Expert
Joined September 2008
3.07m
Views
996
Published
20.8k
Comments
Brett McKay is one of The Roar's good news stories and has been a rugby and cricket expert for the site since July 2009. Brett is an international and Super Rugby commentator for ABC Grandstand radio, is the voice of ACT club rugby, has commentated on Under-20s Championships, Women's Uni Sevens and National Rugby Championship coverage, and has written for magazines and websites in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. He tweets from @BMcSport.
Published
Comments
We’re not quite at the halfway mark of the Big Bash League this summer, but the narrative is well and truly set among cricket fans and people looking for something else to watch on TV.
A crushing Border-Gavaskar series loss has ensured the Australian selectors have acted in the manner a baying cricket public had been demanding: by making mass change to the top order for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka.
Just over two hours of play in two days means we can chalk one up for the mizzly Sydney weather; rain that was too heavy to play through but not really heavy enough to actually wet anything, and light that was kind of dim but not really so dark that you’d drive home with the […]
Watching Big Bash League games over the last week or so, it occurred to me that teams seem to be losing a lot of wickets this year with the follow-up hunch being that average scores must be down on recent years.
The walk into the Sydney Cricket Ground is one of my favourite things to mark the new year.
We all remember it well – Shaun Marsh, battling a back injury at the time, making a superb unbeaten 99 to propel the Perth Scorchers to a BBL win and four days later playing in the Boxing Day Test.
Justin Langer knew he was in for a busy time when he took on the Australian coaching job, and if the performances in the UAE against Pakistan in October didn’t confirm that, the now-lost series against India at home certainly has.
Back in the early 2000s, when Twenty20 cricket started with pretty much immediate success in England, the preference among captains winning the toss was to bat first and defend whatever runs they’d put on the board.
Cameron Bancroft’s nine-month ban imposed by Cricket Australia ends Saturday, and there is an expectation that his comeback via the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League could come as soon as their match in Launceston on Sunday against the Hobart Hurricanes.
It’s Christmas Eve, and I hope you’ve all got your shopping done. And if you’re on the roads today, I do hope you travel safely. Come tonight, though, you won’t be blankly changing channels looking for something, anything, to fill the BBL void now that the competition is underway.
It felt a bit naff at the time, but in the end, the marketing ad for the Australia-India series on the brand-new Fox Cricket channel turned out to be scythingly accurate.
The Test series has been squared in Perth, and now we enter that wonderful time of the year where there’s cricket on the telly every night until basically the end of summer.
So a review was conducted, and a new appointment was made. But the two aren’t necessarily related, and nor might that be the limit of changes.
“We pick too many mediocre batsmen. Back in the day, Matty Hayden had to peel off thousand-run Shield season after thousand-run Shield season and average north of fifty just to get a look in.”
Ultimately, the result went pretty much as expected, with Australia’s bowlers ensuring the Test contest was pure, but Australia’s batsmen falling short of the mark.
As big a fan as I was of Justin Langer the batsman, I didn’t imagine that cagey media operator would feature heavily in his debut Test on home soil as Australian coach.
Discussion among the rugby faithful last week is really only intensifying the pressure on Rugby Australia to make some tough decisions around the Wallabies coaching set-up.
So it’s official. In losing a ninth game from 13 Tests in 2018, the Wallabies have now posted their worst season ever.
Another Test match week for the Wallabies, and it’s another round of selection lotto for Wallabies fans.
Agree, love this. Great addition..
Announcing new features for The Roar's comment section
Yeah, all really good points about perceptions and the length, Timmuh. Certainly, the fact we’re a way away from the Finals would be a factor, and the mid-season lull is a good way of describing it..
BBL triple treat has to be the future of scheduling
Yeah, great individual innings, certainly Head’s ton and Weatherald’s ton in the Final. Both memorable games, too (when I eventually remember them!)
BBL triple treat has to be the future of scheduling
But your ‘T20 is cancer’ comment is instructive, and your hope the competition fails is an interesting reflection on you.
