Cricket Australia will consider again boosting the salary cap of the Big Bash League with CEO Kevin Roberts admitting the standard has slipped in the expanded eighth edition.
Once the jewel in CA's crown, the BBL has suffered from a lack of close matches and significantly lower crowds after launching an extended schedule this season.
The league's cap has jumped from $1.6 million to $1.77 million with its schedule expanding from 43 to 59 games, ensuring it's longer than the Indian Premier League.
Roberts said they may tinker again with the cap to ensure the BBL stands out in the competitive T20 scene.
The Bangladesh Premier League claimed a number of ex-BBL stars as international marquees this season.
"It is certainly something we will keep an eye on," Roberts told SEN radio.
"We need to be competitive in terms of player payments and make sure we really cement the position of the BBL in the top two domestic T20 leagues in the world.
"But it's a delicate thing to work through."
Roberts lamented a lack of close matches, blaming pitches not conducive to high scoring.
"The bigger challenge in the Big Bash this season has been the pitches," he said.
"We've seen less matches early in the season where we have seen 175 playing 170 in a great, close, high performing contest.
Roberts believed taking games this season to more regional venues including Launceston, Gold Coast, Geelong and Canberra had hurt attendances.
"We have taken the game to the people," he said.
"When you take a match from the MCG to Moe you are not going to match the crowd ... that does come with reduced crowds.
"And when you expand a season like we have, with 16 more matches you can't expect to retain the average (crowds)."
