Big Bash = Big Business or Big Bore?

I am neither Australian nor T20 cricket aficionado. Yet people tell me - either to my face or through the media - that the Big Bash League is how this format should be played and marketed. I have seen nothing of it on TV but at six weeks long, it seems just as interminable as the IPL circus. I've no real idea of who the teams are: eight city franchises instead of the traditional states, but at least I'm familiar with a few of the players.

The concept is aimed at the same people the English original tournament was: young, non-traditional cricket fans, girls as much as boys. However, if that means playing music after every single delivery, that is surely taking it too far. If you want to dance, binge drink and pull a Sheila (or Bruce), go to a night club! Mind you , the language and behaviour is probably superior down at the disco than on the playing field when the likes of Flintoff, Warner and Watson are indulging in some 'banter' or 'passion'.

Nevertheless, the grounds are apparently full, the refreshment stalls doing roaring business and, almost as important, those who can't get to see the live action can watch TV coverage without paying a subscription. In England, hiding the product behind a hefty paywall means that broadcast audiences will never get to a million. I doubt whether many who go to a game to drink will be motivated to take up the sport, whereas boys at home are perhaps more likely to be inspired by the entertaining striking, bowling and athletic fielding. Concluding with such a cliffhanger finale doesn't hurt, either!

So who were the stars on the field in BBL 2014/5? Perth Scorchers retained the title thanks to a last-ball scramble involving some very experienced limited-overs cricketers, Yasir Arafat batting, Moses Henriques misfielding at the stumps and Brett Lee the helpless bowler at the other end, denied the opportunity of another trophy on his last-ever performance.

The victors inevitably boasted the competition's top scorer in Michael Klinger and three of the four highest wicket-takers in Arafat, Jason Behrendorff and Andrew Tye, a veteran of just one first-class match! England rejects Michael Carberry, Michael Lumb and a certain Kevin Pietersen enjoyed good tournaments, and Ben Stokes pulled off a few decent cameos with the bat after being overlooked (rightly) for the World Cup squad. KP did at least have some runs under his belt when he came out with his arrogant ridiculous outburst against 99% of his fellow cricketers. If they are mere muppets, how come he was so bad last summer that even Miss Piggy could have outscored him? If one good thing has come from this latest whinge it is that no county would ever again want to sign such a egotistical sod.

And then there is Brad Hogg. Just shy of his 43rd birthday, his economy rate of 5.33 for Perth shine brightly as ever. He may not be a sprightly young pup in the mould of the target audience but the BBL did at least demonstrate that a class player will thrive in any form of cricket, despite the bloody racket blaring from the loudspeakers between every ball.

I don't want to see a British Big Bash League but if the ECB can sacrifice a few quid to allow a free-to-air broadcaster access to T20, then it can only benefit the competition and maybe even domestic cricket itself.

India face more Boxing Day heartache

2-0 down already and now India step out in front of 90,000 fans at a ground where they have lost five consecutive Tests, all of them convincingly. Melbourne is traditionally a bowler's wicket where draws are rare. It won't be a case of hoping Vijay, Dhawan, Pujara and Kohli rack up 500+ runs and cling on. India's attack must fire on all cylinders or face another defeat.

Four years ago, scoring became harder and harder each day until Pattinson, Hilfenhaus and Siddle wore down the formidable Indian line-up of Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and a young Kohli for a second time inside four days. In 2007, the margin was a hefty 337 runs. Phil Jaques and Matthew Hayden almost beat India on their own. Mitchell Johnson's Test career was in its infancy but his second innings 3-21 played a major part alongside Brett Lee and Stuart Clark. A four-man India attack was pretty toothless by contrast, a situation which looks set to be repeated this week in 2014.

Back in time to 2003 and Boxing Day belonged to Virender Sehwag. His 195 gave India a great start but he had poor support. Steve Waugh's side boasted a fantastic side and Hayden (136) and Ricky Ponting (257) flayed Agarkar, Nehra and Zaheer Khan to all parts. Despite the absence of Warne, McGrath and Gillespie, the Aussies restricted Ganguly's men to 286 before Hayden and Ponting knocked off the 95 needed on the final morning.

