Sydney Sixers star Jordan Silk has thrown his support behind the Big Bash League being played on Christmas Day, despite Cricket Australia moving away from their traditional BBL Christmas Eve slot this year.
Silk claimed the domestic competition should be leaning into the festive scheduling rather than backing away from it, with the game following the lead of major US sporting codes such as the NFL and NBA, who register huge viewing figures during the day.
Jordan Silk backs BBL Christmas Day fixtures in the future
Closer to home, in the past two years, the NBL has already started to emulate this precedent with the Sydney Kings hosting games on two successive Christmas Days.
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Buoyed by the extra attention this received, the Tasmania JackJumpers and South East Melbourne Phoenix also featured in a double NBL bill in 2023.
"In terms of Christmas Day, I think we are ready for it," Silk told SEN when speaking about the possibility of a new BBL tradition being established in the future.
"The BBL is ready for a Christmas Day game, and you are always looking for something to watch that afternoon.
"I can’t speak for all players but certainly watching or participating in a live cricket game on Christmas could be a pretty cool tradition.
"The more we see other codes taking up Christmas Day games, it’ll only get spoken about more and more."
Silk stated that a night-time BBL match on Christmas Day could serve as the perfect appetiser for cricket fans ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
"After you’re done playing backyard cricket, you want to put your feet up and have a beer," Silk said.
"Something to watch would be great and it'd be a nice lead into the Boxing Day Test."
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Meanwhile, the issue of the starting time for the Boxing Day Test has been debated with calls for there to be a later start on Day 1 to accommodate the crowd at the MCG.
It was proposed that a 12pm AEDT opening time would encourage more fans to venture to the stadium, as well as allowing for a later finish that could stimulate the city's CBD due to a later finish.
However, CA chief Nick Hockley dismissed this suggestion while noting how the traditions surrounding the Boxing Day Test didn’t need to be altered.
"Look, I mean the great thing is we got to play through until 7:00pm last night," Hockley told SEN Cricket.
"I’m really thrilled and credit to the ground staff that we got back on [after the rain delay] but tradition is a wonderful thing.
"You had two wonderful Big Bash matches to watch later on as well," Hockley added.
