Joe Root’s Big Bash adventure shows how England Test stars can benefit by joining the T20 party

Brit special: Sydney Thunder’s Jos Buttler
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Will Macpherson19 December 2018

This is a big week for England’s cricketers — even if the national team do not play again for more than a month.

On Tuesday, five more kings were made in the 12th IPL auction in Jaipur. Today, the expanded eighth Big Bash began in Brisbane between the only two teams without any English representation. At some stage or another the tournament will involve 10 English players, most notably Joe Root. There has never been a better time for England players to get involved in these competitions, or for England fans to follow them.

Elements of both tournaments, the big two in T20, remain baffling. The BBL, as the patron league of sporting gimmickry, began this morning not with the toss of a coin but with the flip of a specially-modified bat where players call “roofs” or “flats”. For posterity, Matthew Hayden flipped the bat, Adelaide Strikers’ Colin Ingram called “roofs” and put Brisbane Heat in.

The IPL, meanwhile, handed a million-dollar contract to a 20-year-old with a modest T20 record. The England white-ball regulars, with the exception of Jonny Bairstow, went unsold while Harry Gurney, aged 32 and four years on from his last international appearance, was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for approximately £84,000. Considered one of the best death bowlers about, with the boon of being left-arm, Gurney has a BBL gig too.

In fairness, the idea that Sam Curran now has £800,000 is slightly disingenuous. For starters, as a cricketer centrally-contracted by the ECB, he must pay back 1/365th of his annual retainer for every day he is away at the IPL. Next, the full price of his deal only reaches him if he is selected for every Kings XI Punjab match. His agent will take a decent slice too, so if he ends up with half the pot he will probably have done well. It is still a lot of money – and a wonderful experience – for a 20-year-old.

The arrival of Root on the franchise scene is fascinating. Many feel he should not be there: he has a rare gap in his very busy schedule and T20 is a secondary concern for the captain of England’s Test team.

Tymal Mills of Hobart Hurricanes is back for more after shining in the Big Bash last year
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Root sees it differently. He has watched these tournaments longingly from afar and had a fruitless tilt at the IPL auction earlier this year. There’s the lifestyle element – Christmas in Sydney with his close mate Jos Buttler and their families, while pausing for a game of cricket every few days doesn’t sound too shabby – but Root wants the T20 experience more than anything else.

Since the 2016 World T20, where he was England’s outstanding batsman, Root had played just 11 T20s, and been rested in the format nine times by England. From September 1, 2017 to August 31, 2018, Root played 90 days of international cricket — i.e. even without the travel and training, he was on the field one in every four days. That was a perfectly typical year; something had to give and it has been T20.

As soon as next summer’s World Cup ends, T20s take over with World Cups scheduled in 2020 and 2021, for which England will be among the favourites. Root at his best, and in his prime years, will make them a stronger team. So he best get practising — starting on Friday morning against Melbourne Stars.

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