In 1999, the home team were again favourites. The weather as much as India's attack slowed the green baggies down on dates 1 and 2 but they passed 400. More than could be said for India. Only captain Sachin Tendulkar looked defiant, his 116 providing almost half the side's total. At the other end, debutant Brett Lee and McGrath wreaked havoc. Soon Waugh declared to leave India two days to make 376. Rain threatened to save them but Lee, Fleming and Mark Waugh did more enough to win.

In 1991 Bruce Reid took 6-66 and 6-60 to spark that five-match MCG losing streak. However, six years earlier India had been on topics. Only Allan Border's 163 and the weather staved off an unlikely loss. Back in 1981 Australia were in transition and had list the Ashes the previous summer. Glen Chappell led the side and Border's century set up a large first innings lead. A 165-run opening stand between Chauhan and Gavaskar put India back into the match but Australia needed only 143 to win. Enter Kapil Dev. Bowling second-change, he claimed 5-28 and the opposition was skittled for 83.

Somehow I can't see India repeating the feat this Christmas. A restored Bhuvi Kumar and Ishant Sharma will have to keep Warner and Smith quiet. Twice. India are notoriously poor tourists and an Aussie whitewash looks almost inevitable.

Brett Lee - the Aussie we're allowed to love!

The last week has witnessed the retirements of three great cricketers, marking the end of an era in batting, wicketkeeping and now the art of fast bowling. First it was Mark Ramprakash, then Mark Boucher and now Brett Lee. It was sad that the Aussie called it a day after a torn calf muscle ended his participation in a lost match to England, but it's probably the right decision for a man who has injured just every part of his body during a 17-year career.

OK, so he still intends to play T20 but this is it for proper cricket. And what a career it has been. His international stint was launched in the Boxing Day Test of 1999 against India, beginning with a 5-for and the wicket of Rahul Dravid in each innings. His ODI debut a few weeks later versus Pakistan was wicketless but it was as a stump-rattling strike bowler that made Brett Lee such a fearsome proposition. He may have been hit about a few times, and was more expensive than the likes of Glenn McGrath or indeed any other top bowler of the past 25 years but his strike rate in both Tests and ODIs is up there with the best, if not THE best in the 50-over game.

He was famously recorded as bowling a delivery at a shade under 100mph, the second fastest in history, but his smooth classic action enabled him to bowl at pace for many years, even if injury and age diminished the speed a bit in his 30s. He struck quite a few batsmen some nasty blows along the way, including Kallis and Chanderpaul, and even had Alex Tudor stretchered off, but he seemed a genuinely nice guy. Unlike many of his great team-mates, he often played with a smile on his face albeit with a steely determination and competitive will to win.

Therefore it is ironic that the most famous photo of him is as a loser, sunken on his hunches grasping his bat and consoled by Andrew Flintoff at Edgbaston in 2005 after almost pulling off a remarkable Ashes victory with the bat. Three more runs and history would have been rewritten. He never scored a century - 97 was his top score - but he contributed useful late-order runs and once heaved a delivery over the Gabba grandstand playing the Windies. His average of 20 in Test is admirable for a strike bowler and his scoring rate in ODIs is a hefty 84, even if his innings usually came when quick runs were required to set or reach a target.

Whether in the baggy green or the purple of KKR Brett Lee was also an excellent outfielder, chasing lost causes along the boundary rope and flingnig deadly accurate throws to the stumps. He didn't drop many catches either.

So he departs the international scene with 310 Test wickets, 380 in ODIs (the sixth highest in history and level with McGrath for Australia) and 28 in T20Is. Who knows how many more victims he'd have claimed had it not been for those injuries? However, he has been a popular cricketer around the world for many years, even amongst the Poms, recognised for being hard but fair and playing the sport in the right spirit. There aren't many like Brett Lee and he will be missed.

Brett Lee and the other Aussie-Windies ODI stars

Today's pounding from Kieron Pollard notwithstanding, Brett Lee's ongoing performances for Australia in the West Indies made me wonder where he appears on the all-time wicket-taking table for matches between the two teams. In Tests, the list is predictably headed by Courtney Walsh (135), Curtly Ambrose (128) and Glenn McGrath (110), although the former played eleven more games (38 in total) than his nearest rival. Lee stands well behind on 64 but given that these came in only 12 Tests, he has one of the best strike rates of any bowler in the history of Aussie-Windies cricket.

