Finch keen for BBL auction Maxwell questions power surge

Cliff Notes – Finch keen for BBL auction, Maxwell questions power surge

• Aaron Finch advocates for a full player auction in the BBL, suggesting it would enhance competition and reflect player value, similar to the IPL model.
• Glenn Maxwell expresses concerns about the power surge, arguing it distorts middle-order batting skills and should not be included unless adopted in international cricket.
• Finch acknowledges the entertainment value of the power surge, stating it keeps matches competitive, while Maxwell fears it may undermine the identity of homegrown players.

Finch keen for BBL auction, Maxwell questions power surge

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch would like a full player auction to be brought into the BBL while Glenn Maxwell believes the power surge should be removed as it doesn’t replicate international playing conditions.

Currently, overseas players are selected through the draft – with clubs now able to pre-sign one name before that event – while a trade window, that is currently open, has been introduced for the first time this season, but Finch has said the majority of domestic players should also be included in a process more aligned with how the IPL operates.

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“I’d like to see an auction come in,” Finch told the Powerplay on ESPN’s Around The Wicket. “Each team potentially has the ability to retain maybe four of their players and then you say everybody else in the country, you’re into an auction. I think that that would create a great spectacle.

“We see it in the IPL, it’s brilliant, creates evenness across the board I think. What it does give you as well is it gives you what the players are worth. So at times, depending on what your team needs, you might have to overpay for someone. But if it’s an auction, that’s generally what the price of a player is.”

Maxwell, though, was uncertain about the idea, raising concern about clubs losing an identity with established names. “You’ve still got to have a way to keep your homegrown players in your home state, [to] still have that relevance,” he said.

The BBL continues to be challenged on retaining overseas players with a number leaving in early January for either the SA20 or ILT20.

Meanwhile, when asked what he would change about the tournament, Maxwell argued that while he could see the appeal of the power surge – the two overs of fielding restrictions that can be taken by the batting side after the 10th over – he felt it skewed the skills that were required away from how the rest of T20 is played.

It echoed the views of Stars team-mate Marcus Stoinis who made similar comments ahead of the BBL season.

“I’d get rid of the power surge,” Maxwell said. “I think unless the power surge was introduced in international cricket, I think it’s sort of probably lost its relevance. As a player, I think it probably misrepresents middle-order batting.

“When you get picked for your country, you don’t have that luxury of having those two overs in the back ten to boost your strike rate, boost your score. It’s lost on the art of middle order batting to be able to find your way through those last ten overs. I know it’s great for broadcasters. I know it’s great for fans. But until it’s made an international rule, I don’t think we should have it.”

Finch acknowledged he had held a similar view when he was a player, but having now retired from the game saw the value the power surge brings.

“I think that it provides entertainment right through an innings,” he said. “It keeps games alive. Like if a team needs 15 and over, with a power surge up your sleeve, there’s still half a chance.”