We look at the eight teams that compete in the Big Bash League and their squads during the league’s 10th season of 2020-21. Though many players were expected to skip the competition owing to the pandemic, the tournament was an unqualified success, with every team well represented by domestic and overseas players.
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In the Eliminator held on 29 January, Brisbane Heat beat Adelaide Strikers to qualify for the Knockout. Batting first, Strikers scored 130/7. Marnus Labuschagne was Heat’s most successful bowler, taking 3/13 in 3 overs. Heat chased down the target with 6 wickets and 7 balls to spare — Jimmy Peirson led the way with an unbeaten 47.
On 30 January, Perth Scorchers met Sydney Sixers in the first Qualifier. Batting first, they scored 167/6. James Vince scored an unbeaten 98 off 53 balls to help Sixers reach the target with 9 wickets and 3 overs to spare.
On 31 January, Sydney Thunder batted first in the Knockout against Brisbane Heat and made 158/8. Heat reached the target in 19.1 overs. Sam Heazlett starred for Heat with an unbeaten 74 off 49 balls.
On 4 February, Scorchers batted first in the Challenger against Brisbane Heat. Opener Liam Livingstone scored 77 off 39 balls to help Scorchers post a score of 189/1. In reply, Heat could manage only 150/9 in 18 overs, enabling Scorchers to win by 49 runs (DLS method).
In the final, Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to field. Batting first, Sixers made a score of 188/6 thanks to a brilliant 95 by James Vince. Scorchers were restricted to 161/9, making Sixers the winners by 27 runs. Thus, Sixers managed to put up a successful defence of the title they had won in Season 9 and became champions for the third time.
The following were their reserve players: Cameron White (batsman); Harry Nielsen (wicket-keeper); Matt Short, Jake Lehmann and Cameron Valente (all-rounders); Nick Winter, Daniel Worrall, Harvey Conway, Rashid Khan (bowlers).
Their list of reserve players included: Tom Cooper and Max Bryant (batsmen); Tom Banton (wicket-keeper); Dan Lawrence and Jack Wildermuth (all-rounders); Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mitch Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann and James Bazely (bowlers).
The reserve players included: Colin Ingram and Mac Wright (batsmen); Jake Doran (wicket-keeper); James Faulkner (all-rounder); Jarrod Freeman, Nic Winter, David Moody (bowlers).
Renegades had the following reserve players: Marcus Harris and Rilee Roussouw (batsmen); Md Nabi (all-rounder); James Pattinson, Kane Richardson, Jon Holland, Josh Lalor, Imran Tahir, Noor Ahmed, Cameron Boyce (bowlers).
Stars also had the following reserve players to back up the main eleven: Clint Hinchliffe and Will Pucovski (batsmen); Jonny Bairstow and Ben Dunk (wicket-keepers); Jonathan Merlo, Jackson Coleman, Lance Morris, and Tom O’Connell (bowlers).
Scorchers’ reserve list of players included the following: Jason Roy, Kurtis Patterson and Sam Whiteman (batsmen); Cameron Green (all-rounder); Joel Paris, Matthew Kelly and Joe Clarke (bowlers).
Sixers had the following reserve players: Jack Edwards (batsman), Hayden Kerr and Tom Curran (all-rounders); Nathan Lyon, Ben Manenti, Lloyd Pope and Mickey Edwards (bowlers).
Thunder also had the following reserve players: Jason Sangha (batsman); Matthew Gilkes (wicket-keeper); Oliver Davies and Arjun Nair (all-rounders); Chris Tremain and Jonathan Cook (bowlers).