At the age of 35, he will probably never play the five-day stuff again. However, he has 215 ODIs under his belt, and today is his 26th against the West Indies. With 46 wickets so far, he is seventh on the list. Again, his strength has been his breakthrough bowling, taking a wicket every 28 balls or so which, as in Tests, is one of the best of any player, including the likes of Roberts, Lillee, Garner, Warne et al. His average of 22 is pretty good, too, but economy is not one of his better qualities, and Pollard's innings today hasn't helped! At 4.7 an over against the West Indies, he is an expensive asset but, when bowling with the likes of McGrath, it didn't matter that much.

Shane Warne has taken 50 but the top wicket taker in ODIs between the two teams is perhaps surprising. Neither Walsh, Ambrose, McGrath, nor Holding but Craig McDermott! Often an unsung hero of the Aussie attack in the '80s and '90s, the paceman bridged the eras of Lillee and McGrath, taking 291 Test wickets and just over 200 in ODIs. Of those, 63 came against the Windies in 35 matches. His average of 19.45 is superior to everyone other than Nathan Bracken or Len Pascoe, too.

At the time of writing, the Windies innings has just ended with Brett Lee still one short of Malcolm Marshall, who tended to save his best performances for Test cricket. I've always liked Brett Lee as a cricketer, not only as a very fast bowler back in the day. He is a thinker, a useful outfielder and plays the game in the right way, too. We should cherish his performances on the international scene while we still can. Given Australian seamers' current injury woes, that could be for a few more years yet!

World Cup Week Four - All Goes to Plan (Nearly!)

So after four long weeks and 42 matches, the eight highest-ranked countries qualified from the group stages, and the ICC could breathe a collective sigh of relief. As I wrote yesterday, the Associate nations did play their part in the entertainment, and both Ireland and Bangladesh beat England in memorable fashion. Nevertheless, the only game in Week Four which realistically could have thrown a spanner in the works was Bangladesh v South Africa and that resulted in a resounding victory for the Proteas. Only skipper Shakib Al Hasan managed to reach double figures, even against a second-string bowling attack.

The minnows did provide some excellent individual performances this week. Kenya's Collins Obuya took 98 runs off the Aussies and was unfortunate not to reach his century before the overs ran out. Paul Stirling and Ryan Ten Doeschate both struck hundreds in the Group B 'wooden spoon' decider between Ireland and the Netherlands, while Canada's captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Ashish Bagai creamed 84 in the defeat by New Zealand.

However, several big names also made their mark. For Australia, Brad Haddin hit two fine half-centuries, and Michael Clarke also found some form, albeit against Kenya. A long-awaited hundred from Kumar Sangakkara and four wickets from Muralitharan saw off New Zealand, while South Africa's JP Duminy fell for 99 against Ireland and all-rounder Robin Peterson claimed several cheap wickets.While Shoaib Akhtar announced his post-tournament retirement, his fellow Pakistani paceman Umar Gul reminded the world how good a one-day bowler he can be. The West Indies also reminded us how terrible they can be when apparently winning a run chase, self-destructing against both England and India. Mind you, Yuvraj Singh enjoyed a great match today, striking 113 and taking 2-18 in four overs in the win over the Windies.

However, my Player of the Week is Brett Lee. In Australia's three matches in the past week or so, he bowled just over 24 overs, taking nine wickets for 100 runs. His side may have lost their long unbeaten record in World Cups but, at 34, the affable NSW man looks as effective as ever, whether opening the attack in a Powerplay or stifling late-order momentum with yorkers and seamers. Most of his victims have been bowled, LBW or caught behind, not caught in the deep, suggesting his success has been down to consistently good line, length and movement, not luck. His fielding is as youthful and enthusiastic as ever, too.

In the quarters, Lee will come up against one of the great batting line-ups and will need to be at his best against Sehwag (if he recovers from injury), Tendulkar, Gambhir, Kohli, Dhoni et al. The Australia-India clash is the pick of the fixtures and would have made a great final. It's impossible to pick a winner, so let's hope it's a great match. England v Sri Lanka is intriguing and the winners will probably face South Africa who should have too much class for New Zealand, for whom much hope rests on Taylor, McCullum and the injured Vettori. Like England, Pakistan and the West Indies have been racked by inconsistency in the World Cup. The former have done better than expected, counting Sri Lanka and Australia amongst their victims and losing only to New Zealand. Provided they don't let Kieron Pollard and Chris Gayle take control and pepper the spectators with sixes, Pakistan should progress to the semis. It should be a fascinating week.