Smith seeks better BBL deal, says local players undervalued

Steve Smith has all but admitted he is holding out for a better Big Bash League deal than what the Sydney Sixers have offered, as he outlined his frustration at being unable to play the tournament last year.

While maintaining that he merits a place in Australia’s best XI for the home Twenty20 World Cup later this year, Smith ruled out playing in an overseas tournament during the BBL window in January, but would not say what he’d be doing if not playing for the Sixers.

One option for Smith would be to commentate on the BBL for Fox Cricket, the broadcaster he is contracted to for regular appearances.

Steve Smith in action for the Sydney Sixers during 2020.Credit:Getty

David Warner, last seen in the BBL nearly a decade ago, has been able to secure a one-off deal with the Sydney Thunder that features Cricket Australia kicking in a sizeable extra portion of cash to mean he’s paid similarly to the $340,000 “platinum” overseas players like Sam Billings and David Willey.

But others, including Smith, have not been able to secure such terms. His teammate Moises Henriques, who was part of the Sixers’ draft delegation on Sunday night, has already declared CA should make a Warner-style offer to Smith.

The Sixers spent equal second-least on the night and left the draft with plenty of room remaining in their salary cap, after passing on their third round pick. “In these modern times you’ve got to live by your budget,” the coach Greg Shipperd said at the time. “Money is difficult, so we’re passing.”

At the same time, Smith gave voice to the irritation of other Australian players that many would be playing in the BBL this year on inferior money to the likes of overseas draftees.

“In terms of tournaments around the world, you have to look after your local players most importantly,” Smith said in Townsville ahead of game two of the ODI series against Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

“Seeing some of the players who are coming out for big cash, I know a few of the local players that are big players are a little bit disappointed in terms of remuneration for the tournament, so I think there’s going to have to be a way around that to keep your local players happy.”

As the likes of Josh Inglis and Tim David snap at his heels for a spot in the Australian T20 line-up, Smith explained that last season he had wanted to play in the latter stages of the BBL to work on his short-form game ahead of the Sri Lanka home series.

After the Sixers requested that Smith be included, other clubs blocked the move and CA was not willing to overrule them.

“My T20 cricket hasn’t been as good as I would like it to be, so I wanted to get some cricket in to prepare for that series and to not be allowed to play in my domestic tournament, that was the most disappointing thing for me,” Smith said.

”I feel like when I’m playing good T20 cricket I’m in that team for sure. For the Sri Lanka tour I felt like I could go out and play with a lot more freedom and naturally and not have any hesitation in the back of my mind. If I want to smack someone for six first ball I’m able to do that freely.”

Mitch Marsh, meanwhile, has been scratched from the rest of the top-end ODIs against Zimbabwe and New Zealand with an ankle complaint. Inglis will fly home early from The Hundred to replace him, with Marnus Labuschagne, Ashton Agar and Sean Abbott the other spare players in the squad.

“The way we set up our team the other day with bulk all-rounders, he was a big part of that,” Smith said of Marsh. “He was a big part of our T20 World Cup campaign last year, and I’m sure there’s big plans for him this year. The priority is to get him right for that.”

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