Because what you’re effectively hoping for is the death of cricket in Australia.
Make no mistake, the BBL pays for state cricket in Australia, and without it, the game would be struggling. Now there’s a reasonable argument that the game is struggling currently anyway, but at least CA can look at ways of structuring the domestic game so that it may serve it’s purpose: to ready players for international cricket.
Of course if this doesn’t happen, then the Australian teams suffer, and revenues will drop across sponsorship, broadcast, crowds, everything.
This is effectively what you’re hoping for.
By all means, criticise the structures in place (or not), and the effect that is having on the game. I’d probably even be inclined to agree with much of it.
But wishing for something to fail? Nope, that’s all on you. And it’s pretty sad.
BBL triple treat has to be the future of scheduling
It’s a great, albeit deliberately loaded question, Sheek, and it’s loaded for two reasons:
1. You don’t want any thought going into the answer, and
2. You’ve known for years – because I deliberately explained it to you – that I’ve never really focused on T20 results anyway, rather just watching the individual ball v bat contest six time an over…
So I couldn’t give you five anyway, becuase of the way I watch it. And certainly, they all blend into each other in the end. You might remember individual innnings or bowling spells, but not results.
The same absolutely applies to ODI cricket, for what it’s worth…
But here’s some game that did come to mind:
– The Sixers and Perth played a Super Over game in Sydney back in season 1 or 2, and I don’t think we’ve had a finish like that since
– Brisbane set a BBL record score of about 210 in season 2 or 3, then watched Hobart chase it down
– The Final of the fourth season (which was in Canberra, so it stands out for familiarity), where Perth won after Brett Lee bowled pretty much the worst over in the competition’s history,
– and the 80,000 crowd for the Melbourne Derby in 15/16 (I think) is another one. The Stars chased down a decent total inside 18 overs from memory.
So there’s four. And I did think about it, but you’ll just have to live with that…
BBL triple treat has to be the future of scheduling
Yeah, which day of the weekend probably isn’t important Christo, and they would definitely have to be paired up with the ODIs, too, otherwise you’d be in the situation where you’re asking teams to play on consecutive days.
They’ve been clever this weekend, with the ODI yesterday, and in the end, we’ll see all 8 teams in action within about 28 hours:
SAT: ODI
SUN: THU-STR > REN-HEA > SCO-SIX
MON: STA-HUR
Then come Tuesday, there’s another ODI, meaning the Sixers-Renegades can play in Sydney on Wednesday, and both teams have had two days between games..
BBL triple treat has to be the future of scheduling
Perceptions are everything, Mr F, and they’re undoubtedly being driven by the now. This time last year, with the Ashes just wrapped up on home soil, I can’t recall too much talk at all about he length of the BBL to that point.
The only difference one year on? The Australian team isn’t going great, therefore Australian cricket isn’t going great, therefore the BBL has issues too.
But that all said, none of this means a smarter and ideally more condensed BBL schedule isn’t a good idea. And now that we’re about to hit the halfway point, the perception and narrative will soon have a decent amount of truth to them..
BBL triple treat has to be the future of scheduling
I only had his Shield scores Mark, so I’m only adjusting the Shield average.
The Ian Healy example is a good one, so too the Philip Hughes example that’s been made below. This needs to be very careful…
Will Pucovski must be a two-year commitment, not a two-Test thought bubble
And perhaps your very last point there BA is the key point. In the grand scheme of things, after the summer the side has had, this really isn’t the time to be throwing a promising 20yo in the deep end.
But now that they have, they can’t just let him drown…
Will Pucovski must be a two-year commitment, not a two-Test thought bubble
Yep, really good post Paul. I’m with you on this…
Will Pucovski must be a two-year commitment, not a two-Test thought bubble
Yeah, agree on Handscomb, Christo, I think he’s been royally done over.
