And we’re away! The BBL is consuming the evening viewing in most Australian households now, and will be for the foreseeable future.

Socialising and mealtime have all been efficiently organised to coincide with games, and around about 7pm tonight, there will be a collective groan when it becomes apparent that there’s no game now until Boxing Day.

That’s two whole days away. The horror…

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And here’s something else that feels a bit wacky about the BBL. There’s no ‘rounds’ per se this summer, just 32 games coming one after the other.

Thankfully, the competition has a series of natural breaks throughout the competition, for Christmas and the ODIs, and so on. And for the purposes of this exercise, that will have to do.

So here’s the recap and talking points from the first, um… block of games?

Tuesday: Sydney Thunder 8/159 lost to Sydney Sixers 1/160

Well, there was my BBL tipping off to a brilliant start! After suggesting the Sixers looked vulnerable without their Australian Test bowling quartet in the season preview earlier in the week, it was the Thunder who looked all out of sorts as they kicked off the first game of their title defence.

Ryan Gibson batted well for the home side, and his partnership with England ODI skipper Eoin Morgan was really setting up their innings, but the Sixers hit back in wonderful style, taking 5/15 in 23 balls to grind things to a halt. Some late innings hitting from Pat Cummins pushed the Thunder total to something they defended several times last season, but it quickly became apparent it wouldn’t be enough.



The answer is almost certainly a severe lack of Sheffield Shield wickets, but I wonder why Moises Henriques wasn’t considered as the allrounder coverage for Boxing Day? His unbeaten 76 was full of class, and he looms as the Sixers’ trump card in their top order. He and Dan Hughes made light work of the run chase, adding an unbeaten 115 for the second wicket, a new record for the Sixers, while the Thunder fielding coach needs an extra session or two.

Stat of the match: The Sixers now have three century partnerships in the BBL, and Moises Henriques has been involved in all of them.

Unanswerable question: How bad is Cricket Australia’s approval process when, less than 24 hours after declaring Andre Russell’s black bat was within the BBL playing conditions, they “withdrew their approval” when it emerged the bat left black marks on the ball?

Wednesday: Brisbane Heat 5/206 defeated Adelaide Strikers 6/196

The question of who does the batting for Brisbane once Brendon McCullum and Chris Lynn are back in the sheds was answered, with ‘keeper Jimmy Pierson opening and Alex Ross down the order – against his old BBL club, and on his home state ground, mind you – pushing the Heat to the first total north of 200 for the summer.

Only twice in BBL history had a side lost after posting 200+, and it was Brisbane both times, ironically, to Hobart both times, in BBL03 and BBL05.

But finally the Heat held on to defend a big total, finding their nerve in some style at the back end of the innings, after Ben Dunk and Jake Weatherald had put on a Strikers’ record partnership to put themselves in the best position to win. Brisbane took 4/14 in the last three overs to bring the Strikers’ run chase to a massive halt. A confidence-building win, no doubt. And my tipping had no started well, at 0 and 2.

Stat of the match: Ben Dunk’s 85 from 43 balls on debut included the Adelaide Strikers’ second fastest fifty ever (from 24 balls – Tim Ludeman’s 52 from 18 balls in BBL04 remains No.1). Tell me why Hobart traded him again?



Unanswerable question: How good are #SecuritySam’s hands when he has to get up out of his seat to take a catch?

Thursday: Melbourne Renegades 7/179 defeated Sydney Thunder 131

A very typical Aaron Finch Twenty20 innings pushed the Renegades along early, before Callum Ferguson and Dwayne Bravo saw them into a strong position. Some late-innings fireworks from Sunil Narine (who knew?) meant the Renegades would be chasing probably 10 or 15 runs more than they imagined they would be.

In reply, the Thunder battled deluxe, d-e-l-u-x-e! 2/9 after three overs was far from the ideal start when needing nine an over from the outset. Ben Rohrer and the impressive-looking Ryan Gibson built a handy partnership, but once they both fell to Brad Hogg in the 13th over, the Thunder were in more trouble. Andre Russell and Pat Cummins batting at 5 and 6 respectively tells you all you need to know about the Thunder’s batting currently.

What we learned in this game is that the Renegades bowling attack might be every bit as good as their batting component. Hogg, Bravo, Narine, and Chris Tremain all bowled superbly in this game.

Stat of the match: Cummins has hit seven 6s in BBL06 so far, but is yet to hit a four.

Unanswerable question: Would Matthew Wade really have made that stumping off Brad Hogg’s first over in red? Maybe Hoggy’s still as hard to pick as ever.

Friday: Hobart Hurricanes 6/200 defeated Sydney Sixers 140



Our first look at the Hurricanes for BBL06, and they answered a few of the ‘which bats have they got?’ questions early. Tim Paine, now a T20 specialist evidently, and former WA batsman and Northern Territory product D’Arcy Short going at 10 an over for the first eight, and Kumar Sangakkara and George Bailey carrying on with it.

It meant that Dan Christian and those following could bring out the long handle, and sure enough, the Sixers needed 201 to win, something they’ve gone close to chasing in the last three BBL seasons.

Big partnerships were going to be the key for the Sixers, and though Jason Roy stood up to be the guy the build around, the wickets fell way too regularly. Once again, the Sixers’ long tail became an issue, with Johan Botha at 6 and Stephen O’Keefe at 7 just not able to do the job so desperately need of them. The Sixers lost 6/36 and their last five wickets for just nine. There’s capitulations, and there’s that.

Unanswerable question: How much does a middle stump camera and audio set-up cost? And will Shaun Tait be getting the bill? His rocket through the defences of Sam Billings sounded expensive live, and only got better with every replay.

Friday: Perth Scorchers 7/197 defeated Adelaide Strikers 9/149

The start of the game was held up in Perth, while we waited for the Sixers’ demise to finalise itself, and the Scorchers very nearly followed on. Michael Klinger went early, and Englishman Ian Bell – making his Perth debut – should’ve gone first ball, too, only for SA young gun Jake Weatherald to drop a chance that he made more difficult than it really should’ve been.

Bell went on to make a classy 61 including one six over cover that left me needing a moment to recompose myself. The Strikers did well to get Mitch Marsh just as he was threatening to go big, but that just gave Ashton Turner more time to get set and unleash at the end of the innings. 198 was going to take some getting.

And it was really going to take some getting once the Strikers slumped to 3/15, and wasn’t much better at 5/66 and then 6/78 in the 12th over. Brad Hodge’s 10th BBL fifty was the lone hand on the Strikers scorecard, and without his 56, it makes for sad reading. Mitchell Johnsons’ BBL comeback was pretty handy, too – 4-0-33-3!



Stat of the match: Adelaide became the fifth team in five BBL06 games to win the toss and bowl. And the fourth on the trot to lose. It was also the first time in six seasons of the BBL that Perth have won their first game of the season.

BBL06 table after Game 5:

HURRICANES 2, RENEGADES 2, SCORCHERS 2, HEAT 2; Sixers 2, Strikers 0, Thunder 0, Stars —

Next block of games

No games Christmas Eve and Christmas Day… this year. Will that change next summer?

Monday – Hobart Hurricanes v Melbourne Stars, Bellerive

Tuesday – Sydney Sixers v Perth Scorchers, SCG

Wednesday – Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat, Sydney Showground

Thursday – Melbourne Renegades v Perth Scorchers, Docklands, Melbourne

Friday – Brisbane Heat v Hobart Hurricanes, the ‘Gabba

Saturday – Adelaide Strikers v Sydney Sixers, Adelaide Oval

A very Merry Christmas to all, and enjoy the Big Bash!