B66: The BBL

So, farewell again, Big Bash League, which, every year but particularly this year, has been a great winter friend.

Just when I need it, when the cold draws in, the days are short, when leaving the house is a distant memory, it provides consistent, untaxing morning entertainment for the best part of two months.

If you don't know what it is, it is a T20 Cricket League in Australia, usually broadcast in the UK at 8.15am on BT Sport, so I can have it on for the first three hours or so of my working day.

There are 8 teams, the Sydney Thunder, Sydney Sixers, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades, Perth Scorchers, Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes, all in garish colours. They all play each other twice, then there's a brief knockout denouement.

It is, simply, as straightforwardly enjoyable, in format, presentation and action, as a sporting tournament gets. I enjoy it far more than any English T20 or the more prestigious and lucrative IPL.

I'm not overly invested in any one team, but usually have a favourite or two each year. The players are mainly Australian, with two or three overseas players per team. Most teams have one or two English players, and they usually do very well.

The level is excellent but not quite as high as the IPL, but I prefer that. The pressure, particularly for overseas players, is enormous in the IPL, and good players can go weeks without a game because of limits on foreign players. 

The IPL tries to be fun but takes itself too seriously, more seriously than T20 should ever take itself. The BBL takes itself that crucial amount less seriously, and the commentary, though Aussie-matey, is far less excruciating than the Danny Morrison-led extremeness of the IPL.

They banter but they don't BANTER! They had Brian Lara this year, Lisa Sthalekar's great. Damian Fleming's genuinely witty, Ricky Ponting is clear-headed and sensible.

The unlikely star of the tournament this year was James Vince, an elegant, talented English batsman whose been a punchline for many years for his propensity for scoring 20 then getting out, in every form of the game. Well, this year, he scored superb 90+s in the semi-final and final of the BBL, winning the tournament for the Sydney Sixers. No one could begrudge him his day in the sun.

Anyway, there it is. It's over for another year. I'll miss it, albeit there's a potentially superb England-India series just starting. 

Some see a moral issue in the effort taken to protect sportspeople so they can carry on doing their sheltered, meaningless job, but, honestly, it really does provide so much comfort, calm and pleasure, I think any measures are worth it.