Watson slams BBL’s ‘new gimmicks’
The former Aussie all-rounder described the changes as “gimmicks” and said that CA is trying to fix a wheel that is not broken.
Former Australia cricketer Shane Watson on Tuesday slammed the slew of changes introduced in the Big Bash League (BBL) tournament. Cricket Australia (CA) announced three new rules ahead of the upcoming Big Bash League season namely, the 'Power Surge', the 'X Factor Player' and the 'Bash Boost'.
The former Aussie allrounder described the changes as "gimmicks" and said that CA is trying to fix a wheel that is not broken.
"I read today that the BBL is introducing these new gimmicks, such as the 'Power Surge', the 'X Factor Player' and the 'Bash Boost' in a misguided attempt to reinvigorate the tournament. I just can't seem to get my head around why there are people out there who are trying to reinvent the wheel when the wheel was not broken," Watson wrote in a blog post on his T20 website.
"The complexities that these new 'science experiments' are going to create for the viewers, let alone the players and coaches, when none of these have been tried and tested at lower levels, have really taken the wind out of my sails," he added.
"The simple game plan in my mind is to get the world's best cricketers playing on world-class pitches and guess what, you will get world-class cricket to watch for the cricket lovers out there and we will all be on the edge of our seats admiring the feats of these amazing cricketers," Watson further said.
The 2020 season of BBL will kick off from December 10. Watson, who recently announced retirement from all formats of the game, was one of the leading figures for Sydney Thunder till the 2019 season.
