As quickly as the Big Bash appeared, it could disappear. As I write, tennis' Australian Open is enjoying another bumper year. And cricket administrators should look at the raging success of the tournament as they map out the future of the Big Bash and, perhaps, the whole Australian cricketing summer. The Australian Open was on life support in the late 1970s and early '80s. A grasscourt event played at a weird time over Christmas at Kooyong, it was routinely brushed by many big stars and its status as a grand slam was in question.

Josh Philippe and Daniel Hughes prepare to bat for the Sixers as storm clouds gather overhead. Credit:Getty I'll throw one stat at you: Bjorn Borg, one of the most famous grass-court players of all time with five straight Wimbledon titles from 1976 to 1980, only played the Australian Open once. That was in 1974 as a 17-year-old. Can anyone imagine Roger Federer only bothering to play one Australian Open in his whole career? The thought is preposterous. But that was the reality. Many, many players loathed the event. So the sport was forced to look at what it wanted to look like in 10 or 20 years and Melbourne Park was born under its original name of Flinders Park. The grasscourts were gone and a date later in January was settled on.

BBL crowds have declined for the past three seasons. Credit:Getty Images The first tournament in 1988 was a raging success with a young Steffi Graf winning her second grand slam title beating Chris Evert in the final and Mats Wilander outlasting Pat Cash in five sets in the men's. Cricket needs to follow that lead and decide what it wants the Big Bash to look like in 10 or 20 years. Admittedly, that's a hard task. But people get big, big bucks at CA’s Jolimont headquarters for a reason. T20 cricket has only been around for 15 years, so who knows where it's heading. But the one thing we do know is that, with Big Bash cricket, the magic is in the "bash".

John McEnroe and umpire Peter Bellenger have words when the Australian Open was still held at Kooyong in 1985. Credit:Bruce Postle When it was eight matches a team over four weeks, it was at its zenith: slam, bam, thank you ma’am. There was a premium on each contest. That is what the concept is all about. It’s where the excitement and hype comes from. I was talking to a Cricket Australia official about crowds for Sydney Sixers matches and he made a great point. He told me many families attend one match a summer. In an eight-match season, that's four home matches to choose from. In a 14-match season, that's seven to choose from – it thins the crowd out. That's exactly what my own family has done for the past five years – attend one Sixers match each January. We went on Saturday to see Steve Smith bat. Night after night this year the Big Bash had a sameness about it. "Let's cross down now to Sydney Thunder captain Callum Ferguson ..."

Loading Nice guy, handy cricketer, but, with all respect, I do not need to hear from him night after night in prime time. There's simply not enough star power nor firepower in the teams. Heroes and villains make the world go around. It’s not politically correct to say this, but Chris Gayle was the bomb in the Big Bash. The return of Smith to the Sixers this past week is the kind of star power it needs.