The Big Bash League (BBL 12) announced its highly anticipated Team of the Tournament, featuring former Australia captain Steve Smith and T20 skipper Aaron Finch. The team was selected by the head coaches of each of the eight clubs at the end of the regular season.
Smith had a memorable stint with the Sydney Sixers, scoring 328 runs in 4 matches with 2 centuries. Meanwhile, Finch led the Melbourne Renegades to their first finals appearance in 3 years with his exceptional batting, scoring 428 runs in 15 matches with an average of 38.9.
Sean Abbott, the season's leading wicket-taker and Player of the Tournament, was also selected after collecting 25 wickets across 13 matches and becoming the first and only bowler in BBL history to reach 150 wickets.
Renegades' fast bowler Tom Rogers was named to the BBL's Team of the Tournament for the first time in his career. He took 23 wickets at a strike rate of 14.5, with an average of 20.04.
Josh Inglis of the Perth Scorchers will also take the gloves in the selected team, after recording a tournament-high 16 dismissals behind the stumps. Throughout the season, the 27-year-old had four fifties and a high score of 74.
Adelaide Strikers' Matt Short, the Golden Bat Award winner, and Chris Lynn, who scored 416 runs in 11 matches, also earned selection in the team. Paddy Dooley of the Hobart Hurricanes is the only spinner chosen after taking 19 wickets with a superb economy rate of 6.56, including a best haul of 4-16 against the Scorchers.
Dooley signed his first full-fledged Big Bash contract with the Hurricanes in BBL 12 after appearing in one BBL game for the Brisbane Heat as a Covid replacement player in BBL 11.
According to Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's General Manager, Big Bash Leagues, the BBL 12 Team of the Tournament is a "formidable team that would be competitive against any side in the world."
BBL 12 Team of the Tournament: Matt Short (Adelaide Strikers), Steve Smith (Sydney Sixers), Aaron Hardie (Perth Scorchers), Aaron Finch (C) (Renegades), Josh Inglis (wk) (Perth Scorchers), Tim David (Hobart Hurricanes), Michael Neser (Brisbane Heat), Sean Abbott (Sydney Sixers), Andrew Tye (Perth Scorchers), Tom Rogers (Melbourne Renegades), Paddy Dooley (Hobart Hurricanes), Chris Lynn (Adelaide Strikers)