BIG SHOTS WHO LIT UP BIG BASH LIT UP BIG BASH
After another thrilling regular season, the BBL’s eight coaches have voted for the team of the tournament. Julian Linden looks at the superstar selections
JOSH PHILIPPE – SYDNEY SIXERS (WICKETKEEPER)
Man of the match in last year’s BBL final, Philippe has continued where he left off last season, with both bat and the gloves.
The Steve Smith lookalike finished the regular season as the second-highest run-scorer with 454 at 32.42, including three half centuries, the very best of which was his stunning 57-ball 95 against the Renegades.
An underrated wicketkeeper, he is also leading the most dismissals this season with 15.
ALEX HALES – SYDNEY THUNDER
It’s hard to fathom that the Englishman started the season with two golden ducks.
One of the cleanest hitters in the game, he is now the proud wearer of the golden cap as the top run-scorer this season, with 535 runs at 41.15.
His 110 against the Sixers was the highest individual score of 2020-21 and he’s also broken the BBL all-time record for the most sixes in a single season, clearing the ropes 30 times for far.
BEN McDERMOTT – HOBART HURRICANES
When McDermott goes big, he goes massive, and rumour has it they are still looking for the ball he smashed out of Manuka Oval against the Thunder last week.
Three of the eight highest scores this season have all come from his blade and he’s one of the key reasons the Hurricanes got so close to making the playoffs before tripping up at the last hurdle.
COLIN MUNRO – PERTH SCORCHERS
After a slow start to his debut BBL season, Munro has well and truly lived up to all the hype of being a runmaking machine.
An explosive left-hander, the Kiwi found his groove during a two-week stretch this month in which he rattled off successive scores of 52, 50, 50, 34 and 82 to finish the regular season as the Scorchers’ leading run-scorer.
GLENN MAXWELL – MELBOURNE STARS
Not a vintage season by his own lofty standards but Maxwell (pictured left) still lit it up enough times with his freakish shotmaking. One of only two Aussies in the ICC’s T20 Team of the Decade, Maxwell belted three half centuries, including 66 in the last game against the Sixers
to give his Stars an outside chance of sneaking into the finals, to make amends for his three ducks. He also took seven wickets at a respectable 7.66 economy rate.
DAN CHRISTIAN – SYDNEY SIXERS
This has been some homecoming for one of the BBL’s most experienced campaigners. Back in Sydney, where it all began for Christian (pictured left) before he embarked on an endless global summer in which he has represented 16 T20 clubs, the 37-year-old was one of the standout all-rounders, scoring two fifties and averaging 36 with the bat while capturing 13 wickets and taking 12 catches.
RASHID KHAN – ADELAIDE STRIKERS
Would you expect anything less from the ICC’s T20 Player of the Decade?
He picked up that gong just for his limited international performances for Afghanistan but he did just as much and more in the BBL.
A cult hero wherever he plays, the wily leg-spinner finished the season early and will miss the finals because of his international commitments.
However, he still managed to pick up 16 wickets at an average of 16.75.
JHYE RICHARDSON – PERTH SCORCHERS
What a comeback he has made from his second shoulder surgery.
The paceman has already picked up 27 wickets this season at just 13.25 a scalp and is on course to break Daniel Sams’ BBL singleseason record of 30 with the Scorchers assured of two playoff games. Unsurprisingly, he got a call from the national selectors to pack his bags for one of the upcoming tours.
MARK STEKETEE – BRISBANE HEAT
The second leading wicket-taker so far this season with 22 victims under his belt. Can go for a few when he’s off target — as evidenced by his 0-54 in the last outing against the Scorchers — but the Queensland paceman is a strike bowler when he’s on song. He was named man of the match when he took 4-33 to lead the Heat to a tight win over the Sixers which got the team’s season back on track for a place in the finals.
Marcus Stoinis; Wes Agar (below); and Colin Munro (bottom left).
ADAM ZAMPA – MELBOURNE STARS
Joins Khan in the team of the tournament as the second spinner, one of the most competitive spots in the side. Zampa got the nod because he took 19 wickets for the season, including a magical 5-17 against the Strikers. The leggie might have got a few more scalps but was forced to miss a game after he copped a one-match suspension for swearing that was picked up by one of the on-field microphones.
WES AGAR – ADELAIDE STRIKERS
His season return of 21 wickets, so far, is the equal third-highest and the paceman has a good knack of getting the big scalps, as his haul of 4-27 against the Brisbane Heat showed when he removed Marnus Labuschagne, Chris Lynn, Joe Denly and Max Bryant. How far the
Strikers go in the tournament will depend a lot on how he bowls.
MARCUS STOINIS – MELBOURNE STARS (X-FACTOR)
The third member of the underachieving Stars to make the team — albeit as an X-factor — even though they didn’t make the finals. None of that was the fault of Stoinis. His team-best tally of 396 runs was the eighth highest this season and included an unbeaten 97 against the Hurricanes that came off just 55 balls and featured seven monster shots that cleared the boundary ropes.
DANIEL SAMS – SYDNEY THUNDER (X-FACTOR)
Was selected for the all-star starting team last year after a BBL single-season record of 30 wickets that also earned him a spot in the Australian team and an IPL contract. Restricted to nine games this season because of injuries, Sams (pictured right) only has 10 wickets so far but his biggest improvement has been with the bat. He has scored 199 runs at 49.75, with two 50s, at a strike rate of 191.34.
FIVE MUST-HAVE PLAYERS FOR FINALS
1. Daniel Sams (Sydney Thunder) BAT-BWL
The Thunder all-rounder was the No. 1 points-scorer of BBL09 and has added power hitting to his weaponry this tournament.
2. Josh Philippe (Sydney Sixers) WKP-BAT
The Sixers gloveman has been the form batsman for much of the BBL and scores at a strike rate few others can match. The 23-year-old is the top wicketkeeping choice.
3. Marnus Labuschagne (Heat, BAT-BWL)
The Aussie Test star has made a stunning return to the BBL. Labuschagne, who made 46 and then claimed three Perth scalps in the final minor-round game on Tuesday, posted scores of 70, 107 and 139 in his first three matches for the Heat. No other player in the competition scored more in this period.
4. Chris Lynn (Heat, BAT)
If you jumped on the hard-hitting
Heat star when he returned from a four-match injury lay-off in Round 7, well played. Lynn has scored 48 runs or more in six of his past nine BBL innings, and despite just playing 10 games this season, is the 10th-ranked player in KFC SuperCoach.
5. Jhye Richardson (Perth Scorchers) BWL
Richardson has allayed any doubts about how he would perform postshoulder surgery with a dominant campaign for the Scorchers.
HOW DO BBL FINALS WORK?
Round 14 (eliminator/qualifier): Unlimited trades, pick players from any of the four teams featuring in these games, January 29-30. Round 15 (knockout): Unlimited trades, pick any players from two competing teams, January 31. Round 16 (challenger): Unlimited trades, pick any players from two competing teams, February 4. Round 17 (final): Unlimited trades, pick any players from two competing teams, February 6.