BBL 2021-22: English invasion leads the Big Bash League’s overseas roster

Feature

The national team’s white ball success and the players’ availability behind the influx of Englishmen

There was a time when English cricketers who spent the winter in Australia could expect to start the season in second class. Now they are the hottest item to be found: 15 of the 24 confirmed overseas signatures for this year’s Big Bash are English, all eight teams have at least one in their squad and both Sydney teams have three. England’s dominance of last season’s overseas pool of players was not an isolated one.

“I do not know – I thought Australians hated us,” joked Ben Duckett, whose stay in the Brisbane Heat will be his first in the BBL, this week when asked how English players had come to dominate the overseas player pool. Availability is the biggest factor, with BBL clubs eager to pick up signatures for the whole season, and players eager to swap the English winter for Australian sunshine, but England’s recent success in international matches with limited overs and unmatched white ball depth has also been crucial.

“When Australia was the best Test team in the world in the 2000s,” said one recruiting insider, “then one would see their outfielders go to England and play in the County Championship every year. It’s the same dynamic in the Big Bash, but for white football cricket. ” The cycle is self-reinforcing: England’s success makes their winger more attractive signatures in overseas leagues, and their winger’s exposure to these tournaments creates a pool of players ready for international selection. As evidenced by a reserve team’s 3-0 ODI series win against Pakistan this year, there is enormous strength in depth.

Liam Livingstone’s breakthrough year in an English jersey is an example of that. In 2019, Livingstone sat down with the ECB to discuss his winter plans and agreed that he would be best served playing in T20 leagues instead of touring Australia with the England Lions. “I had already played two winters with Lions cricket,” Livingstone explained. “I wanted to get away, get out of my comfort zone and learn in these different environments.

“The pressure you get as an overseas player is probably no different and there is a pressure on you to perform right from the first game wherever you go in the world. It really sets you up better when you turn back to international cricket. ” After two dominant seasons with the Perth Scorchers, he joined England’s T20I team this year and made a hundred with 42 balls in his fourth game since returning. Coaches who have worked for counties or hundreds of teams have selected players who they think could follow in his footsteps – or used their contacts for recommendations.

Several other players are in a similar position now and that is why so many Englishmen are involved in not only the BBL but also the Abu Dhabi T10 and Pakistan Super League: just like Livingstone, Phil Salt and Will Jacks both played in the Big Bash last season and have had excellent T10 campaigns, while Tom Banton, who starred for the Brisbane Heat two years ago, will fly from Abu Dhabi to the Lanka Premier League this weekend.

Livingstone is proof that Big Bash’s success gives players a clear path to selection in T20 internationals. Eoin Morgan regularly quoted the competition last winter while talking about James Vince, who made 98 not out and 95 in the Sydney Sixers’ two knockout matches last season and was a traveling reserve in England’s World Cup squad.

James Vince was dominant in last season’s knockout stages Getty Images

Reece Topley, who will make her BBL debut for the Melbourne Renegades next week, said the tournament will give players “an opportunity … to impress the right people” ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. Tymal Mills, Saqib Mahmood, Tom Curran, George Garton and Sam Billings will all be on the selection squad for England’s squad and can advance their respective cases in the next two months.

For players who are a little further from international selection – six of the 15 Englishmen in this year’s BBL are without limits in the T20Is – a winter in Australia provides a chance to develop in a league they grew up watching cold winter mornings. There is no major difference in the flat pitches with limited overs found in both countries, but only a few county cricketers have experienced Australia’s huge ground dimensions. Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke will switch Trent Bridge to MCG during his stay at Melbourne Stars: “I have to adapt my game to the ground, which is fantastic,” he said.

The majority of English imports will be familiar names to Australian fans, but a handful may be unknown. It’s a reflection of BBL’s lack of economic traction – league salaries are relatively low given the duration of the competition – that only a handful of big international names are now involved and the addition of a third overseas slot in each player XI last season has opened the door for lesser known overseas players.

The Hobart Hurricanes have signed Harry Brook, PCA’s young player of the year for the English season 2021, as a midfielder who could take advantage of the Power Surge overs, as well as Jordan Thompson, Brooks’ Yorkshire teammate and a combative nail. -bowling allrounder. Tom Abell, the innovative midfielder who has been approached by Jos Buttler for tips on playing the reverse scoop, joins the Heat after the England Lions’ tour match against Australia A, and Laurie Evans will be the glue that holds the Scorchers ‘batting line-up together.

At the other end of the scale, Vince and Alex Hales are expected to once again head their respective Sydney teams, with the Billings putting a couple of frustrating months of driving drinks behind them by hitting 90 of 45 balls in a warm-up match this week. Curran’s return is also important for the Sixers – he has been a key player with both bat and ball in his previous two seasons with them – while Garton will hope to build on a solid IPL season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore through all-round contributions to Adelaide Attackers.

England players in BBL 2021-22:
Adelaide Strikers: George Garton
Brisbane Heat: Tom Abell, Ben Duckett
Hobart Hurricanes: Harry Brook, Jordan Thompson
Melbourne Renegades: Reece Topley
Melbourne Stars: Joe Clarke
Perth Scorchers: Laurie Evans, Tymal Mills
Sydney Sixers: Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, James Vince
Sydney Thunder: Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Saqib Mahmood

Matt Roller is Assistant Editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ mroller98