Normally Steve Smith’s world class batting and slips fielding do the talking, but after the surprise loss to Pakistan in the second ODI at the MCG, he took an unusual swipe at the Big Bash League.
The skipper said those who came from into the Australian team from the T20 league didn’t bat to expectations.
“But there are no excuses for the Test men not firing, with the exception of Matthew Wade,” Smith added.
Of the eight recognised Australian batsman who played in the first two ODIs against Pakistan:
Matthew Wade scored 100 and 35
Glenn Maxwell – 60 and 23
Travis Head – 39 and 29
Steve Smith – 0 and 60
David Warner – 7 and 16
Usman Khawaja – DNP and 17
Chris Lynn – 16 and DNP
Mitchell Marsh – 0 and 4
Maxwell, Head, Lynn, and Marsh were the Big Bash additions and were well spread as performers.
As for the worth of the Big Bash, the format is going gangbusters with exciting games in front of bumper crowds.
These crowd figures this summer are staggering:
MCG: biggest crowd 71,162, average 55,708
Adelaide: 45,741, average 41,342
Gabba: 34,667, average 33,683
SCG: 39,756, average 30,567
Etihad: 44,189, average 30,033
WACA: 21,191, average 20,567
Bellerive: 18,079, average 17,611
Spotless: 21,798, average 15,527
The BBL will take on even more significance next month, thanks to Cricket Australia’s brain explosion on scheduling, with no way any of the 16 tourists to India next month can play in three T20 internationals against Sri Lanka. .
The first is at the MCG on February 17, the second at Geelong on February 19, and the third at Adelaide on February 22.
The Australians start their first Test against India at Pune on February 23, making Steve Smith, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, and Ashton Agar all unavailable.
So the Big Bash will supply the squad for the Sri Lanka series, with Cricket Australia accused of cheapening the value of the Australian T20 cap with a below-strength line-up.
The front-runners to feature, starting with the batting:
Chris Lynn (if fit): 309 Big Bash runs this summer, average 154.50
Ben Dunk: 299 – 49.83
Aaron Finch: 283 – 40.42
Brad Hodge: 247 – 41.16
George Bailey: 237 – 59.25
Michael Klinger: 227 – 32.42
Tim Paine (keeper): 222 – 32.42
Daniel Hughes: 216 – 54.00
Pat Cummins: 134 – 33.50
Bowling:
Sean Abbott: 15 wickets at 14.60
Ben Hilfenhaus: 10 – 17.80
Scott Boland: 10 – 20.20
Dan Christian: 9 – 13.11
Fawad Ahmed: 9 – 18.22
Pat Cummins: 7 – 30.25
Tom Cooper: 5 – 16.40
Adam Zampa: 5 – 21.00
That’s potentially a pretty useful squad.
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