Steve Smith makes BBL team of tournament after playing just five matches
Steve Smith’s swashbuckling Big Bash League cameo has been enough to earn him selection in the league’s official team of the tournament. The eight BBL coaches cast their votes for the best players at the end of the regular season, which were then compiled into a team that was announced on Wednesday morning.
The team featured no overseas players, with much of the best visiting talent leaving early to play in the UAE’s International League T20 or the new SAT20 tournament. Smith joined the Sydney Sixers after the home Test summer finished and played in only five of a possible 14 games.
In that time, he averaged 86.5 runs, became the first man to hit a century for the Sixers – he ended up with two – and finished the regular season with the most sixes of any player in the tournament.
“We were blessed, weren’t we?” Smith’s Sixers teammate Jordan Silk said of the former Australia Test captain’s cameos. “That was some of the most incredible batting we’ll probably ever see in Big Bash cricket in a four or five game stretch.”
Smith was one of four players nominated by all eight coaches, alongside his fast-bowling Sixers teammate Sean Abbott, player of the tournament Matt Short and Perth Scorchers batter Aaron Hardie.
This summer, Abbott became the first man to reach 150 BBL wickets, while Short found success opening the bowling for the Adelaide Strikers and scored the most runs of any player by the end of the regular season.
Tipped as a future Australian representative, Hardie enjoyed a breakout campaign for the Scorchers with four half-centuries.
The grand-final hosting Scorchers contributed the most players to the team (three), while the Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder were the only sides without representation in the XI.
Aaron Finch was named captain for guiding the Melbourne Renegades back into the BBL finals after three years finishing last.
BBL team of the tournament
Matthew Short (Adelaide Strikers) – 8 votes
Steve Smith (Sydney Sixers) – 8 votes
Aaron Hardie (Perth Scorchers) – 8 votes
Aaron Finch (captain, Melbourne Renegades) – 6 votes
Josh Inglis (Perth Scorchers) – 7 votes
Tim David (Hobart Hurricanes) – 5 votes
Michael Neser (Brisbane Heat) – 5 votes
Sean Abbott (Sydney Sixers) – 8 votes
Andrew Tye (Perth Scorchers) – 5 votes
Tom Rogers (Melbourne Rene
gades) – 6 votes
Paddy Dooley (Hobart Hurricanes) – 5 votes Chris Lynn (Adelaide Strikers) – 3 votes