The world’s most successful T20 franchise is keen to put on a show for the world’s biggest cricket audience
Ashton Agar believes Perth Scorchers’ historic Big Bash League trip to India will introduce the competition’s most successful club to cricket’s biggest audience without disadvantaging their loyal home fans.
The Scorchers will open KFC BBL|16 against Melbourne Renegades at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium on December 12, the first Big Bash match to be played outside Australia. The Renegades will be the designated home side, leaving Perth to retain its full allocation of five regular season matches at Perth Stadium.
The Scorchers are the world’s most successful T20 franchise having won their sixth title last summer, putting them ahead of Indian Premier League teams Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, New Zealand’s Auckland Aces and the Caribbean’s Trinbago Knight Riders (all five titles).
Agar said the chance to put the Scorchers in front of Indian fans was a rare opportunity for a club that has built a worldwide reputation of sustained success and aggressive T20 cricket.
“It’s definitely the biggest market for cricket, the biggest audience for cricket,” Agar said at the MCG on Friday after the landmark fixture was confirmed.
“I think any Indian fan that knows cricket knows who the Perth Scorchers are, particularly as the most successful team in the Big Bash.
“We play a really exciting brand of cricket. I think we’ve shown that over the last couple of years, and like we’ve seen in the IPL, with massive scores and a lot of sixes. That’s what we’re trying to bring, and to take that to India and mix it over there will be exciting.”
The fixture has the support of both countries’ governments and has been positioned by Cricket Australia as an opportunity to drive exponential growth in fan engagement, viewership and awareness of the Big Bash and its teams in a market where it already has a strong following.
CA are confident the Renegades-Scorchers game will be the most-watched Australian domestic sports match in history and are confident of filling the 38,000-seat MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The Scorchers attracted an average crowd of almost 40,000 at home games last season and the opportunity to replicate that won’t change in BBL|16.
“We get to go back and play five home games at Perth Stadium as well, so it’s not taking away a home game for us,” Agar said.
“We get this wonderful experience in Chennai, then go back to our fans and supporters and put on a show for them in Perth as well.”
The spin-bowling allrounder said the appeal for players extended beyond the match itself, describing overseas touring as part of cricket’s enduring pull.
“I think everyone wanted to be a part of it, to go and have the experience of touring internationally,” Agar said.
“Everyone wants to play for their country, but part of the romance of that is when you get to hop on a plane and go to a different country.
“It’s not just about the cricket; it’s about the whole experience and introducing yourself to the world and understanding it a little bit greater.”
He also believes the trip can be a development tool for younger Scorchers players, exposing them to crowds, noise and conditions they may encounter later in international cricket.
“It gets them ready in a number of ways,” said Agar, who has played seven internationals (six ODIs and a T20I) for Australia in India, as well as for the Scorchers in the 2013 and 2014 Champions League tournaments.
“From their attitude and how they stand up in front of a crowd, to feel that pressure, to hear that noise and see the sights they’re going to see – that helps steel you as a person.
“Then also to play in Indian conditions that are foreign, and hopefully if (they) play for Australia one day in India, (they’re) better equipped because of that experience there. It’s a massive win for everyone.”
