Sixers’ Smith set to play in BBL finals

Jasper Bruce | January 23, 2023

The Sydney Sixers have been given an extra chance to capitalise on Steve Smith’s rich vein of form with news the star batter will be available to play in week one of the Big Bash finals.

The BBL confirmed to AAP that David Warner and nine other members of Australia’s Test squad to tour India would also be free, pending qualification for the play-offs series that begins on Friday night.

Smith and Warner, lured back to the competition on lucrative contracts this summer, had been expecting to leave their respective teammates at the Sixers and Sydney Thunder after the regular season ended. As recently as this weekend, their teammates believed that would be the case.

But the Test team won’t fly to India until January 31, so Cricket Australia has approved 11 members of the Australian squad to play in the first week of the finals. None will be paid extra match fees for their games.

With three days left in the regular season, only the Perth Scorchers and Sixers are guaranteed to play in the post-season, meaning the Sixers’ Smith and Nathan Lyon will be available, as will Scorchers quick Lance Morris.

This week, Smith became the second man in BBL history to hit back-to-back centuries so his inclusion looms as critical for the Sixers, who would automatically qualify for the grand final with a win over Perth in the first week of the finals.

“He’s just a classy player from T20 right through to Test cricket,” Sixers spinner Steve O’Keefe said of Smith after his latest ton.

“He loves coming back and playing (for the Sixers) and passing on knowledge.

“The more that we can keep him playing, the better.”

Warner’s Thunder are a chance to make the eliminator, played between the fourth and fifth-placed teams, and the knockout, contested by the third-placed team and the winner of the eliminator. He would be available to play in either or both.

Adelaide Strikers duo Alex Carey and Travis Head would also be available for the eliminator or knockout pending qualification, as would Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw of the Brisbane Heat.

As part of preparations for spin-friendly India, Australia will host a special training clinic for their spinners that rules Ashton Agar and Todd Murphy out of the BBL finals.

Heat tweaker Mitch Swepson and Melbourne Renegades batter Peter Handscomb, known for his ability to play spin, will also take part in the clinic but would be free for the eliminator.

A scheduling conflict means the pair can only suit up in the knockout if it is hosted by the Thunder.

The tour of India begins in Nagpur on February 9.