BBL13 was all about young Renegade Jake Fraser-McGurk, but this season is all about the oldies.
The 25th match of BBL14 between the Sydney Thunder and the Brisbane Heat was the latest reminder of the value older players can bring to the league.
Coming into the match, the headlines were dominated by Thunder assistant coach Dan Christian coming out of retirement as a replacement player for Daniel Sams and Cameron Bancroft, who had a sickening on-field collision in the previous game against the Perth Scorchers.
Christian came to the wicket with the Thunder at 6-125 after Spencer Johnson rattled David Warner’s stumps with a slower yorker after the former Test opener failed to connect on a premeditated reverse ramp scoop.
The 41-year-old allrounder eased himself back into things, taking six singles off his first seven balls. But Christian put the foot down in the 19th over, hitting Xavier Bartlett for two sixes – the second bringing up his 100th six in the BBL, and temporarily giving him the unique record of having hit the first two and last two sixes in BBL history.
He finished 23* off 15 balls, helping the Thunder to a respectable 8-173.
The man my friends and I call “Uncle Dan” was thrown the ball in the fourth over of the Heat’s innings and finished the power play by removing Nathan McSweeney on an attempted lap scoop. That wicket elevated Christian to an ultra-exclusive club, joining Chris Jordan as the only players to take at least one wicket for five different BBL clubs.
Warner, who is captaining the Thunder this season, showed his class with 50 off 36 balls, adding to his 49 against the Scorchers on January 3 and his 86* against the Renegades on December 30. His 228 runs in six matches has him well clear on the Thunder’s run-scoring leaderboard, ahead of Billings (149) and the injured Bancroft (105).
The match also marked the 100th career BBL appearance for Heat veteran Michael Neser, returning for his first match since he injured his hamstring in a tour match against India at the MCG in early November.
Neser bowled both the opening and closing over for the Heat, claiming the first wicket of the match in the third over when Thunder opener Oliver Davies (10 from 12) was caught behind after the youngster tried to ramp-scoop the ball over the keeper’s head.
He also removed the dangerous Sam Billings (10 from 9) in the ninth over, finishing with the tidy figures of 2/25 from his four overs, before making 7* from three deliveries and hitting the winning runs in the second innings.
But veterans have been making important contributions all season.
Forty-year-old Peter Siddle has been the best bowler for the Melbourne Stars across their first six games, taking eight wickets at an average of 21.8 with an economy of 7.84, and became the 11th player to take 100 BBL wickets when he dismissed Keaton Jennings in the season opener against the Perth Scorchers.
Englishman James Vince made an unbeaten century for the Sydney Sixers against the Melbourne Stars at the SCG on Boxing Day as the home side chased down the target of 194 with 11 balls to spare.
Glenn Maxwell took arguably the greatest catch in BBL history for the Stars against the Heat on New Year’s Day, an incredibly athletic effort for someone who turned 36 late last year.
Jonathan Wells, who sits second behind Christian on the all-time BBL games played list, made his first appearance of the season for the Renegades and scored an important 45 off 31 to help the ‘Gades post a competitive 7-168 against their crosstown rivals on January 4.
And even though he’s long retired, who could forget the legacy of the great George Bradley Hogg the oldest player in BBL history, whose 61 wickets were always entertaining.
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