TOPIC:

Mike it looks like the Melbourne Stars are already active in the post season ,period.
Massive offer on the table for Matt Short.Tying to get him back from SA.
Looks like Clarke,Stoines, and a few others will be shown the door.
Of the current list it looks like Maxwell,Zampa,Cartwright, Coulter/Nile,Joel Paris will survive.
.Would love to see Cartwright at the Scorchers. 
Sixers are only -1 player.Think they beat the Heat on the Gold Coast.And win the final at home.

Given the test in Adelaide is almost certain to finish early tomorrow, I wonder if Cricket Australia have given any thought to organising a last minute flight to Perth for Marsh, Head and Carey to allow them to participate in the BBL elimination final?
It would be a much needed boost to a competition which is losing public interest fast because of all the high profile players departing for other parts of the world.

Evans is the big out for Perth, on top of the fact we cant get Matt Short out for anything under 70, he is on fire atm.
The Eskanazi, Whiteman opening pair is a flop neither can hit the ball out of the circle and then get out cheaply.
Must look at Inglis back up to open but then creates a problem at 4 especially with the dependable Evans gone at 5.
Richardson was ordinary in this BBL, he looks well underdone so not the big loss its made out to be by the 10yo's writing in The Worst these days, Agar has been ordinary as well, Tye 95% of the time is cannon fodder.
It all points to an Adelaide victory thus ending Perth's tilt at a hattrick of titles in a row!

Brisbane picked the wrong game to put in a shocker. Wonder if they have peaked too early. Whoever wins tonight's game will fancy their chances I reckon.
Whatever happens in the next 2 games, Sydney Sixers will be strong favourites to take the title on their home ground

I reckon it will be a Sydney Sixers vs Adelaide Strikers final now.
Brisbane were always going to struggle losing Munro, Billings, Labuschagne & Khawaja from their batting line up, not too mention having to move from their Gabba fortress to the more placid deck at Carrara on the Gold Coast, although Spencer Johnson continues to impress me with the ball.

Despite the massive crowds and generally good cricket displayed I reckon it is time CA disposed of the dual Sydney & Melbourne teams and maybe introduce a Canberra side having 7 teams with every one playing each other twice (12 games in total). Melbourne despite its self proclaimed "Sporting Capital Of The Universe" title just dont produce anywhere near enough quality talent to fill 2 sides hence all of their WA fill ins to make up a side, whilst Sydney Thunder dont have much support and may as well move that franchise to Canberra meaning all Capital Cities are covered with 1 team, the exception being Darwin which is currently in their wet season anyway.

BH a team from NZ?

I don't think most cricket followers would have been surprised with tonights result, despite the rantings of the idiotic Perth media. The fact was that any team that had to recruit Marcus Harris was indeed desperate and scraping the bottom of the barrel. The Scorchers need to get back to the principles that have made them successful which is recruiting local players and developing a team ethic. After Ashton Turner got injured the team lost its way. The bowling was inconsistent, for example they had the Strikers on the ropes at 6- 95 and the maximum they should have been chasing at that point would have been 130, yet the bowlers allowed them off the hook and the lower order got them to 155 which it turned out was more than enough. This has happened a number of times this season culminating in them being unable to defend 197 against the Sixers.
The batting has been mostly dependant on Evans so it was no surprise they collapsed in a heap.
Fanning and Connolly were the only batters who showed any resistance.
Probably time to look at a few players and whether it might be worth moving them on. 
Eskinazi, Whiteman, Agar, Tye to name a few have not had the best of seasons.

Good luck to Adelaide, I hope they win the title. I thought their use of spinners tonight was a masterstroke

 

Considering that was a local team on the park last night mikeh, and the worst PS performance in a while, perhaps some shrewd recruiting is needed mate. Though no Turner, Kelly, Richardson(at the end) or any cameos from Marsh and Green didn't help PS push for that 2nd chance.

Evans as BH said, was a huge loss,  Connolly has definitely found his spot batting lower in the order.....Agar was a huge disappointment, whilst the divide between Tye's, best and worst, widen noticeably this season. Eskinazi and Whiteman offered nothing up top, good to see young Fanning playing last night.

Bit of a lottery as to who will win the comp now....hopefully Voges can reset the team for those Shield and Marsh trophies.....Can't win them all I guess.

gtrxuone wrote:

BH a team from NZ?

No mate, they are playing their own version called the Super Smash currently, it really has only Kiwi domestic players playing no Internationals of note, is that right Freeze?
Just cull the extra perennially underperforming Melbourne & Sydney teams and go back to 6 teams or add Canberra to make it 7 but 8 teams is too much for the talent base here.
Even South Africa currently playing their version called SA20 or similar have only 6 teams- Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth/Eastern Cape & Paarl and their population is more than double Australia's and it is all pretty much funded by Indian IPL teams.

Sheesh I knew Perth had been playing ordinary but the true form was shown up for all to see last night, just awful in almost every department.
The batting has been awful all series, with Evans continually having to pull them out of the mire, but he wasnt there last night so we got to see how ordinary it really is. The openers have offered nothing all tournament, Crawley made a couple of cameos but struggled in the main, Whiteman was a poor choice, Eskinazi was shown up, Hardie started the BBL well with the bat then fell away, Inglis the same, Connolly looks much better coming in at 6 and was pretty much the only shining light last night, Hobson made a couple of cameos after having early luck, whilst Agar was just plain awful in all departments.
Bowling wise Behrendorff was the standout, Morris got clobbered when the heat went on late in the tournament, Richardson was ordinary but looked well under done after his myriad of injuries, Tye either gets hammered or takes wickets, Hardie & Connolly were both under bowled, McKenzie showed promise im not sure why he wasnt persevered with tbh, whilst Agar was as poor with the ball as he was the bat and thats saying something!

Looking to the future, Kelly should be back from injury, ditto Richardson, Marsh, Green & Morris will be around the traps for National selection, McKenzie & Connolly have to play more as bowling options, Turner will be back as that extra spin option, Behrendorff is a lock, Haskett is another left arm option, not sure of the contract status of Paris but would look at getting him back if possible, Tye should be eased out and be more of a back up option.
Fanning showed a bit, definitely worth persevering with, other young bats Goodwin, Wyllie & Wasley are coming through so will need exposure at some point.
Agar has to be moved on from not only PS but WA cricket as it is time we get more games in to Connolly & McKenzie across all 3 formats, we also have Rocchiccioli & Holt as spin options in the other formats.
As for Harris sheesh you know you are desperate when you are forced to pick him!

All in all time to get back to some real cricket now and hopefully push on to another Shield Final and with luck a 3rd straight title!