Haddin urges CA to work towards reinstating CLT20

Sydney Sixers' senior pro Brad Haddin has called for a reinstatement of some form of the Champions League T20, on the day it was announced that the Big Bash League prize money was being bolstered through compensation funds for the cancellation of the tournament three years before its television contract expired.

The BBL, due to commence on Thursday with a Sydney derby between Thunder and the Sixers, has had its stakes raised by the addition of an extra $600,000, up from $290,000 last summer, though the vast majority of this will go to the clubs rather than their players.

In the latest episode of an ongoing haggle over money between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association, the board wanted any player prize increases to come out of the player payment pool already set aside for male contracted players, rather than the CLT20 compensation, a figure believed to be between $80 and $100 million.

While Haddin said he felt players were "pretty content" with present prize money levels, he urged CA to work at refashioning a global club T20 competition that provided added incentives for teams to perform in the BBL. "It's disappointing that it's not there," Haddin said. "It's a great tournament, and with the Sixers we are lucky that we have got a couple of really key Australian players who enjoy coming back for the tournament as well.

"It's a massive carrot; you can't hide behind that fact, for state associations and Australian cricket as well. From a players' point of view, and NSW Cricket and the Sixers, we'd like to see something go ahead. You can't get past the fact it is an attractive tournament to play in. I hope they find something to replace it, because it's a great carrot for not only international players but domestic players to get to play in a different country but also to play all around the world."

The CLT20 was founded as tournament jointly run by the boards of India, Australia and South Africa in 2008, and won a 10-year television deal worth $900 million with Star Sports off the back of the success of the inaugural IPL earlier that year. However it did not draw in the TV ratings or advertising revenue the broadcasters had hoped for, leading to a deal to conclude it ahead of the contract's 2018 expiry.

The proliferation of T20 leagues is a major undercurrent to the problems faced by the West Indies, something Haddin acknowledged by noting that most of the region's best players would be turning out in the BBL this summer rather than the concurrent Test series. Haddin did not seem overly fussed by the decline of the West Indies Test team.

"That's their choice," he said of the likes of Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo. "If you want to see the best of the West Indies come to the Big Bash. We've got Andre Russell, I think he was player of the tournament in the IPL this year, so there are some talented West Indians out there, they just happen to be playing Big Bash and not Test cricket.

"If the [Test matches] only go for two and a half days, there's obviously days where there'll be Big Bash scheduled, I think the concept of this tournament's just been getting bigger and bigger every year. If the West Indies have been playing the way they have last Test - I think they'll come out and show some fight in the next two - but it's an opportunity for people to come and see some young cricketers and also some of the greats in the Big Bash."

Since his Test retirement, Haddin has tried his hand at several pursuits, and admitted he could now see himself carving out a career of several years as a T20 freelancer. "I'm pretty lucky I finished my Test career with no niggles and my body's in good shape," he said.

"It's a great opportunity to go and play Twenty20, you only have to prepare for one form of the game, and if someone's bowling really fast I can stand outside leg and have a swing and say I was trying to move the game forward and not be scared!

"This is the start of my campaign now to move forward and hopefully play all around the world. I'm just excited about the Big Bash, it's going from strength to strength and getting bigger every year."