Watching Steve Smith’s sparkling century against the Adelaide Strikers midweek at Coffs Harbour would have been gratifying for the Sixers and their fans but, more pertinently, been a relief for Cricket Australia’s management, who found an extra few hundred thousand just to make sure he turned out in the BBL and not one of the competing overseas domestic T20 Leagues.

These tournaments are direct business competitors for each other: they compete for sponsors, media rights and the scarcest of resources – quality cricket players.

At the end of last BBL season the Sixers were forced to play a couple of the coaching staff in the showcase final when those same CA officials wouldn’t let Smith play at all. Talk about denigrating your own competition in a “shoot your foot off” moment. Now the folly of that decision has faded, but certainly not disappeared, the broadcasters assuaged, Smith calmed but not pacified.

David Warner has similarly big money in his pocket to start the innings at the Thunder. The Smith deal came well after the highly publicised Warner pact and these payments are not counted as a part of the team’s salary cap. Ironically, however, even as the Sixers and Thunder are set to play in the finals, neither of the Test stars will be available as they head to India for the series there.

Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne, and Nathan Lyon have also turned their hands to a few BBL matches before departing for India on January 31. The Test players’ onfield contributions to their franchises have been patchy, but simply by taking their place in team line-ups they have added to the interest and calibre of the Bash, which has lost several international players whose contracts in the SA20 (South Africa) and ILT20 (UAE) are far richer than in Australia.

Following a non-competitive Test summer, the Bash is garnering encouraging viewing numbers and bums on seats as the competition steams to the business end. The cricket has been very watchable: some close finishes, great fielding, local players emerging as future stars, bowlers getting plenty of wickets to redress the batting bias that turns long-term fans away, plus the occasional Smith or Chris Lynn batting gem.

What has been a revelation for CA officials is that quality batting, bowling and fielding will beat gimmicks every time. Never underestimate the knowledge of the fans, young and not so young, who have had 11 seasons to figure out T20 cricket and, bolstered by the recent World Cup on home shores, are sated by cricket performance rather than face paint and loud music.

Strangely, as BBL12 has shown significant signs of a healthy recovery, BBL13 has been shortlisted. CA has folded, for the time being at least, to the broadcasters, who have their own narrow agendas that don’t include development of domestic players and/or producing more international-calibre performers.