Official BBL|12 Team of the Tournament
The official best XI of BBL|12 has been selected by the eight coaches of the Big Bash League, with the Perth Scorchers dominating the choices.
The Perth Scorchers, finalists in the KFC BBL|12, have dominated the official Team of the Tournament with the inclusion of Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, and Andrew Tye in the starting XI. Matt Short, the Player of the Tournament, will open the innings alongside Steve Smith, who was selected despite playing only four regular season matches due to the Australian Test summer. Short, an opener for the Strikers, made history by becoming just the third player ever to score 400 runs and take 10 wickets in a single BBL season. He also opened the bowling for Adelaide with his off-spinners and took 11 wickets.
Sean Abbott, the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, was also included in the XI. He became the first bowler to surpass 150 wickets in the BBL history. The eight BBL head coaches were tasked to choose their best XI from the regular season. Short, Smith, Hardie, and Abbott received the maximum of eight votes each, while Inglis received seven and Tye received five. Short tops the tournament’s runs tally with 458, followed by Hardie with 443, who has a chance to increase his tally in the BBL|12 Final. Aaron Finch, who scored 428 runs, is third on the list and has been named the captain of the official Team of the Tournament, after another outstanding campaign where he was reinstated as the Renegades’ leader following Nic Maddinson’s season-ending knee injury.
The final member of the top six is Hurricanes’ Tim David, a globetrotting power-hitter with 354 runs, who has joined the MI Cape Town franchise in the new SA20 league after Hobart missed the BBL|12 finals, despite David helping them secure a thrilling win over the Heat in the last match of the season. Brisbane Heat seamer Michael Neser was selected for his most successful BBL campaign with 24 wickets, including a hat-trick, while Renegades quick Tom Rogers earned his place with 23 wickets in his outstanding debut season. Rounding out the bowling attack is breakout star Paddy Dooley, who was the only selected spinner, taking 19 wickets with an impressive economy rate of 6.56, including a best haul of 4-16 against the Scorchers. New Adelaide Striker and the competition’s all-time highest run-scorer, Chris Lynn, was selected with three votes from the coaches for his 416 runs in 11 games and will carry the drinks.
Official BBL|12 Team of the Tournament
1. Matt Short (Strikers) – 8 votes
2. Steve Smith (Sixers) – 8 votes
3. Aaron Hardie (Scorchers) – 8 votes
4. Aaron Finch (c) (Renegades) – 6 votes
5. Josh Inglis (wk) (Scorchers) – 7 votes
6. Tim David (Hurricanes) – 5 votes
7. Michael Neser (Heat) – 5 votes
8. Sean Abbott (Sixers) – 8 votes
9. Andrew Tye (Scorchers) – 5 votes
10. Tom Rogers (Renegades) – 6 votes
11. Paddy Dooley (Hurricanes) – 5 votes
12th. Chris Lynn (Strikers) – 3 votes
