It ain’t easy being green
Just ask Mike Hussey. Six games into BBL03 and the Sydney Thunder have just chalked up, unbelievably, their 19th consecutive loss. They’ve been without a win since December 2011.
Just ask Mike Hussey. Six games into BBL03 and the Sydney Thunder have just chalked up, unbelievably, their 19th consecutive loss. They’ve been without a win since December 2011.
Three from four, and very close to a perfect round thanks to the thrilling finish between the Scorchers and Sixers last night. Two games each for the Hurricanes and Thunder this round which could make picking a fanatays side difficult given that you only get two changes per round. Hurricanes v Thunder (Bellerive) – The…
Only got two right last round thanks to me picking the Sixers to lose both their games… which they then won. Clearly I have no idea what I’m talking about.
Three from four again thanks to some big hitting from Klinger and Hodge to get their sides over the line in a couple of close contests. Neither of the Renegades opponents put up much fight and they cruised home in both their matches.
Three out of four ain’t bad, especially when the one I got wrong was the highest run chase ever in the BBL. No gap between rounds 2 and 3, as the Heat play their 2nd game in 3 days at Etihad Stadium tonight. Renegades v Heat (Etihad) – The men in red have been pretty…
The actual depth of the player pool is one of the biggest questions raised whenever expansion is discussed. So, is it possible to pull together a full squad using only players that aren’t already signed up for one of the real Big Bash League teams? I’ve given it a crack.
So my pick of an unlikely Thunder upset in Round 1 was wrong, and the Hurricanes/Striker game was a wash out, but I did successfully pick the Stars and Heat to get up. Round 2 commences on Boxing Day night over in Perth with the clash of two round 1 losers the Scorchers and Renegades.
Action kicks off tonight with the Melbourne derby between the Stars and the Renegades at the MCG and wraps up with a double feature on Sunday. A couple of members of the triumphant Aussie Test team have released back to their teams for the round, and a couple of big international signings are unavailable for…
The third edition of the BBL swings into action tomorrow night, I’ve just put the finishing touches on my fantasy lineup with a couple of last minute changes. How well have I selected? Only time will tell, but on paper I’m pretty happy with the squad I was able to afford.
In part one I discussed at length the (many) changes I’d make to the global structure of one-day cricket, but why stop there. What would I do to Twenty20 and Test matches? Well, more structure, more consistent scheduling, no IPL window, no Test Championship just for a start.
Ponder this for a moment. What if players in the IPL were only paid for the games that they actually played in? For example, Glenn Maxwell, the only million dollar man out of the most recent IPL auction, hasn’t played in either of Mumbai’s opening two games, but he’s still pocketed around $60,000 per game. Great if you’re Glenn Maxwell, slightly ridiculous if you’re the Mumbai Indians.
In part one of this piece I’ve already looked at why expansion of the current tournament is off the table for the time being. Now I’m going to propose a way that the Big Bash League could be expanded in a way that would require little or no change to the current format. I’m suggesting that the Women’s National T20 competition be transformed into the Women’s Big Bash League and played along side the current Men’s comp – in a way that could benefit both.
Ever since the 8-team Big Bash League was announced a couple of years ago the prospect of further expansion of the competition has never been too far away from the headlines. Despite the reality that the Big Bash wouldn’t expand after its inaugural year, towards the back half of last year’s installment – following better than expected crowds and ratings – expansion talk inevitably started to build. Year 2 has seen more expansion talk, although most of it seemed to take place before a ball had been bowled in BBL:02.
On Wednesday night Aaron Finch was robbed of probably the biggest six of the summer when his massive strike bounced off one of the main supporting beams at Etihad Stadium. At first everyone thought is must be six, how could such a massive strike not be, then the umpires – after conferring with each other – signaled dead ball. Boo.
Last night I called it a disgraceful end to good game. “Disgraceful” was probably a bit harsh, “terribly confusing” probably would have been better. Regardless of how the result came about, the Scorchers didn’t deserve a no-result against the Stars last night. Perhaps you could argue that they might have pulled off a similar bowling display, but you’d have to think that was very unlikely at best. The way the result came about confused people, it angered people. I too was confused, but as things were explained it made more sense, I’ve tried to sum-up and simplify it.