It is commonplace for the images of players to be used in marketing material by Cricket Australia, but agents say lines are blurred when third parties are involved and there is no direct benefit to players.

“In exciting news for the promotion of the BBL, CA have come to an agreement with News Ltd (via the broader Fox Media Rights Agreement) to operate a BBL SuperCoach Fantasy platform again this season,” the email from Cricket Australia, seen by this masthead, said.

“No doubt most of you will be very familiar with News Ltd’s SuperCoach offering with BBL over the past few years and via other sporting codes such as the AFL and NRL. This is to notify you that player [headshots] will be used within the platform, as per the NBL example below, for all BBL squad members playing in the 2024-25 season.

“Note that player images may also appear in SuperCoach social posts based on BBL performances to help promote the league, as per the attached AFL example.

“As I’m sure you’ll all agree, this is fantastic promotion of the BBL, will link back to messages to watch the broadcast on Fox and we anticipate will spark huge interest amongst fans.”

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Cricket Australia said on Thursday the decision had been made not to use the photos because there was not enough time after players arrived at their clubs after duties with their states or from overseas.

News Corp were contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

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