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