Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and Rashid Khan headline our BBL09 team of the season
After a Big Bash League season highlighted by several standout individual performances, how do you choose a best XI? Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams pick themselves, but after that it got a bit trickier.
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How do you split the premier players from a Big Bash League tournament which has been one of the most evenly-fought in history?
Heading into the last two days of the regular season, seven of the eight teams were still in contention for the expanded finals series.
BBL FINALS ARE HERE! THERE’S STILL FOUR CHANCES TO WIN $1000 IN SUPERCOACH BBL!
Some of that success has been down to individual brilliance, with stars such as skipper Glenn Maxwell, opener Marcus Stoinis and paceman Haris Rauf lifting Melbourne Stars to the top of the table.
Of course, they had strong support acts and individual quality can only take you so far.
Beau Webster (425 runs) and Shaun Marsh (449 runs) ranked among the highest run scorers in the tournament despite Melbourne Renegades’ disappointing title defence.
This will be remembered as a tournament where unheralded players including Jon Wells, Josh Inglis and Rauf announced themselves on the national stage.
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TEAM OF THE SEASON
Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars) Ru ns: 607 High score: 147no Avg: 60.7 SR 134.3 SCBBL avg: 66.1
The leading run scorer of BBL09 is only 30 runs away from eclipsing the record set by D’Arcy Short last summer for most runs in a Big Bash League season. The all-rounder is yet to bowl for the Stars but his impact with the bat has more than made up for his absence with the ball due to a lingering injury.
Alex Hales (Sydney Thunder) Runs: 449 High score: 85 Avg: 37.4 SR 143.9 SCBBL avg: 51. 6
The English opener took time to get going but has finished the regular season as one of the BBL’s form batsmen. Hales had one half-century to his name before launching a season-high 85 from 59 balls against Perth Scorchers. The confidence boost resulted in a prolific end to the campaign as he made 195 runs in his last three innings.
Josh Inglis (Perth Scorchers) Runs: 405 High score: 73 Avg: 28.9 SR: 154 Dismissals: 13 SCBBL Avg: 56.6
Josh Philippe started the campaign in a blaze of glory and seemed destined to be the breakout gloveman of the summer. But he has been eclipsed by Inglis, who scored at a frenetic strike rate of 154 and made four more runs than the Sixers wicketkeeper. Inglis finished with the second-most dismissals of the tournament with 13, behind only Jimmy Peirson.
Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars, captain) Runs: 373 High score: 83no Avg: 46.6 SR: 156 Wickets: 7 SCBBL avg: 70.3
Maxwell has highlighted his tactical nous and ability to read the game during a standout summer as the Stars skipper. He’s bowled more than ever before in the BBL, playing an important role with the ball in the powerplay. Maxwell won at least two matches off his own bat to help the Stars finish on top an earn hosting rights to the qualifier.
Jon Wells (Adelaide Strikers) Runs: 444 High score: 68no Avg: 74 SR 136.2 SCBBL avg: 47.9
Wells has been one of the most consistent batsmen of BBL09 and went unconquered in seven of his 13 innings to emerge as a genuine contender for the World T20 squad. That was almost unthinkable for a 31-year-old who hasn’t come into the national reckoning before. That’s how good he’s been.
BBL FINALS ARE HERE! THERE’S STILL FOUR CHANCES TO WIN $1000 IN SUPERCOACH BBL!
Beau Webster (Melbourne Renegades) Runs: 425 High score: 67no Avg: 42.5 SR 132 SCBBL avg: 50.1
A fringe player during the Renegades’ BBL08 title win, Webster emerged as the linchpin of a batting line-up which performed better than their ladder position suggests. Webster batted anywhere from No. 4 to No. 6 for the Renegades and belied his reputation as a dour top-order player with a strike rate of 132.
Tom Curran (Sydney Sixers) Wickets: 22 Best: 4-22 Avg: 19.4 SR: 12.8 Runs: 133 SCBBL avg: 71.5
Arguably the player of the past two seasons in the BBL, Englishman Curran was again a standout performer for the Sixers. His ability to take wickets in the later overs was matched only by the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, Daniel Sams. He’s likely to be replaced by Sean Abbott for finals but his absence will be felt.
Rashid Khan (Adelaide Strikers) Wickets: 18 Best: 4-22 Avg: 18.4 SR: 20.7 Runs: 124 SCBBL avg: 68.4
It hasn’t been Khan’s best season with the Strikers, yet he’s still contributed 18 wickets and more than 120 runs. His strike rate is lower than previous campaigns and he’s conceded more than seven runs an over, well above his career rate of 6.37. He’s judged against such a high bar after the past two seasons and the Strikers would be thrilled by their Afghani spin wizard’s output.
Daniel Sams (Sydney Thunder) Wickets: 25 Best: 4-34 Avg: 14.8 SR: 11.3 SCBBL avg: 67.5
The man with the golden arm now holds the record for the most wickets in a BBL campaign. Sams was forecast as an all-rounder heading into BBL09 and although he’s struggled with the bat, his impact with the ball has overshadowed a batting average of 3.5. He’s averaging a wicket every 11 balls and has been dynamic at the death in partnership with South African Chris Morris.
BBL FINALS ARE HERE! THERE’S STILL FOUR CHANCES TO WIN $1000 IN SUPERCOACH BBL!
Peter Siddle (Adelaide Strikers) Wickets: 17 Best: 4-33 Avg: 19.1 SR: 15.5 SCBBL avg: 53.4
The veteran quick is an underrated T20 performer and has shown his experience bowling in the powerplay and at the death for the Strikers. While Billy Stanlake and Harry Conway have struggled to nail down a spot for the Strikers, Siddle’s consistency in partnership with Wes Agar and Khan helped Adelaide clinch third spot.
Haris Rauf (Melbourne Stars) Wickets: 16 Best: 5-27 Avg: 11.6 SR: 10 SCBBL avg: 83.4
Arguably the story of the summer. Who could have predicted an international replacement plucked from Tasmanian grade cricket would become the most-feared quick in the BBL? Rauf’s performances were so good, he was called up to Pakistan’s T20 squad and has been mooted as a potential Test debutant.
12th man: Shaun Marsh (Melbourne Renegades) Runs: 449 High score: 63 Avg: 37.4 SR 124 SCBBL avg: 54.3