BBL needs more overseas firepower, says Andrew McDonald

London [United Kingdom], Feb 22 (ANI): This year's Big Bash title-winning coach Andrew McDonald has said that more overseas quality must be roped into the Big Bash League (BBL) through the introduction of a marquee player fund and the draft to keep the league more interesting for the viewers.
"Three overseas I reckon would be a start. I think the depth of Australian cricket has been tested at the moment with eight teams. There was some talk of potentially 10 teams down the track. I would say steady on with that. Get three overseas in with each team and then really making the Australian players available", ESPN Cricinfo quoted McDonald as saying.
Cricket Australia had the expansion of the BBL to 10 teams as a priority, but the plan was shelved for the time being as there were many other issues that the board needed to deal with.
The one thing that does not order well for Cricket Australia is that there are many other leagues in the world like IPL or PSL who attract more overseas stars as they are willing to pay more to the players.
“I think the only way you could do that is to have a marquee [fund].[CA] is talking to us. Everyone is talking essentially. Our CEO is talking to us as coaches, that's going back up to Cricket Australia,” McDonald said.
"We've identified that there is a problem or a potential problem if we don't get it right going forward. I think the only way to do it is if we have eight marquee spots available, get 16 players from around the world to nominate, and then you have a marquee draft,” he concluded. (ANI)