The organisers of the inaugural Brisbane Premier League will enjoy a well earned drink tonight.
It would be a big enough challenge starting a T-20 competition for over 800 players from scratch without the host city going into lockdown a week out from the scheduled start. A further 2 week embargo on community sport meant the League missed its planned pre-season window and preferred venues.
A few teething problems aside they have pulled off a successful tournament to date with the finals of the seniors and under 19s to take place today at Redlands Tigers Cricket Club. Even the makeup of the senior semi-finalists has fallen their way with a mix of urban and country sides in action.
The Dingoes (Darling Downs) play the Kings (North Brisbane) in the first semi-final at 7.30am followed by the clash between The Magic (Moreton Bay Community) and The Gold Coast Waveriders at 10.45am. Both under 19 and senior finals will be played at 2pm on adjoining fields. A separate competition featuring 560 juniors starts next week at venues in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Ipswich and The Sunshine Coast.
The concept originated in South Africa where the National Premier League has been running successfully and profitably for 12 years and now boasts 26 franchises in 3 cities. Founder and former first class cricketer Zyaad Desai invited the directors of The Australian Cricket Institute, former Burge medallist Nick Fitzpatrick and Joel Hamilton to replicate the model in Australia. Ian Healy and Mark Nicholas soon came on board as did investors Stuart Giles and Cathie Reid giving the steering committee a rich resource of sporting and business acumen.
For better or worse T-20 is the fastest growing format of cricket worldwide and surprisingly Australian junior and senior cricketers play very little. The BPL provides an opportunity for players of all ages to hone their skills in the shortest form of the game as well as offering senior players valuable pre-season match practice.
Healy says that in addition to the points above the aims of the BPL are to get players playing more cricket in a competitive but relatively stress-free environment and to bring new people to the game. He is particularly proud of the fact that many of the team owners and sponsors are new to cricket and that many parents have expressed that they have never seen their kids so excited about the game.
Donning his coaching hat, Hamilton sees a major educational benefit inherent in the franchise system as it exposes players to different coaches as well as teammates. Waveriders coach Peter Clifford says that despite his vast experience he has been on a steep learning curve developing T-20 tactics. He has enjoyed his involvement and has been surprised at just how much awareness the league has amongst the public, something he has never experienced with club cricket.
Wests stalwart Steve Paulsen played 2 matches for the Western Power before his campaign was curtailed by injury says it was a shame that the tournament could not be played in the August pre-season window meaning that many players could not play the full complement of games. “I’ve enjoyed the experience but I hope there aren’t any 7.30am games next season.”
Brisbane first grade players Sam Truloff, Josh Brown, Hugo Burdon and Donal Whyte have been some of the best performed and whilst grade players dominate the senior squads, country players have also impressed, among them Kris Glass and Claye Beams. South Australian players Conor McInerney, Matt Weaver and Adam Somerfield have also dominated on occasions although Covid has robbed the competition of some well credentialled Sydney players. “That teams comprise players from different areas, ages and eras is a real strength of the format and created interest” enthuses Hamilton.
Healy is particularly excited by the innovations that the BPL has promoted. “Free live-streaming on Kayo has been a real boon and they have embraced the Sport Cor ball which relays ball speed and numbers of revolutions to viewers. There are some exciting new technologies in this space and we are in the perfect position of being able to trial them in a comparatively low-key environment. Unfortunately difficulties thrown up by Covid prevented us from introducing a couple of other innovations but we will endeavour to do so next year.”
If there is an elephant in the room it is the relationship with Queensland Cricket. Whilst not rocky, it has not been collaborative with traditional stakeholders perhaps threatened by the new competition. Healy insists that the BPL concept was always intended to complement the regular season but fears that their motives have been misunderstood. Currently state contracted players are not able to participate and Healy would dearly love the competition to be sanctioned by Queensland Cricket. “We are only too happy to work with them in relation to workloads and see a collaboration as being beneficial to both parties. Once everyone sees what we have achieved this season and the way we have gone about it perceptions may change. We will keep working on it.”
And who’s going to win?
Hamilton: Kings over the Magic in a close one.
Healy: Whoever wins the first Semi will take it out.
Access to Kayo Freebies can be made by simply downloading the Kayo Sports app or visiting www.kayosports.com.au/freebies and registering for a Freebies account. Kayo Freebies are free, and no credit card details are required to register and start streaming.
About Dean Tuckwell
Former premiership first grade player with Western Suburbs in Queensland Premier Cricket Dean opened The Adventure Traveller in 2000.
In this crazy year it is important to support small business. With 30 years’ experience in the travel industry Dean has preferred arrangements with many suppliers, access to online deals not available to the public and a wealth of knowledge to ensure you get the most out of your trip so even if you only require a flight or accommodation, give him a call on 1800 181 020 or visit The Adventure Traveller
Join the cricket network to promote your business and expertise. Make it easy for people to search and find the people and services they need through people they know and trust.
Join the network
