Steve Smith was one of a number of Australia's players who watched the inaugural Big bash League draft on Sunday but says he's unsure whether it's the best way forward for the competition.
Speaking ahead of Australia's second ODI against Zimbabwe in Townsville on Wednesday, Smith said the crux of the BBL competition should be about looking after local players who felt hard done by on renumeration.
Some of the T20 format's biggest global stars were overlooked in the draft on Sunday evening but all eight of the Platinum Round picks were overseas players.
Smith said he expected the competition to address this in future, as the back-end of the season crosses over with the more lucrative T20 leagues in South Africa and the UAE.
Asked whether the draft brought parity and balance to the BBL, Smith said: "I think it's interesting. I don't know what the best way forward is.
"In terms of tournaments around the world, you have to look after your local players, I think, most importantly.
"Seeing some of the players that are coming out for some big cash, I know a few of the local players that are big players are a little bit disappointed in terms of renumeration for the tournament.
"I think there's going to have to be a way around that to keep your local players happy. And I'm sure it's something that's going to be looked at."
The BBL's salary cap for the forthcoming season is $1.9m with platinum players selected in the draft given $340,000 contracts, $160,000 of which goes towards the cap.
The memorandum of understanding pay deal between players and Cricket Australia expires next year with player pay and the BBL salary cap expected to form part of negotations in the next 12 months.
