These are, it's fair to say, interesting times for the Big Bash League (BBL). While the future model remains shrouded in uncertainty, the men's tournament is off to India for its opening game of next season. Confirmation of which came on a crisp Melbourne winter's day in front of the Shane Warne stand at the MCG with two Prime Ministers, two former Australia legends, a vast number of people in suits and a cameo appearance from a large kangaroo. This wasn't an ordinary fixture announcement.
Stumps shared the outfield with goalposts as children in Melbourne Renegades and Perth Scorchers kits had a pre-season hit out. There was certainly more grass on the surface than Cricket Australia no doubt hope will be the case in a few months time. Opposite was an Australian Rules Football kickabout with added cries of "Kabaddi, Kabaddi" - the BBL reveal was the headline act in a range of sporting announcements, including AFL, between the two countries.
Of all the big-picture plans spoken about for the BBL, dominated by privatisation talk but also including possible expansion, playing a game overseas is the first to become reality. It had long been a "blue sky" idea competition executives had discussed, but became realistic when the opportunity arose to work with a broader event around Australia-India ties which extends to business, trade and diplomatic levels. The match in Chennai will be part of a week-long "G'day Namaste" event. CA has also worked hard to gain traction within the Indian cricket ecosystem.
Initially, at least, the BBL element of the wider event is a one-year deal, although the ambition is for more. If it's decided that it doesn't work, or can't be done in the future, little will have been lost by taking the chance. However, it is valid to ask: do domestic cricket leagues that last between a month or two really need to take games overseas? The NRL has done it successfully with Las Vegas, and the NFL will add the MCG to its growing global footprint in September, but they are much smaller parts of a long season.
The BBL is going somewhere no cricket league has really gone before - the CPL is closest with its Florida-based games which ended in 2018. Taking a game from another league to the home of the IPL is significant.
CA sees an opportunity to expand the tournament's reach, building on a region where they already have a significant broadcasting deal, and are billing it as being potentially the most-watched domestic Australian sports game. The hard work now starts in selling the game locally if they want to fill the 38,000-seater ground for a match that won't feature any Indian players, although the crowd will only be one measure of this venture's success.
The overseas names signed by the two sides when the contract embargo lifts will be interesting, and how much traction they may have in India. The question of Pakistan players was, for now, side-stepped by league boss Alistair Dobson. Last season, Renegades had Mohammad Rizwan, but his returns were so poor that they won't return to him, while Hassan Khan played all ten games and was also underwhelming. Perth Scorchers' overseas players last season where Finn Allen, Laurie Evans and David Payne.
The BBL finds itself at a fascinating point in its history. Having bounced back impressively from being diluted with too many games, and the immense challenges of the Covid years, it is now trying to join the private franchise era. But that is being challenged by the structure of Australian cricket where the states hold significant power. There are valid arguments on both sides.
As it stands three states (Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia) are keen to push on in the search for private investment; all three have varying degrees of financial stress. Two others (New South Wales and Queensland) are against and one (South Australia) is somewhere in the middle having proposed the hybrid model whereby each can decide their own fate. There have been reports in the past week that the differences of opinion have now come down to the semantics of what was agreed by the CA board last month when there was an 'in principle' agreement to proceed.
Ashton Agar, representing Scorchers at the MCG event, was full of backing for his club's wider view. "I'm pro privatisation, it's heading that way, I think it's inevitable," he said. "We want to be the best league in the world. Obviously the IPL is probably hard to reach, but to be the next best league in the world is something that's really important.
"To have outside views, people can be afraid of that sometimes, but those outside views might be extremely intelligent. You might get access to some incredible people who help grow our game bigger and bigger, and secure our spot as one of the great leagues in the world for many years to come. So I only see it as a positive."
It has been stressed by CA that taking the opening game to Chennai is not directly linked to the privatisation situation. Even so, it's certainly less than six degrees of separation to get there, particularly given Renegades' situation with Cricket Victoria having cut ties ahead of a sale. No doubt there will be plenty of conversations happening in the corporate boxes at the MA Chidambaram Stadium while the game is taking place. The Indian market would not be the only route if and when teams do look to sell stakes in their BBL sides, but it will surely be a significant part.
Renegades captain Will Sutherland didn't skirt the wider issues. "There's opportunities for our young boys to push their names forward and no doubt we'll be potentially bought out by an Indian team over the next year or two as well, so why not play well over there and push your case," he said.
On a more micro level, what a time to be a Renegades fan. Cricket Victoria has said the team will be sold off as soon as possible and one of five home matches is being played nearly 9000 kilometers away, albeit there is now a guarantee of more games at the MCG having ended a 15-year stay at Docklands. No one really knows what the future looks like for the club; there will be a second Melbourne team but there's a good chance the Renegades brand would not be retained.
Scorchers, meanwhile, are one of the BBL's strongest clubs in every sense. The most successful club in the tournament's history with a rusted-on local identity which can pack out a 60,000-seater stadium for most of their home matches. They will be an attractive proposition for investors, but WA chief executive John Stephenson has previously said they would fight hard to remain Scorchers in name and colours. Being based in the most isolated capital city in the world means their players are used to lengthy away trips, but the jaunt to Chennai takes things further than ever before. And it's only one part of a complex journey the BBL is on.