Peter Siddle calls for shorter Big Bash window as marathon competition nears its end

Several standout overseas players have been unable to complete the duration of the tournament, with the BBL lasting almost two months

Peter Siddle has called for the Big Bash window to be shortened, with the competition reaching its final throes fifty days after launching with a comprehensive win for Sydney Sixers over Melbourne Stars – three days before the Ashes series got underway.

Siddle, whose Adelaide Strikers side will face Sixers on Wednesday for a place in the final against Perth Scorchers, has been named as captain of the BBL team of the season.

Concerns about the length of the flagship tournament are nothing new, with teams having faced one another home and away since a schedule extension was agreed in a 2018 broadcast deal with Fox Sports and Seven.

But those issues have been exacerbated this time, with Covid wreaking havoc through the middle of the campaign, forcing teams into wholesale changes and causing games to be rearranged.

"It's not a hidden fact that it is a bit long," Siddle told AAP. "Making it shorter is the key focus. The word from anyone overseas that I chat to is their biggest worry is they don't want to come here for that long and be stuck."

^{Rashid Khan had to leave the Big Bash early to play for Afghanistan (Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)}

Several standout overseas players have been unable to complete the duration of the tournament, with James Vince, Tymal Mills, Harry Brook, George Garton, Saqib Mahmood, Sam Billings, Chris Jordan and Reece Topley all featuring in this year's Big Bash but now part of England's T20 squad in the West Indies.

Likewise, Siddle has seen long-time teammate Rashid Khan depart to represent Afghanistan, although ironically his last-minute replacement, Ian Cockbain, has proven a revelation in propelling Strikers within a game of the final.

"If you're a shorter tournament, you're probably not losing guys like Rashid Khan, James Vince, Sandeep [Lamichhane]," he said.

That teams have had to play rescheduled games within a short space of time has shown that cramming the competition into a less extensive timeframe is possible, Siddle added.