Thursday morning heralded the announcement of the inaugural leaders of one of Melbourne's two Big Bash League franchises, the Melbourne Stars. Based out of the MCG and sporting a diplomatic green livery, the Stars are not to be confused with the red Renegades, cross-town rivals and tenants of Etihad Stadium during the summer slogfest.

Victoria's coach and captain, Greg Shipperd and Cameron White, will lead the Stars, supported by Victorian favourite and T20 specialist David Hussey. If those announcements were expected, that names three to five on the inaugural roster were listed as George Bailey, Adam Voges, and Chris Simpson is more interesting. In the boldest statement yet of the new competition's use of player free agency, the Stars have acquired three individuals keen to prove points to selectors.

Continuing the relationship with the navy blues, Chief Executive of this new organisation is Clint Cooper, who also happens to be General Manager, Commercial Operations, at Cricket Victoria. After the announcement Cooper spoke to BackPageLead about his expectations for his side in the revamped competition.

"Every team is going to want to qualify for the Champions League, that's our number one priority on the field," Cooper began. "Off the field, we've got some really important work to do to connect with the community. It's a clean slate from the way cricket has been marketed in the past. Football has always been tribal and passionate and that's what we've got to embrace with T20 cricket. We've got to get fans into the ground and get people talking about it around the water cooler at work."

That will be easier said than done in a town with many competing sporting loyalties and a resistance in some parts of the cricket-watching community to the game's shortest format.

"It's a cluttered marketplace. I read recently that Melbourne is the most saturated market for sports teams anywhere in the world," Cooper acknowledged. "T20 is just such a unique product. It's crash, bash, it's three-hours. The product stands up by itself, but the entertainment offering around it stands up too so mixing the two together is a terrific outcome. We've led the way in Victoria for quite a few years, in making sure our event presentation is fantastic: fireworks, kids enjoying themselves, we just need to raise the bar even further."

"The beauty of T20 cricket is that it opens up to a completely new market. We've seen an incredible 43,000 at the MCG for Victoria against Tasmania and the demographic there was mothers, families, kids and teenagers - and I think that's exactly where we need to be. We will ensure we target the heartland of cricketers, because they're our bread and butter, but we also have this amazing opportunity to segments that have never been involved in cricket before."

One obvious advantage of the Stars over the Renegades is the MCG, Australia's home of cricket. However, with the MCG comes the MCC, the establishment, tradition and history - hardly natural bedfellows with cricket at its most commercial.

"The MCG is the people's ground. It's recognised as the cricket ground in Victoria and that's a competitive advantage for us. The players want to play there, kids aspire to play at the MCG, so I think we have a natural advantage there," Cooper contended. "With no disrespect to the gentlemen down the road, it will be a different concept down there - dragging people to Etihad Stadium where cricket is foreign."

"In the first year we've only got four home games to sell, which is a bit disappointing. We'd be pretty disappointed if we weren't at least beating the crowds that we've seen for the state teams over the last couple of years. I'd love to see the Melbourne derby capturing 50-60,000 people. If people haven't picked their team by then, there's the opportunity."

The early playing list, which will be fleshed out in the coming weeks, is already top heavy with captains and experience. As Cooper explained, this is all according to plan.

"At the Melbourne Stars we want to be leaders," he said. "We want to lead the way in everything we do, on and off the field. Cameron White is the perfect role model, 27, the Australian T20 captain, a big hitter, known on the world stage in the IPL. His equal is David Hussey, a little bit older but just as popular. I've got a 10-year-old son and it's ‘David Hussey this and Cameron White that.' Guys that can capture the imagination of the crowd by hitting big sixes into the crowd."

Amongst the early names, the three from interstate, George Bailey, Adam Voges and Chris Simpson, stand out. They exemplify the new reality of player free agency brought about by the BBL. This is a key feature of the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement between Cricket Australia and the players and in Bailey in particular it has thrown up some interesting issues.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old is the captain of Tasmania, so can reasonably have expected to sign for the Hobart Hurricanes. It is likely his decision to move to Melbourne was motivated in part by a desire to raise his profile and give himself a greater chance of achieving international recognition. Coach, Greg Shippered, admitted as much during the press conference.

"We pitched to those sorts of players that the opportunity to come to the Eastern Seaboard and play at the MCG could possibly be a spur for their international careers. That was something well received by the particular players we have spoken to and signed today," Shipperd said.

The potential is that once players of the calibre of Bailey (the current Sheffield Shield winning skipper) move to Melbourne and similarly Sydney, for the BBL; they could precipitate first class crossovers to Victoria and NSW. Whilst the loss of players in their late twenties and early thirties is unlikely to harm states like Tasmania at the moment, the potential for BBL free agency to stimulate a talent drain is obvious. And, as Cooper pointed out, "The beauty of free agency enables us to deal directly with the players." Thereby bypassing any awkward conversations with rival state administrators.

Another reality BBL player free agency raises is that of the international freelancer. Chris Gayle is the highest profile example of this trend, whereby a box-office draw can demand higher salaries for less work than if aligned solely with a national board. In this new reality, for many, the IPL and its riches has superseded international honours as the pinnacle of cricketing achievement; a truth not unknown to Cooper.

"The world stage, officially or unofficially, at the moment is the IPL, and these guys desperately want to get there. Recruiters from the IPL are here over the summer looking for the best talent on show so I won't be surprised if some of them get picked up, maybe on smaller contracts in the IPL - and we'll be encouraging that ourselves. The difficulty comes if they do go off and qualify for the Champions League with another team."

The Big Bash League experiment is gathering momentum and is set to be a bold and colourful addition to the summer sporting calendar. Whether you already have your side's insignia tattooed on your calf or whether you abhor the very concept of the short format, it is going to be hard to ignore during December and January.

Unconvinced? Cooper certainly isn't, and his message is simple. "Give it a go. Go and speak to your kids. The kids want to play and watch T20 cricket and I'm sure if you came along you'd see an exciting, entertaining action-packed event that will make you want to come back for more and more and more."