Big Bash League - Fireworks alright, but where are the stars?

While there remains little doubt that the tournament has gone a long way in making cricket popular in the country again, Big Bash League's impact on the state of Australian cricket's health definitely deserves a discussion.

If a tournament is to be judged for its look and feel quotient, the Australian packaging of the slam-bang version of cricket, aptly called the Big Bash, would win hands down over the other franchise-based global T20 leagues in the world. Everything about it looks like the culmination of the dream Kerry Packer saw when he put together the World Series Cricket in the 70’s to revolutionise the face of cricket. Not only does the cricket look fantastic in drop dead gorgeous looking stadiums, the matches are well attended despite them clashing with the Australian cricket season which is often cited as one of the major successes of the league. The quality of cricket on display has gone up a notch higher every year since its inception in 2011 and it has turned itself into a lucrative destination for all the Big Bashers of the T20 world from around the globe. But, besides the numbers and the moolah, has the Big Bash League achieved for Australian Cricket what the Indian Premier League managed to for Indian cricket in its seven years of existence?

Despite being mired in controversies from time to time, the Indian Premier League can still easily be hailed as the game changer in Indian cricket in the past decade or so. Not only has the league been an out and out commercial success, regularly throwing up several rags to riches stories in the last decade, it has also succeeded in enriching Indian cricket with a pool of talented cricketers who have helped the team taste success both home and away in the last half a decade across all formats. In these years, the stars from the league took the place of some of the biggest names in the team who had either retired or faded and helped the team undergo a seamless transition. The transition for Australia, though, has been difficult despite them winning the Ashes twice at home and the 50 over World Cup during the same period. And that’s what brings the Big Bash under the scanner.

He did lead his team to the title in the first season but in his first three seasons with Sydney Sixers, Smith never scored more than 170 runs in a season even.

The biggest thing that has happened to Australian Cricket in the last half a decade or so is Steven Smith. But Steven Smith predates Big Bash. Before he led the Sydney Sixers to the title in the league’s inaugural edition, he had represented Australia in all the formats, albeit not as the run machine as we know him now but as a chubby leg-spinner tipped to take on Warne’s mantle. Despite his fruitful captaincy stint in the first edition, his returns with the bat were frugal, to say the least, as he scored 166 runs in 9 matches with the best of 51. It obviously didn’t help him secure a spot in the national side as he played four ODIs for Australia in 2012 and 2013. In fact, it was the Indian Premier League where he caught everyone’s eye with enterprising batting and his athleticism on the field to make his way back to the Australian side in 2014 after spending more than two years in the wilderness. So, let's analyse the ODI careers of those who got their chances after the first season of the glitzy tournament.

30 cricketers have represented Australia in ODIs till now after the first season of Big Bash League finished and the success stories are far and few between. George Bailey played the most number of ODIs(90) among this set of players followed by Aaron Finch (85) and Glenn Maxwell (80). Bailey had a career to be proud of before he got a raw deal from the board and faded into obscurity after leading his team to a win in a World Cup tie in his last ODI. Finch has managed to hold his place in the side and has emerged as the most reliable partner of David Warner in ODIs who has endured millions of opening partners in Test cricket. Maxwell, for all his pyrotechnics and swagger, has proved to be an enigma and has struggled to be a regular fixture in the XI. Apart from these, Faulkner played 69 ODIs where he did commendably well before selectors started losing confidence in him. But these are the few cricketers who could be called match winners in their own right that featured in the Australian side post the Big Bash. And among these, Bailey’s name can be surely discounted for he had been knocking on the doors for almost half a decade before the league took off.

The other names on the list include the likes of Joe Burns, Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Kane Richardson, Fawad Ahmad among others who impressed in the BBL to get an entry ticket to the national side for limited overs before falling by the wayside. There have also been cricketers like Moises Henriques who have made comebacks into the side through the BBL road but found the going tough whenever they’ve stepped on the field in Australia colors.

