Hot-and-cold Heat must warm to the task in final
MIND the gap.
It’s the warning that echoes through every train station in London for commuters not to disappear between the train and the platform and this season the same words were a rallying call for the Brisbane Heat.
Coach Darren Lehmann warned his team at the preseason launch that the gap between the Heat’s best and worst days last season had been far too wide.
“Our best days are brilliant but we need to make our bad days better,‘’ Lehmann said.
The Brisbane Heat on Friday night will host Adelaide in a final at the Gabba on the strength of closing that gap to a respectable level. Not perfect ... but not bad.
Things looked bleak early when the Heat lost their first three games but since then they have won seven of 11 and had several nailbiting losses.
Captain Chris Lynn remains the side‘s most significant power source.
When he scores 50 they generally win and he has five in his 10 games. His 420 runs at 42 have come at the excellent strike rate of 157.
The only other Heat batsman to appear in the top 30 run-scorers is Max Bryant (302 runs at 21), which says a lot about the deck that has been shuffled.
The bowling has been a solid team effort.
Crafty Afghanistan spinner
Mujeeb Ur Rahman conceded just a little more than a run a ball in his eight games before departing for national duties.
New Australian selection Mark Steketee has taken the second-most wickets (22) in the competition, while Jack Wildermuth and Xavier Bartlett have chipped in.
The cavalry has arrived, too. Batsman Marnus Labuschagne and leg-spinner Mitch Swepson have returned from the Australian bubble to bolster the side.
This has been a good year for the Big Bash. The high standard and closeness of the games has maintained interest. Unlike previous years, the competition has not felt too long.
Fox Cricket’s ratings for the 56-game regular season averaged 256,000, up 28 per cent on last season.
Streaming audiences on Foxtel Now, Foxtel GO and Kayo grew by 106 per cent.
For the 16 exclusive BBL games on Fox Cricket, the average audience was 274,000, up 41 per cent.