersen would gladly come and play in the Big Bash,” he said.

“(But) if Kevin Pietersen was playing now, he would have a range of decisions. One of them would be not to play at all, because he could earn enough money elsewhere, so we really need to be cognisant of that.

“I think we’ve got a lot to be proud about with the BBL. I think us and the IPL are the only T20 comps that actually make money, and we want to make sure that we stay at the front of the pack, so when we make this decision, we’ve got to make sure that we’re thinking about the next 50 years, not just the next five.

“But we’ve also got to be aware of the environment that we’re working in, and we at the moment, I think we run the risk of being priced out of our own market.”

More broadly, Greenberg is excited about an extended season of elite Test cricket which begins in the Top End in August against Bangladesh and concludes with the 150th Anniversary Test against England at the MCG in mid-March.

The schedule also includes a four Test series against New Zealand at home, which is sandwiched between blockbuster tours of South Africa in September and October, a white ball campaign against England in November and a tour of India next summer.

“(It will be) quite phenomenal. The tagline will be a season like no other (and) it’ll include some unique features,” Greenberg said.

Among the 27 international matches that Australia’s national teams will play include a couple of women’s matches at the Junction Oval, which is set to become a day-night venue with the installation of lights set to begin next month.

The venue, which hosts this week’s Sheffield Shield Final between Victoria and South Australia, would be an ideal venue for a practice match for England ahead of the 150th Anniversary Test should a preparatory match be requested.

“I want to congratulate Cricket Victoria specifically for the installation of these lights that have been a long time coming. They’ll be a great addition for another venue for women’s international and domestic cricket particularly. We will be able to use this venue under lights, which is awesome,” Greenberg said.

“This is the reason why cricket is a national sport and it’s our national game here. We play matches for nine months international cricket across every state and territory in the country. We’re really pleased about this. It’s going to have some different looks to it, some different feels to it.

“As I said, we’ll be back here in March this time next year, finishing with what I think will be the highlight of the summer, which will be the 150th Test match, where the entire cricketing world will be here in Melbourne.”

Greenberg conceded the crammed calendar would present a challenge for the nation’s cricketers, which is likely to lead to players prioritising different options throughout an extended season as part of the management plan.

“It’s going to be a challenging summer for a variety of different components, including the management of players and high performance,” he said.

“And I think you’re seeing that already play out this summer, the way we’re managing players at the moment, the way players are starting to get themselves up for what’s going to be … an amazing 12-month period for Test cricket, particularly.

“But there’ll be some challenges. There’s some short turnarounds inside the New Zealand Test series. We then go to India. So I think it will highlight the importance of high-quality planning, management of players, players understanding what they prioritise and that won’t please everybody, but that’s part of the challenge of modern day cricket.”