Sixes record likely to break as power hitting dominates T20 league
Five of the nine sixes a player has hit in a BBL innings have come this season.
Power is king and it is notable that the top-order batsmen of many BBL teams now look big like baseball batsmen. This will likely become even more evident next year when teams will be able to use a “designated hitter” who doesn’t even have to run and field.
Crowd catches are pouring in this season. The Scorchers-Heat match at the Gabba in December produced a staggering 36 sixes. The Scorchers scored 257 – the BBL’s second-highest total ever – and the Heat followed with eight wickets in hand.
It had to be seen to be believed. It’s a bit like Steve Smith’s stunning strike at the SCG last week; The ageless Test star made 100 off 42 balls. He dispatched Ryan Hadley for a record 32 runs and also hit a six into the roof of the Brewongle Stand. It was probably the biggest ever seen at the SCG.
Smith also holds the BBL record of four centuries; which is crazy considering he barely played during this journey.
Smith scored those hundreds of goals in his brief returns to the Sixers over the last four seasons. Smith has scored four centuries and three fifties in 11 innings (39 in total) since 2023; but the eccentric right-hander was not deemed good enough to feature in the squad for next month’s T20 World Cup.
As they say in Smith’s Manhattan digs, go figure it out.
Among those upset about being denied selection are BBL bosses and teammates at Channel Seven and Fox Sports. Smith’s exploits helped propel the Sixers-Thunder game to a ratings win with more than two million viewers on Seven on Friday, and pay-TV numbers would similarly rise. Since Smith started recording January footage in magenta a few years ago, there has been a reliable increase.
This year, Cricket Australia established a two-week block to allow all Australian players to return to the BBL post-Ashes, and this has been successful, with some caveats. Most of the shining Test players are players who are not part of the Aussie T20 squad, such as Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey and Marnus Labuschagne.
And Travis Head, the old-school rock star who could rival Smith in runs and ratings, was rested to freshen up for the World Cup. (Worryingly, many people like that Australian T20 squad not setting the world on fire in the BBL).
But the buzz at the sold-out SCG on Friday, accompanied by the innings of Smith and David Warner (also hitting a century), Babar Azam’s runs and Mitch Starc’s belated entry, perfectly illustrated why Cricket Australia and BBL bosses want to inject private capital into the competition. Six power is good, but star power is better.
We are told that plans to sell franchise shares to investors, particularly owners in the Indian Premier League, are well advanced and the hundreds of millions raised will be used to bolster the finances of Australian cricket and increase the BBL’s salary cap to attract more international stars.
Even without them, it’s already one of the highest quality competitions in a world where the total number of T20 leagues now rivals podcasts. Cricket Australia has already set its sights on being second only to the IPL, and getting stars from home and abroad playing for the majority of the season is key to the BBL’s rise.
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“I would love the opportunity to play more and see international players play more,” Smith said recently. “That’s what most teams around the world have in T20 tournaments. I know it’s difficult in terms of timing, but if they can get international players to play as much Big Bash as possible, I think it will only benefit the tournament.”
Hurdles would have to be overcome and the Australian summer reshaped to accommodate both Test cricket and a thrilling BBL. This may alienate some, but the masses continue to speak. They can’t get enough of Smith and Head clearing the rope in both cream and color.
Sorry bowlers.
