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Cricket Australia (CA) is planning to make some major changes in the schedule of 11th edition of KFC Big Bash League. The 61-game season is expected to start as early as first weekend of December and will be completed by the end of January. The shift is being considered to ensure more viewership as there will be school holidays in the country during that period. To add to it, it will also ensure the availability of Australia's white-ball players with their next assignment being the ODI series against New Zealand which start from January 30 onwards.
Which big names will be available for BBL 11?
All the Australian players, who play only limited-overs cricket, are set to be available for the entire season of BBL 11. Hence, big names like Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa are expected to play the whole season. Some of the other players like Dan Christian, Josh Philippe, Moises Henriques, Andrew Tye etc. will also be available, which will certainly make this season a star-studded one. This will come as a major boost to all the teams and the organizers with the availability of national star players certainly expected to increase the viewership.
No Warner, Smith and Cummins in BBL once again?
However, the tweak in schedule will also mean that Australian Test players won't be a part of BBL 11 once again. The Aussies are set to play six Test matches (one-off Test against Afghanistan followed by 5-match Test series against England) from November 27 to January 18 with the dates clashing with proposed dates of BBL 11. As a result, players like David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are all set to miss the entire season of the T20 league once again.