Aussies hit raiders for six

HOMEGROWN talent trumped some of the best T20 players from around the world in the Big Bash team of the tournament.

The 12-man team was headlined by Steve Smith, who played just five games but had a big enough impact to join a team that didn’t include any overseas players.

Australian T20 captain Aaron Finch was included after his BBL resurrection for the Melbourne Renegades, with breakthrough spinner Paddy Dooley named after playing a starring role for the Hobart Hurricanes.

But despite leading the scoring for most of the tournament, Chris Lynn only just snuck into the team, voted for by coaches who were asked to pick their best XI from the regular season.

Smith, player of the tournament Matt Short and allrounder Aaron Hardie – who was touted by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting as a potential Test bolter during the summer – all registered eight votes, the most of any player.

Lynn, who crossed to the Adelaide Strikers after 11 years with the Brisbane Heat, was the BBL’s highest run-scorer this season before he left for the new T20 league in the United Arab Emirates.

He still finished fourth on the run-scorers’ list with 416, including three half-centuries in his 11 games, but only registered three votes from the coaches.

The absence of international players from the team of the tournament was an indication of their limited impact, and appearances, despite the staging of the inaugural player draft last year.

Brisbane Heat chairman Ian Healy said it was time for Cricket Australia to “open up January” for the BBL, having seen the impact of Smith and David Warner.

“Can you imagine the BCCI staging their IPL without their Indian star players?” Healy said on Wednesday. “Everyone now feels the real value of having our nation’s best players playing and mentoring at this level. “It must become a priority of our summer to clear January for what we’re all witnessing currently, what Steve Smith and David Warner put into the competition of recent times.”