On Wednesday night I went to the T20 final between Clarence and New Town at Blundstone Arena, and it was everything you could want watching a T20 match.
The match hung in the balance until the last ball, with New Town managing to win by just three runs.
There were superb individual performances on both sides. Hobart Hurricanes player D’Arcy Short got New Town’s innings off to a flyer, and by the time his Hurricanes teammate Sam Rainbird had his revenge, Short’s 52-run rampage had spearheaded New Town’s 75-run power play. The other opener, Victorian recruit Jake Hancock, anchored the innings with 72 not out off 51 balls.
Through Rainbird, Daniel Salpietro and Fletcher Seymour, Clarence managed to restrict New Town to 7-165 when Short was on course to take New Town past 200.
After Hobart Hurricanes player Dan Christian and Nathan Wegman reduced Clarence in reply to 4-49, Salpietro, with the help of six-laden cameos from Wade Irvine and Melbourne Renegades player Cameron Stevenson, took Clarence to within four runs of victory with an innings that mirrored Hancock’s in terms of runs scored and balls faced – 72 off 51.
About the only thing I could have wished for as a spectator was for Clarence to have sneaked over the line, as I’m a Clarence man, but well done to New Town for breaking their premiership drought.
Leaving that to one side, what was really noticeable about the game was the white noise, or rather the lack of it.
I’ve become accustomed to being blasted with sound when I attend a BBL match at Blundstone Arena. Because it was a club final, I wasn’t expecting the usual wall of noise that accompanies a BBL match, but even with that in mind it was quite a pleasant change to watch a Twenty20 match without that noise.
What came over the loudspeakers was the basics. Think of the basic announcements that come over the loudspeakers for a one-day domestic match – bowling changes, milestones, dismissals – and you get the picture. No instructions to bang sticks together. No music to yell. You could hear yourself think. You could think about the match you were watching.
Will Short open for the Hurricanes based on this performance? Should Christian be bowled out to finish off Clarence’s chase before it begun? How will both teams protect the short side of the ground towards the Ricky Ponting Stand?
The BBL isn’t perfect, but it isn’t bad. It gets kids to the game. Domestic cricket has always attracted an audience, yet until the BBL it was only the converted in attendance.
Those who aren’t converted do come to BBL matches. There’s also no real problem with the ground announcer trying to pump up the crowd atmosphere when everything feels a bit flat. After all, Twenty20 is a bit like a soft drink in that sense: the match is supposed to be over before enough time has elapsed for it get flat.
So the reality of the BBL is that it should be separated from the devilish cartoon image that diehard traditionalists might like to brand it with. The next step in its evolution, considering its success in getting people to the game, should be to make it easier to think about the game when the game deserves it. And the final between Clarence and New Town definitely deserved it.
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