Tons of talent puts Voges in a master class

Christmas fixture a gift for Big Bash

CRICKET Australia’s chief James Sutherland said yesterday the massively successful Big Bash League might break new ground with a Christmas fixture next summer.

While TV ratings for games this month of over a million in the fifth season of the league have prompted a fresh round of speculation that the eightteam competition should be enlarged, Sutherland says this isn’t on the agenda.

However the opportunity to build a new tradition of a Christmas-evening blockbuster could be too difficult to ignore.

“I did hear some of the commentary around it just in the last few days. It hadn’t actually occurred to me before,” Sutherland told ABC Radio yesterday.

“But sitting back on Christmas night having had the great night’s entertainment we’d had in the previous week or so, it’s something that I guess will be on the drawing board.”

The Big Bash League over December and January offers fans almost nightly entertainment, complementing the daytime Test series between Australia and West Indies.

The struggling Windies’ side however have failed to captivate fans, which has only added to interest in the T20 competition.

Sutherland says the Big Bash League is all about bringing new people to the game.

“(It’s) very much about kids, very much about families and females, and nothing will change on that front, and we want to graduate people’s interest into the main game, which is international cricket,” he said.

“There’s definitely an element of it, that you could argue it takes some of the limelight away (from Tests).

“But realistically we are very comfortable that we will continue to get the balance right to ensure that it is inspiring kids to pick up the bat and ball and play the game.” STATISTICS show that Adam Voges’ record against the West Indies is 10 times better than Ricky Ponting’s or Steve Waugh’s.

Voges has had the benefit of facing a smorgasbord attack in his four Tests against the Windies, particularly this summer in Australia.

The West Australian has hit three centuries against the Windies, including 269 not out in Hobart a fortnight ago and yesterday’s knock of 106 not out at the MCG.

“It’s been an amazing six months really,” Voges said last night.

“I am just out there playing Test cricket for Australia and trying to be as ruthless as I can.

“If I get an opportunity to get in and score runs then I am trying to go as big as possible and stay hungry.”

Voges made his Test debut at 35 in June and scored a century. In 12 Tests, he has four hundreds.

His record on the 2015 Ashes tour, 201 runs at an average of 28.71 against sixthranked England, is less flattering.

Voges admits he struggled to cope with English conditions and he expects to face more challenges on the twoTest tour of New Zealand in February.

“The ball is not moving nearly as much as what it did over in England,” Voges said.

“You’re seeing that around the world, teams are playing very well at home and winning away from home is becoming harder and harder.

“I’m sure we’ll get challenged when we do go to New Zealand and the ball might move around a little bit more there.”

Voges said once he survived the early part of his innings he felt in control of the Windies’ bowling.

“It was a case of getting in

INNINGS RUNS @ 542 130* 37 269*

106*

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RUNS

AVERAGE

HUNDREDS