Top End option to ease summer squeeze

In addition to Top End bragging rights, the winner of Sunday's Northern Territory Strike League grand final will enjoy the added bonus of being the first team to qualify for the National Premier T20 competition to be introduced next March.

But NT Cricket's Chief Executive Joel Morrison sees even greater opportunities on Darwin's flawlessly clear July horizon, with the continuing development of facilities and talent in the nation's north raising the genuine prospect of high-level cricket being staged in Australia year round.

Morrison, who took up the post earlier this year having spent the previous five years as Commercial and Operations Manager of Cricket Australia men's and women's Big Bash Leagues, sees Darwin's dry season as a potential solution to the increasing pressure on southern summer scheduling.

The recent expansion of the KFC BBL to a full home and away season has resulted in an overlap with the first Domain Test between Australia and Sri Lanka, a day-night fixture that begins at the Gabba on January 24.

And the season-opening JLT One-Day Cup competition will kick off at Townsville on 16 September, the earliest starting date for the men's season in six years.

The introduction of the four-team Strike League last year, with its mix of 50-over and T20 formats, has not only attracted established players the calibre of D'Arcy Short, Jake Weatherald, Will Bosisto, Jake Doran and Jake Lehmann – and, this year, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft who are suspended from international and state involvement.

It has also highlighted the role that north Australia can fill as a complementary service to the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane to provide out-of-season playing and training opportunities for players looking to prepare for the coming summer by engaging in more than gym and indoor nets sessions.

Cricket Australia last year announced plans to develop a new $18m National Cricket Campus in Brisbane to offer expanded playing and training opportunities for all national teams and squads, as well as a host venue for national age titles and pathways teams.

But the NT Strike League's success, and the flow-on effect it delivers to club outfits in Darwin and Alice Springs that provide a bulk of the personnel involved in the month-long tournament, has raised the prospect of year-round domestic cricket competition in Australia.

"Cricket can have a 12-months-of-the-year presence in Australia if we want it to, we probably just need to think a bit more laterally," Morrison told cricket.com.au.

"There's increasing pressure on how to squeeze the Sheffield Shield, the JLT One-Day Cup, men's and women's BBL and other fixtures into the southern summer.

"So perhaps we can start saying 'well, we could actually play more games if we wanted to, across any competition, if we just started playing a bit earlier in the season'.

"And to do that, you could start playing in Darwin, and north Queensland - all those opportunities and facilities are there.

"Of course, there's a cost benefit element to everything, but if we actually want to play all year round we have the capabilities to achieve that by making better use of Australia's north."

One of the options that might further enhance the Strike League's appeal to state-listed players looking to find form during the off-season and aspiring youngsters hoping to push their claims with talent managers and BBL clubs is to schedule a greater concentration of matches.

In its first two seasons, Strike League's T20 fixtures have been scheduled on Sundays to minimise disruption to the concurrent Darwin club competition with the 50-over games staged back-to-back on the final two weekends.

However, if there was a provision to play mid-week matches and thereby condense the tournament into a couple of weeks rather than a month or more, the volume of high-quality cricket would be maintained while accommodation and living costs would be significantly reduced.

Morrison also indicated that there existed the possibility to host Rebel WBBL matches in Darwin before the wet season sets in around mid-late October, to further build on the League's burgeoning profile.

BBL and WBBL matches have already been successfully staged in Alice Springs.

"The concept we are really pushing is to look at the north of Australia as a whole," he said.

"It probably makes more sense from a geographical, climatic and cultural viewpoint to explore the link between the top of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and north Queensland as opposed to simply accepting the historical ties between NT and South Australia.

"And there are enormous advantages to cricket by playing in north Australia.

"It allows teams to come up here and adapt their skills to a different environment, where they are able to get out and play cricket on first-class standard pitches and outfields.

"It's not just players that would benefit from that year-round option, it also helps to broaden the experience and the learnings for coaches and for umpires.

"Whether that's junior teams coming up here - and we've had a New South Wales academy team plus Tasmania's senior development squad up here this month - they can use facilities to play whatever form of cricket they want against good competition.

"Either through matches against other visiting teams, or against the best of our players in an NT XI which, in turn, delivers other benefits.

"There are opportunities for marquee players from other states and territories, even from overseas, to have a great hit-out during winter, plus their presence allows our emerging NT players, or even senior club players up here, to learn from the very best.

"They get to play and train alongside professional players for a month or more, so it helps them to develop their game but also enables them to draw on the knowledge gained through the Strike League and pass that back to their clubs to help strengthen our local competition."

As one of those players to have accepted the opportunity to hone his off-season game through the Strike League – albeit for just a weekend before jetting off to the Caribbean Premier League – David Warner proved a drawcard for teammates and Darwin cricket fans alike.

Neither he nor his former Test opening partner Cameron Bancroft will play for their respective Strike League teams, City Cyclones and Desert Blaze, when they meet in Sunday's final.

But Warner indicated on social media this week that should the Cyclones triumph and earn qualification for the National Premier T20 tournament to be staged in Adelaide next March, he will be happily available to don their green uniform once more.

"I think it's a terrific opportunity for our local players in the Northern Territory through the Strike League, to have the opportunity to play in the National Premier T20 competition," Morrison said.

"It allows us to further showcase the talent we have in the Territory, at a time when we've got  players the quality of (Adelaide Strikers') Tabatha Saville, (Australia T20 and ODI opener) D'Arcy Short, (plus South Australia pair) Jake Weatherald and Kane Richardson all playing at a really high level.

"For our young players to see the possibilities that exist in cricket through those role models, and to now have an opportunity to play on a national stage in a Premier T20 tournament is fantastic for Strike League, and exciting for clubs and players across the NT."