Tag: Perth Scorchers

Perth Scorchers are one of the teams in Australia’s premier T20 competition – the Big Bash League (BBL). The franchise represents Perth in the league.

The Scorchers are the most successful team in the history of the competition, having won the tournament on three occasions so far. They have also finished runners-up twice. They ended up on the losing side in the final of the first two seasons. However, they made up for those two disappointing losses by winning the third and fourth season. In the process, they became the first team to win the league twice as well as winning them in consecutive years.

History:

2011–2012 season:

The Perth-based outfit recruited most of their players in the inaugural season from the Western Australia Cricket Team. The likes of Simon Katich and overseas stars like Herschelle Gibbs and Paul Collingwood further bolstered the side. Veteran spinner Brad Hogg was also roped in despite having not played state or international cricket since the 2007–08 season.

The season started on a poor note for the Scorchers. They began their campaign with a 31-run loss against Hobart Hurricanes at home. But it was not the precursor of the things that were to follow. The Perth-based outfit won their next five games and finished the league stage at the top of the table, thus securing a home final.  The Scorchers then won the semi-final against the Melbourne Stars by 11 runs. However, their promising season ended in a heartbreak with a seven-wicket loss to Sydney Sixers in the final.

2012 Champions League:

Perth Scorchers secured a place in the Champions League T20 by finishing in the top two of the Big Bash League. The tournament was held in South Africa. They fared poorly in the competition and managed to win just one game. The tournament also saw a controversy when thehe Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell were both dropped from the final game after excessively celebrating Mitchell’s 21st birthday during the tournament.

2012–2013 season:

Even before the start of the season, the Scorchers suffered a couple of big blows. Their overseas player Paul Collingwood did not return while their first choice overseas player Albie Morkel was unavailable. Consequently, head coach Justin Langer recruited South African all-rounder Alfonso Thomas.

Other squad changes included the return of Adam Voges and the departure of Nathan Rimmington and Luke Ronchi. With Ronchi gone, Scorchers hired Tasmanian Tom Triffitt. They also recruited Pat Cummins from defending champions Sydney Sixers. However, the pacer was injured whilst playing for the Sixers at the 2012 Champions League Twenty20 and did not play for the Scorchers.

The Scorchers again started the season poorly, losing to the Melbourne Stars in their second match when they scored an Australian record low team total of 69 runs. But just like the first season, their season came on track as it progressed. The Scorchers won five of the next six games in a row, finishing in second position and securing a home final against the Melbourne Stars. In a rain-affected semi-final, the Scorchers won by 8 wickets off the final ball of the innings. But for the second year in a row, they lost in the final, this time against Brisbane Heat by 34 runs.

2013 Champions League:

The Perth Scorchers again qualified for the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 tournament. However, they went to the competition with a depleted squad due to injuries and player unavailability. Not surprisingly, they performed poorly and lost all three of their matches to finish bottom of their group.

2013–2014 season:

For their third BBL season, the Scorchers retained the services of senior players Simon Katich, Brad Hogg, Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh, but lost Michael Hussey and Marcus North.  South African Alfonso Thomas returned as an international player, but new signing Dwayne Smith from the West Indies did not travel to Perth due to personal reasons. He was replaced in the team by Yasir Arafat from Pakistan.

The Scorchers managed to qualify for the semifinal by finishing third in the league with five wins from eight games. In the semifinal, they beat Sydney Sixers to enter their third final in as many season. In the other semifinal, Hobart Hurricanes beat Melbourne Renegades to give Scorchers the hosting rights for another final. And as they say third time is a charm, Scorchers beat the Hurricanes to win their first BBL title, and brought silverware to Western Australian cricket for the first time in over a decade.

2014-15 season:

With Simon Katich retiring, Adam Voges took charge of the team. The Scorchers roped in England’s Michael Carberry as an international recruit, and also regained the services of Yasir Arafat. For the fourth straight year, the Scorchers made it to the final of the Big Bash League, after finishing in 2nd place and defeating the Melbourne Stars in the semi-final for the third time. However, the final was not played the WACA Ground and was instead played at Manuka Oval due to World Cup and tri-series constraints, despite Perth technically earning a Home final after finishing ahead of their finals opponents the Sydney Sixers. Scorchers avenged their loss in the first final by winning the game on the last ball of the match and retain their title.

2015-16 season:

Voges continued  to lead the side while Michael Carberry along with his compatriot David Willey became the two international players. On December 30, 2015, the Scorchers completed the first ever 10-wicket win in BBL history against Melbourne Renegades. They maintained their record of qualifying for every Big Bash finals series, but lost to the Melbourne Stars in the semi-final, making this season the only one in which the they failed to qualify for the final.

2016-17 season:

The Scorchers signed Australia speedster Mitchell Johnson who had just retired from international cricket. However, they lost crowd favourite Brad Hogg who left to join Melbourne Renegades. Scorchers once again qualified for the semifinal. In teh semifinal, Johnson starred with the ball, taking three wickets for three runs from his four overs, a BBL record low runs conceded, and the third best in all Twenty20 history. He was economical again in the final, conceding only 13 runs as Perth won their third BBL trophy by defeating Sydney Sixers.

2017-18 season:

Before the start of the season, the Perth Scorchers unveiled an updated logo.  Once again they finished at the top of the table after winning 8 of the ten league games. However, their season came to an end in the semifinal as they lost to Hobart Hurricanes by 71 runs.

Here are some other details about the team:

Most runs for Perth Scorchers:

Most wickets for Perth Scorchers:

Most dismissals as wicketkeeper for Perth Scorchers:

Current squad of Perth Scorchers:

*Stats and squad updated before the start of BBL 2018-19