Cricket Australia, and its management, are under siege.
Tim Paine was acrimoniously ditched, much the same as Robinson Crusoe lost his way at sea, marooned on an island with nowhere to go - for now, at least.
Coach, Justin Langer, was dealt a terrible hand, that bad it was un-bluffable - Cricket Australia (CA) consciously knowing it was offering a deal no forward-thinking coach could accept.
Then; a hero to villain; enters Pat Cummins; the all-Australian boy left to dodge a hail of incoming bullets, with no cover fire. It’s hard to see how CA could have handled things worse.
General Custer (George Armstrong Custer) did not stand a chance - he and his men fought gamely at the ‘Battle of the Bighorn’ - Ultimately though, this was a doomed ‘last stand’
So, with that said; it is a miracle that the 11th iteration of the Big Bash League played out to a finish, albeit ending as somewhat of a fizzer. The league is the property of Cricket Australia.
Currently, it is hard to imagine there will be much BBL whiteboard work-shopping at Jolimont. More likely, they are bunkered down waiting for the storm to pass. My take is Mr.Langer will be bellowing down his megaphone for some time yet. Yes, you’re correct, this has no connection to the BBL, other than it being a huge distraction to Cricket Australia, and a battle similar to the one fought by Mr.Custer.
So, to some white-boarding of our own, it will be.
What do we know that won’t change?
There will be eight teams
Same fixture window will be in place
Australian national players will be unavailable for a large part of the season
The TV commentary box will be full of egomaniacal self-promotors
The Melbourne teams are likely to be insignificant
Apologies, the last two points are personal
What do we know that could change?
An international player auction might appear (dependent on the standard of nominations) - NEEDED
A form of DRS system will be introduced (slowing down the game further!) - NOT NEEDED - the umpire howlers will keep the BBL humble
Expansion of double-headers, and day games
Removal of the demeaning super-sub rule
Dan Christian joins the Sydney Thunder for BBL12
I liked what Joe Burns (Melbourne Stars) had to offer … very magnanimous of him - including the M - in front of BBL. Still, the cricketing logic is sound. See his Twitter post below.
I think 10 is the optimum number of games (yes, not possible) - I would include Thursday games in his schedule. And, allowing shield cricket to co-exist in this window is an exceptional idea/concept.
Thinking a little more about Mr.Burns … ‘Uncle Drew’ comes to mind. Yes, that crazy series of commercials, and then film - depicting a trash-talking, ageing basketball legend, who comes to life on the pick-up courts. Played by the venerable, anti-vaxer - Kyrie Irving
Burns dreamt of playing ‘Uncle Drew’ on the pick-up courts of North Brisbane. Here’s an excerpt from the article. Burns is a hard man not to like, a contemplative character.
The young man on the basketball court is nobody. Lately, he has been coming here a lot, his night-time hustle on the floodlit concrete expanse an exercise in anonymity and release. The pick-up games in this nondescript suburb of northern Brisbane are fast and tinged with testosterone-fuelled tension. As the bearded white guy among a mostly Asian gathering, he does well to blend in with the crowd. Sometimes, however, his skill levels betray him.
"I can't hit a shot, and I play very little defence," says Joe Burns, a grin creeping onto his face. "The local Asian basketball community is just laughing at me every night."
‘Average Joe’ is his street-name in the North Brisbane hood. A link to the full article below.
Back to Cricket Australia (CA), and the states should not escape scrutiny also.
On reflection, a hierarchal list of miss-handling’s by CA would rate their decision to not allow Steve Smith (aka - Stephano Smitherino) to play for the Sydney Sixers pretty low in the order. Smith wished his team good fortunes in the final, singling out their Italian import - Smitherino. I wonder if the ivory tower of Jolimont shook with mirth and laughter, at their own expense.
Not bad from Mr.Smith
And then some more mirth and humour from the aforementioned Dan Christian. Christian urged members of the public to come forward to fill spare spots, free beer being the teaser, sadly for the Sydney Sixers, it wasn’t out of a large cup! The ‘no test cricketers’ a nice play
We are led to believe CA passed over the decision on whether Smith could play to the state associations, surely they precluded WA. And, sure as eggs are eggs, the decision came back as a resounding NO. We do currently live in a state-driven society, all states hopelessly drunk on power and control, so it’s hardly surprising that Christian was forced to recruit in the manner he did!
The Perth Scorchers prevail as BBL11 champions - Final summary.
They did stare over the precipice, and, to their credit, they found a way of steering the ship toward a defendable total. 6-171 (20)
Laurie Evans and AshtonTurner combined for a stellar 104-run match-winning partnership. Rescuing their team from 4-24. Evans batted through the innings to finish 76 not out (41 balls) and Turner, after falling to Steve O’Keefe, made 54 from 35 balls. Together they struck eight fours, and four maximums, Evans contributing three of the four sixes.
The Scorchers bowling had been outstanding throughout BBL11.
The bowling collective allowed a miserly three boundaries in the Sydney Sixers first 10 overs. A power-play comparison showed the Sixers slightly ahead (1-26); however, the river then ran dry for the Sixers. The evergreen Dan Christian was fourth out at (4-62); four overs later, the Scorchers had doubled their wickets tally, leaving the Sixers reeling at (8-77) - the end coming at (10-92) - with Richardson accounting for Steve O’Keefe.
This was their fourth win over the Sixers in as many games, validating to all that - they were BBL11’s best team, this despite only playing one game in Perth, thanks to Mark McGowan’s ludicrous iron curtain. Congrats to all concerned, minus McGowan
So, there we have it, a wrap on BBL insider for a while. We will wait to see what comes down the pipe from Cricket Australia. BBL12 will be eagerly anticipated, coming hot on the heels of the upcoming T20 World Cup, where Australia will defend - watch out for Stephano Smitherino in the Italian team - and, Australia will have a new coach.
As always, thank you for being here. And, I look forward to more ‘BBL Insider’ soon.
In the meantime I hope you enjoy the ‘Across Cricket’ content.Thanks for reading SpeakingNick! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
