Cricket Australia (CA) has given the formal go-ahead to private investment in the Big Bash Leagues, their annual domestic T20 tournament, potentially paving the way for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises to buy stakes in clubs Down Under.At a press conference held at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday — an event attended by the Australia men’s and women’s captains Pat Cummins and Sophie Molineux — CA confirmed bids have been invited for a 100 per cent stake in the Melbourne Renegades, with new ownership to be in place for the 2027-28 BBL and WBBL campaigns.Stakes could then be sold in other teams in future under a “self-determination model that gives each State member the ability to assess the optimal pathway for its own club and community”, CA said in a statement.They stressed the decision to invite private investment, which has previously met with significant resistance from New South Wales and Queensland in particular, was in the best interests of all aspects of Australian cricket.CA insisted it would “enhance funding for community, domestic and international pathways and elite cricket; protect the primacy of Test cricket; continue to develop and engage the best players in our national teams and the Big Bash Leagues and grow our brands, fan engagement and commercial strength”.Privatisation opens the door for IPL club owners to buy into BBL clubs, as they have in England’s The Hundred, where they have secured and rebranded the Oval Invincibles (now MI London), Manchester Originals (Manchester Super Giants) and Northern Superchargers (Sunrisers Leeds).The presence of Cummins and Molineux, alongside key national team players Travis Head and Ellyse Perry, was significant given concerns expressed by the Australian Cricketers’ Association since the idea of BBL privatisation was first mooted. CA intends to continue discussions with the players’ association while the Renegades sale process proceeds.“Privatisation, if done well, can be a great thing for the sport,” Cummins, who has not featured in the BBL since 2019, told reporters at the SCG. “(There are) so many benefits for obviously the Big Bash League, but as an Aussie captain as well. Test cricket’s so important for me, and I think this sets us up really well for the future.”Australia captain Pat Cummins addresses the media at the SCG (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images for Cricket Australia)CA will retain control over international scheduling, player availability, salary caps and media rights. They had hoped to raise up to AUS$600million (£320m; $433m) from its initial privatisation process to safeguard the future of the sport, though there is clearly optimism that those figures could be higher.“This is ultimately a billion-dollar opportunity for our sport,” CA’s chief executive, Todd Greenberg, told reporters. “And to put that back into players, but importantly the rest of cricket — the grassroots and participation areas for us to continue to grow the game. That’s a significant part of this decision.“Private capital is not new in sport. It’s not new globally, and it’s not new in cricket, but the opportunity to bring private capital into cricket — both for the capital and the capability — has the ability to shape the sport like never before.”The sales process will not affect the 2026-27 WBBL and BBL seasons — the women’s tournament begins on October 29, while the first game of the men’s event, between the Renegades and Perth Scorchers, will be held outside Australia, in Chennai, on December 12 — with the Renegades to compete in ‘caretaker mode’ by CA.Once the Renegades have been sold, though, CA will consider taking other clubs to market, allowing each State to decide if and when to sell stakes in their BBL clubs. The Hobart Hurricanes (Tasmania), Melbourne Stars (Victoria) and Perth Scorchers (Western Australia) have previously been keen to bring in private investment.The teams in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia have traditionally been more resistant.Perth Scorchers players celebrate their BBL win in January 2026 (Colin Murty/AFP via Getty Images)“Cricket Australia and its State members are united in our commitment to investing in and growing the BBL and WBBL, and to advancing the interests of cricket at every level,” said CA’s chairman, Mike Baird.“By opening the door to private investment in the Big Bash Leagues, Cricket Australia is taking a deliberate step to strengthen and secure the long-term future of the game, accelerate growth and ensuring we can keep investing in community cricket and grassroots participation, domestic and international pathways and the elite level.”The Big Bash risked being left behindNews that Cricket Australia has given the green light to private investment in the Big Bash Leagues is not a surprise. The surprise is it has taken them so long.After all, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) made this call for its The Hundred competition two years ago and raised more than £500million for the county and grassroots game. And the Indian Premier League, the daddy of franchise cricket leagues, is now into its second generation of private owners, with the whole shebang valued at $20billion.The reason it has taken this long for Australian cricket to follow suit is partly that Australian cricket rarely agrees on anything, with this debate dividing on State lines, and partly because the Big Bash has been a huge success in terms of crowds and TV audiences. The need to cash in or get help has not seemed so obvious.But you can only fight the game’s gravitational pull for so long. With Indian money now ruling cricket, the Big Bash risked being left behind.So, Cricket Australia has found a compromise between those who want to join cricket’s global economy and those who prefer the Big Bash’s strong Aussie identity by allowing the most enthusiastic supporters of external investment, Victoria’s Melbourne Renegades, to be sold next year, and then leaving it up to each State to decide what to do with its team or teams.A typically pragmatic approach, then, for a pragmatic nation.Matthew Slater