And he made clear adjustments for Sydney, which appeared to have been very effective against the Indian spinners. Was Labuschagne’s 37 so much more compelling than Handscomb’s 37, or did the 0/75 at 4.7rpo make the difference?
Will Pucovski must be a two-year commitment, not a two-Test thought bubble
Which is my underlying point, Bushy. They’ve picked him well before his time, so he needs to be backed more than any other player now..
Will Pucovski must be a two-year commitment, not a two-Test thought bubble
An interesting (and repeated) take, Kopa.
Take out his lowest Shield score and he averages 80!
And he’s batted three times in state one-day games, which screams ‘new player’ to me…
Will Pucovski must be a two-year commitment, not a two-Test thought bubble
Must admit I can’t recall seeing a post from you before Rissole, which is not a slight on you, but it did mean the sarcasm didn’t register with me at all..
Three changes confirmed in new-look Australian squad to play Sri Lanka
Exactly. People are carrying on like he’s just been added and is set to play…
Three changes confirmed in new-look Australian squad to play Sri Lanka
Siddle’s been in the squad all summer!
Three changes confirmed in new-look Australian squad to play Sri Lanka
Siddle and Tremain were both in the initial 14-man squad for the first two India Tests, with Tremain then being released back to Victoria. Siddle has essentially just held his place in the squad. And with Starc and Hazlewood still there (and Cummins), you’d think injury is the only way Siddle plays…
Three changes confirmed in new-look Australian squad to play Sri Lanka
by adding two Queenlanders and a Victorian to the Test squad in place of two Western Australians and a Victorian?
Three changes confirmed in new-look Australian squad to play Sri Lanka
Christo, I can’t think of a better way of solving a batting crisis!
If an experienced but inconsistent 35yo can’t sure up the middle order, why not throw a largely untested but hugely promising 20yo who’s yet to play a full First Class season in there? 🙄
Reports: Will Pucovski set to be selected against Sri Lanka, both Marsh brothers dropped
Lynton, I’m not sure Seven should just be “given” the BBL games that they had no interest in showing in the first place, just as they had no interest in the ODIs in this broadcast deal. The current broadcast deal doesn’t prevent every BBL game being shown, Seven’s lack of interest prevents it.
CA tried to play hard ball with Ten, screwed them over, and this is the price they’re paying…
It's time to refresh the BBL
Christo, for one thing a full country season won’t be possible, given the World Cup runs deep into July, and Carey will be part of the Australian squad there.
And I think his game has already come on really well in the last year or so he’s been involved with the national set-up, to the point that he was quickly preferred to Paine after the ODI series in England last year.
So that’s where I’m coming from, that the opportunity to be in and around the Test squad on a long tour could be really good for him – even if he doesn’t play a Test. There’s a Aust v Aust A tour match before the First Test, and then tour games before the 2nd and 4th Tests (I think that’s the timing)..
Ashes questions have to dictate Brisbane and Canberra selections
Oh yeah, these suspensions and fines sure are solving the slow over rates. Having a huge impact.
Penalise teams on the scoreboard where they’ll really feel it, and end this charade properly…
Faf du Plessis handed one-Test suspension by the ICC
Ryan , I’m with you on the Sixers, and remain entirely unconvinced, yet now they’re beating decent teams away. From 1 to 11, never mind 12 to 18, it’s just not a squad to get enthusiastic about.
But they’re now second overall. And they won’t lose key players a la several teams below them. Which means it’s entirely possible that Hobart and the Sixers will open up a lead on the rest of the competition during the ODI period..
The ODIs are set to ravage an already weak BBL, plus week four BBL power rankings
Yep, I’ve noticed this too, Cad. And early in overs, almost as if they’re whole planning is around hitting a boundary in the first two balls. Makes no sense..
BBL batting isn’t great, and Twenty20 cricket might be to blame
Ryman, this is a comment left per the email I’ve sent you highlighting the formatting/rendering issues for multiple-par comments.
This is the second par of the comment.
And this is the third par. This par has also been bolded.
Announcing new features for The Roar's comment section