It was a summer of huge success for the men’s and women’s cricket teams with both squads comprehensively winning The Ashes against The Old Enemy, but not seen from the outside was the sheer magnitude of the travel plans behind the scenes, a feat that was a victory in itself.
Press release
What a delivery: BBL International players spend 430 hours in the air to play in tournament
15 January 2024 – The KFC Big Bash League (BBL) has seen world-class overseas players travel nearly 350,000 kilometres, spending more than 430 hours in the air, to arrive in Australia to compete in one of the country’s leading sporting leagues.
In the lead-up to the BBL|13 Opening Week, international players travelled from their home countries, and countries of recent participation, including England, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and others.
Players jetting in from overseas included Quinton De Kock, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Alex Hales, Zaman Khan, Tom Curran, James Vince, Sam Billings, Paul Walter, Zak Crawley, Laurie Evans, Jamie Overton, Adam Hose, Haris Rauf, Chris Jordan, Sam Hain, and Corey Anderson.
BBL|13 is proving to be a real hit among fans, with average match attendances up 29 per cent on last season, with nearly 350,000 fans witnessing the world’s best players in action.
Flight Centre Travel Group’s iconic boutique sport and entertainment industry travel management company, Stage and Screen, coordinated travel for the arrival of hundreds of domestic and international players, staff and team management, to ensure the tournament was a success once again.
“The Big Bash Leagues continue to attract some of the world’s best cricketers and its incredibly important to us that their experience is world-class,” said Big Bash Leagues General Manager Alistair Dobson.
“Stage and Screen play a pivotal role in providing the best possible experience for our overseas players who travel from across the world to take part in both the KFC BBL and Weber WBBL.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the role they play and look forward to continuing our partnership in the years to come.”
Stage and Screen General Manager Adam Moon said it was a privilege to be entrusted with the travel for Cricket Australia and the Big Bash Leagues.
“We managed more than 50 flights just to get the international players into Australia for the BBL, in addition to the journeys they’ll take home once the tournament wraps up, along with the domestic players, all the staff, coaches and management,” Mr Moon said.
“There are close to 500 flight legs that have been coordinated in total over the period of the BBL and in the month leading up to it – a testament to the extensive experience of our team.
“It’s always a challenge to manage players based all over the world, who are working to their own individual schedules and tournaments – the Big Bash isn’t like most other sporting events, where a full team is transferred from A to B in a group at the same time.
“We pride ourselves on being able to overcome any hurdle, and just as is the case for the players, planning and attention to detail is key to seamlessly getting the job done.“I pay tribute to the wider team that deliver expertise above and beyond to ensure travel for Cricket Australia runs smoothly all year long.
“We’re proud that we run our business in a very different way to mainstream corporate companies – we consider ourselves to be genuine partners with our customers – not just their travel managers. They are relationships we hold dearly.”
