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Cricket Players‘Not landed where we thought’: Adam Zampa says overseas players still winning under BBL's new contracting system
Adam Zampa says the BBL's new contracting system still favours overseas players, despite the draft being scrapped and clubs gaining greater salary-cap freedom.
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Adam Zampa has admitted that the Big Bash League’s revamped contracting system has not quite delivered the outcome Australian players had hoped for, arguing that overseas cricketers are still getting the better end of the deal even after the competition scrapped its overseas player draft.
The comments come at a significant moment for the BBL, which is undergoing major structural and commercial changes. The overseas draft was removed last month, giving franchises greater freedom over how they use their salary caps and, in theory, creating greater scope to reward leading Australian players. However, most of the country’s biggest names remain tied to existing contracts, limiting their ability to immediately benefit from the new system.
Zampa is one of the exceptions. The Australian leg-spinner was off contract and has signed a two-year deal with Hobart Hurricanes, making them the fifth BBL franchise of his career after previous stints with Sydney Thunder, Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades. As a white-ball-only international, he is also expected to be available for the entire BBL season.
The new system has already helped create room for lucrative overseas signings. England star Ben Stokes has joined Adelaide Strikers on a major deal, while Finn Allen is also expected to command significant money after his successful season with Perth Scorchers. Against that backdrop, Zampa believes the balance has still tilted towards international recruits rather than Australia’s domestic and international players.
‘Overseas players are still getting the good end of the deal’: Zampa
“I think I was always playing the BBL,” Zampa said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “There's obviously been a lot behind the scenes happening with overseas drafts and money, and the local players hoping for it to land somewhere in their favour. So there was always a little bit of that discussion happening in the background.
“It's probably not landed exactly where we thought it might. I think the overseas players are still getting the good end of the deal. But I'm happy with my decision. As soon as the embargo lifted, I was pretty keen to sign with Hobart. I think I've made a really good choice.”
The issue could become even more significant after Cricket Australia approved the privatisation of BBL clubs on Tuesday, with Zampa’s former franchise, Melbourne Renegades, expected to be the first team sold. An injection of private capital could eventually reshape player salaries, but negotiations over how that money is distributed remain an important part of the league’s future.
Zampa acknowledged that attracting elite overseas players such as Stokes is valuable for the BBL, but suggested the removal of fixed draft slots has created a system in which franchises can spend even more heavily on a smaller number of international stars.
“I think it's potentially just a niggly situation that both parties are in, and I think having players of really good standard, Australian cricket team standard, under contract has kind of made them more powerful in that sense as well,” Zampa said. “The draft's gone, and that money, instead of having slots for each player, then you can potentially go and pay more for good overseas, and then have less overseas, which is kind of what's happened, and it's kind of against the point as to what the local players think we kind of deserve.”
Despite his concerns over the wider contracting landscape, Zampa had little hesitation over his own BBL future. Several franchises showed interest in him, but the presence of a strong group of familiar Australia team-mates ultimately helped convince him that Hobart was the right destination.
Why Zampa chose Hobart Hurricanes
“Being one of the only players in the Australian team that was off contract, there was definitely discussions with other teams,” he said. “Once it got to crunch time, I spoke with (Nathan Ellis) a little bit … the people that are at Hobart kind of sparked my interest in what I wanted to get out of playing the Big Bash. I think I've gone to a lot of teams for the people that are there and that's always an important decision in my decision-making.
“I think that's really important for that connection and also feeling like I can seamlessly go into a team without feeling like I'm out of place a little bit. To have (Ellis) as captain and TD (Tim David), and playing a bit with Riley Meredith and Ben McDermott, Mitch Owen, so there's seven or eight guys there that I've played a lot of cricket with.”
