Veteran Sixers spinner Stephen O’Keefe has urged Cricket Australia to make signing Steve Smith to the BBL its No.1 precedence, with followers crying out for the sport’s greatest stars this summer time.
The drawback for Smith is that the Sixers have finalised their squad after they re-signed Mickey and Jack Edwards, which implies the stand-in Test skipper can solely be part of the squad as a substitute participant for the abroad stars or if somebody will get injured.
But that might imply he’d should accept match funds except Cricket Australia provided him the same deal to the one David Warner obtained to return to the Thunder for the primary time in 9 years.
It’s the second 12 months in a row Smith’s availability for the Sixers has been within the highlight after the opposite golf equipment blocked an utility for him to play in final season’s remaining as the boys in magenta battled accidents.
Smith would solely be out there for a couple of video games because of Australia’s hectic schedule, however having some of the fashionable cricketers within the BBL is a “no-brainer” in response to O’Keefe.
“This game is crying out for the best players in the world, and the best players in the country. Steve Smith is that player,” he mentioned.
“Last year, he wanted to play and he would have played for absolute peanuts. The powers that be decided that he could, but it was going to be too difficult a decision.
“When we’re trying to build brands and we’re trying to build the quality of this, we need guys like Steve Smith playing.
“So whatever CA can do to make that happen – we’ve got Dave Warner playing – I think we do the same with Steve Smith and we get him back in the magenta and we do it on whatever terms he finds fit.
“It’s a long summer for these guys and I understand they’ve got India, World Cup and other things.
“But we’re seeing Steve play the best cricket in his own words since 2013, so I know for a fact that if we got him for even two or three games at the Sixers, you’re going to put an extra five or 10,000 bums on seats. Do what it takes to get him back.”
Leading Australian gamers Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell will miss the BBL due to harm, though the latter is hopeful he can return from a damaged leg at some stage of the season.
Other worldwide stars like Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt have additionally withdrawn, whereas T20 legends Andrew Russell and Faf du Plessis will characteristic after they had been initially neglected within the draft.
It’s why O’Keefe says cricket bosses ought to make it a precedence to signal somebody like Smith given he has indicated he needs to play and the sport wants its stars to make sure massive crowds.
“If I was Cricket Australia and I was sitting around in a room, it would almost be No.1 on my list to get the world’s best players,” he mentioned.
“We did a marketing campaign that had Faf du Plessis and Andre Russell, and they didn’t get picked up in auction and have only just been picked up.
“Steve Smith is a local talent who loves the Sixers who would have played for basically nothing last year. Why can’t we find a way to get this guy involved if it suits him and it’s the right thing to do?
“It’s a no-brainer for the game.”
