{"id":259624,"date":"2022-12-27T01:44:37","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T02:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=259624"},"modified":"2022-12-28T22:59:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T22:59:33","slug":"bbl-skipper-knocks-back-christmas-day-concept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=259624","title":{"rendered":"BBL skipper knocks back Christmas Day concept"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Stars<\/a> skipper Adam Zampa<\/a> has emplored the Big Bash League<\/a> not to follow the National Basketball League<\/a> in hosting Christmas Day contests.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Sydney Kings faced Melbourne United at Sydney Olympic Park in what was a first for Australian professional sport.<\/p>\n

It's not an uncommon practice in the United States, with the NFL and NBA both hosting multiple matches on December 25.<\/p>\n

LIVE UPDATES:<\/strong> Coverage from day two of the MCG Test<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Kyrgios ends Aussie grudge for 'special' moment<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Fans locked out after A-League pitch invasion\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Bangladesh hosted India in a Test that began on December 22 and continued into Christmas Day \u2013 only the seventh time that Test cricket has done so.<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne<\/p>\n

Having attracted more than 7000 attendees and a 300,000-plus television audience, some have hailed the NBL match a success<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the Australian spinner said it's not something he wants the BBL to get behind.<\/p>\n

"I don't really want to play on Christmas Day," said Zampa.<\/p>\n

"Our schedules are hectic enough as is, particularly for the Stars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Obviously the Boxing Day Test is on so we're not in Melbourne, we're away quite a bit this time of year.<\/p>\n

"To add in a Christmas Day game would be out of the question."<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Perth-born and based Melbourne Stars player Marcus Stoinis made himself unavailable for the Boxing Day match, opting instead to stay with family.<\/p>\n

Nathan Coulter-Nile was another to miss the Boxing Day encounter.<\/p>\n

The pair are set to return to Zampa's squad against the Perth Scorchers on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The sheer volume of matches domestically and internationally for some players means Zampa is conscious of how demanding the schedule can be.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/SydneyKings\/status\/1606940968191922176<\/a><\/p>\n

"I've taken Christmas Eve games off as well just because we do travel a lot," he added.<\/p>\n

"It's a long 14-game season and you do want guys coming in feeling fresh and at their best. Sometimes it's just not the case.<\/p>\n

"If you're travelling the world trying to see your family on the other side of the country and coming back four hours later to try to play a game, it is about managing bodies, particularly guys like 'Coults' and 'Stoin' who have had issues with their bodies."<\/p>\n

\"Adam<\/p>\n

Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques questioned the effectiveness of the NBL match given he knew nothing of it.<\/p>\n

He also argued that it wouldn't just be the teams that had to turn up, but all the support staff such as broadcasters and stadium operators who would be required.<\/p>\n

While stopping short of opposing the idea, he said it could be done in such a way that would benefit the competition by way of derby matches.<\/p>\n

"I'd say if it is Christmas Day, I hope we use our brains and use Christmas Day as a local derby somewhere like a Melbourne-Melbourne game or the Sydney teams so that guys don't have to be away from their families on a day like that," he said.<\/p>\n

Christmas Eve and Boxing Day matches are customary in the Big Bash League.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers faced each other immediately after the conclusion of day one of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and South Africa.<\/p>\n

The Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers also played each other in Perth.<\/p>\n

\ufeffFor a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Stars skipper Adam Zampa has emplored the Big Bash League not to follow the National Basketball League in hosting Christmas Day contests. On Sunday, […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259624"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259624"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259626,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259624\/revisions\/259626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=259624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=259624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}