Cricket Tasmania reject characterisation of BBL privatisation as 'cash grab'

[p]The Big Bash League (BBL) privatisation debate went to a new level last month when, despite no unanimous agreement between the six states to vote in favour of selling their BBL teams to private ownership, Cricket [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/victoria/Gd0wlfZ1/"]Victoria[/a] (CV) moved ahead with plans to sell off the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-stars/MPk7NTBN/"]Melbourne[/a] Renegades and rebrand the Melbourne Stars with a new name and colours. [/p][p]That plan was shelved for at least one season when other states talked CV and its CEO Nick Cummins into slowing things down a touch, and CV responded by delaying the rebranding of the Stars for one season and running the Renegades under an interim administration with an eye to transferring the licence to a new ownership well ahead of the 2027-28 season. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tasmania/O2D8Wu7h/"]Tasmania[/a] were one of the three states initially in favour of BBL privatisation - alongside Victoria and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/western-australia/Wfe1Y1xt/"]Western Australia[/a] - whilst [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-south-wales/x61ZlzKe/"]New South Wales[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/queensland/UuE4XLin/"]Queensland[/a] rejected the proposal and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-australia/2gCCVaMb/"]South Australia[/a] wanted to place significant caveats on a league-wide privatisation. [/p][p]Baker insists that Cricket Tasmania are not yet 100% sold on the idea of offloading the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hobart/0A1bPksB/"]Hobart Hurricanes[/a], but believe such an investment at the right price would benefit the sport as a whole.[/p][embed guid="ba7ca6b6-3ba2-49f3-988d-ee1801f9d047" url="https://x.com/tommorris32/status/2074020034264137982" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]We believe this is a really great opportunity to fuel growth in the sport,[/b]" Baker told reporters.[/p][p]"I think that gets lost in the argument a bit.[/p][p]"[b]This is about protecting what we love around cricket (whether it's) red-ball cricket, women's domestic cricket, pathway cricket.[/b][/p][p]"People think it is a grab for cash rather than an opportunity to continue to grow the game. [/p][p]"[b]We're open minded. We don't tend to get too concerned about what others think or do in this space. It's about what we think is right for us.[/b]"[/p][p]Baker said he is continuing to have discussions with interested parties from India. [/p][p]"[b]All we have committed to is to go to the next stage,[/b]" he added. [/p][p]"[b]To see who's out there, to see what they're prepared to bring to this franchise and this state.[/b]" [/p][infobox id="d39bc573-b9dd-4b87-acb9-2de1f22d36c7" /]