He caught everyone's eyes with his performances in the league but in 2017, Kane Richardson has just 15 ODIs to show against his name.

There are also the likes of Nic Maddinson, Ben Dunk and Travis Birt who have set the BBL stage alight with their delightful stroke making and yet haven’t made it past the Australian T20I side. Ben Laughlin, the league’s highest wicket-taker, has just a couple of T20Is to show against his name post the League's inception in 2011. Players like Travis Head, Adam Zampa, and Peter Handscomb are still feeling their way to international cricket. Then there is the sad tale of Chris Lynn, who got everyone excited with his six hitting abilities but got his foray into international cricket cut short by an injury that has kept him away from action for more than 5 months. The names that dominate Big Bash’s list of highest run-getters and highest wicket-takers include names that are close to retiring (Christian, White) or have retired already (Klinger, Hussey, Hodge, Tait, Mackay).

On the other hand, India’s gains from Indian Premier League are there for all to see. While not every name that has emerged out of the league has successfully made the transition to international cricket, the ones who have made it count. The league proved to be the breeding ground for the two spinners, Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who, despite starting their journeys in the shortest format, would represent India across three formats successfully. When they needed to be rested, the management once again would look into the names who caught their attention in the league and give them a chance. And even they, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have done commendably well. Jasprit Bumrah also earned his stripes thanks to his stellar returns in the league and same is the story of all rounder Hardik Pandya. Even the names in the batting order like Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul are batsmen that the league has supplied to the Indian team. Although Rohit Sharma made his debut before the first season of IPL, it was his performance in the first two seasons that helped him get the selectors attention again. Several names who sit on the fringes of the national team today like Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav have some sparkling performances against their names in the league to thank for their current place.

Despite the league starting years after his retirement from Intl cricket, the chinaman seems to have aced it and sits second on the list of most wickets in the league

The absence of a pool of bright young cricketers emerging from the Big Bash is more baffling given that the cricketers most in demand across the global leagues are Australians. And the scenario appears more embarrassing considering that throughout the last decade, Australia boasted of such riches that they could field a second XI and still emerge triumphant against the best of opponents. In fact, it comes as a little surprise that it is still those cricketers (White, Hodge, Bailey, Hogg) who would have featured in that second XI who continue to grab headlines in the Big Bash and overshadow the younger players. But, sadly for Australian cricket, most of them are well past their expiry date for another dig at the highest level and the younger talent is just not doing enough to merit a long run in the national side.

With a fearsome pace battery, Australia looked the team to beat in the Champions Trophy in 2017. But weather gods conspired to not allow them go beyond the group stages.

So, what exactly ails the Big Bash? Why, despite being such a spectacle, it is failing to keep Australian’s cricket health in check? Despite their World Cup win at home in 2015, the Australian team has consistently disappointed its fans in the shorter formats over the last few years. The Champions Trophy 2017 was a disaster but they had rain as an excuse for that. But the team’s losses in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in New Zealand (in 2015-16 and 2016-17) and against South Africa last year and India this year were not performances worthy of their 'World Champions' tag.

Victory in the Ashes has got the fans putting the team on a pedestal right now but the disappointment that 2017 was for the Aussies in the shorter formats is soon going to come back to haunt them as the countdown to the 2019 World Cup kicks off in 2018. With the seventh season of Big Bash League underway, the eyes will be on exciting young talents but will the league even deliver them?

Picture credits :
https://www.adelaidestrikers.com.au/news/what-to-know-before-you-go-new-years-eve/2015-12-30
http://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/141900/141962.jpg
http://www.news18.com/cricketnext/news/ms-dhonis-wicket-was-turning-point-for-australia-kane-richardson-1192626.html
http://www.hindustantimes.com/icc-champions-trophy-2017/australia-vs-bangladesh-icc-champions-trophy-2017-match-video-highlights/story-QA3u1uUJs9ySqeYKK4sv7K.html