What exactly is 'The Big Bash League'? Only the answer to your parenting prayers.

Oh how I dream of the days when my children were younger and easier to please. A couple of years ago my children were happy to do whatever activity I’d organised for them. We’d go and see a movie together, we’d go bowling or I’d drop them all off at tennis camp.

Now that they are older they have all of these individual preferences and opinions. Now at 11, seven and six, they no longer want to see the same movie. They want to see three different movies. Only one of them still likes to go bowling. They’ve all refused to attend tennis camp ever again. “It made too tired Mum,” my six-year-old explained.

Seriously?

It gets to a stage that in the lead up to the holiday season I am less “joyful mum” and more “activity director” for three difficult little clients who have increasingly different ideas of what constitutes as a fun day out. It used to absolutely do my head in.

There are some activities they are happy to come together for. The public pool is always a winner, so is bike riding at our local park and eating out at our favourite restaurant so that’s three days sorted. But that leaves a lot of gaping holes in our holiday schedule and seeing as going to a movie has become such a pain, I’ve had to hunt around for something else they’ll like doing together.

We attended our first Big Bash League (BBL) game a year ago. None of us were cricket fans at all, or had ever played cricket together but the idea of a shorter, faster game sounded like fun - as did the promise of post-game fireworks.

The cool thing about BBL is that it’s not just about sitting down and watching a cricket game, although we’re pretty happy to do that these days. It was a brilliant day out from start to finish and so much better than just watching a game of it on TV.

As we were just walking from our car to the SCG we bumped into three families we knew from school, so already we were getting to spend time with friends. And even better, general admission tickets allow families to sit wherever they like - so we could all sit together easily, which is such a bonus. Once we found our seats we felt so excited because the atmosphere was absolutely amazing. It was like a huge party being attended by heaps of families. Even our friends who are cricket fanatics and have been known to attend the never-ending test matches were having fun. I remember when I offered them tickets to the BBL and how they fell over themselves to get them. They knew how much fun it would be, particularly for young kids.

We got BBL merchandise including water bottles and toys which kept them busy in the car on the way home. All of the merchandise is themed so as soon as your children decide which team they are going for (my daughter chose the Sydney Sixers because they use the colour pink) you can deck yourself out in caps and t-shirts, foam hands, sunglasses and teddy bears. The boys are sticking with Sydney Thunder. Finally, something they can agree on.

But it’s not just about the cricket. There was entertainment, games, and did I mention fireworks? Can you tell it’s my favourite part?

The best part of the BBL is that it costs about half of what it costs to go to the movies - so it’ ridiculously affordable. In fact, it’s so affordable so you can go to as many games as you want over the holiday season and your kids will be entertained for hours and hours.

BBL returns on 17 December with international stars playing alongside the best cricketing talent Australia has to offer - and yes, even I’ve heard of these names. You can purchase tickets through the website or Ticketek and find out all the extra information you need about the upcoming summer season at www.bigbash.com.au

We’ll see you there.

How do you keep the kids entertained during summer?

And if you're in the mood for more cricket, here's everything you can expect at a BBL match...