Sydney Sixers star Steve Smith suggested the BBL final should have been stopped as rain impacted play after the Perth Scorchers once again proved they are the most dominant side in domestic cricket. While Aussie cricket great Mark Waugh feels a change needs to be made next year with the Sixers feeling dudded due to a packed schedule in the build-up to the final.
The Perth Scorchers won the BBL title after cruising to their 133 total with 15 balls to spare, with Mitch Marsh quickly taking the game away from the Sixers when he strode out to bat. However, Smith was not pleased his side was still out on the field at the beginning of the Scorchers’ innings when rain started to fall around the third over.
Steve Smith (pictured middle right) felt the BBL final should have been stopped due to the rain, while Mark Waugh (pictured left) called out the jam-packed schedule leading up to the big game. (Images: Getty Images/Channel 7)
Umpires let the game continue with Sean Abbott bowling in the rain. When the Channel 7 broadcast crossed to Smith during play, the Aussie batter suggested it was silly the players were still out on the field under such conditions.
“Nah, it’s p*ssing down. Excuse the language but it’s absolutely pouring,” he said with 55,000 fans watching from the stands. “There’s no way we should be playing cricket in this. I’ve never played when it’s been raining this hard. It’s pouring.”
The umpires appeared to be keen on staying on the field until at least five overs were bowled, so they met the minimum requirement for the game to be official. Anything less than five overs per side would have resulted in the match being postponed until Monday. The Scorchers were well ahead of their required target at the time the rain arrived, with opener Marsh going on to score 44 off 43 balls to set up the run chase.
Mark Waugh calls out Sydney Sixers schedule
Meanwhile, commentator Waugh felt the Sixers might have dudded by their heavy travel schedule and an inability to practice before the final. The Sixers had to squeeze in a number of BBL games across the last eight days, travelling from Brisbane to Perth, then to Sydney and back to Perth in just over a week.
The BBL schedule has changed in recent years to make sure the tournament doesn’t drag on for too long. However this year it meant the Sixers were forced to do a mountain of travel ahead of their big game.
The Scorchers were well rested after advancing straight through to the decider from the first match of the finals between the first and second-placed finishers (Perth and the Sixers). The energy-sapping schedule for the Sydney team prompted Waugh to suggest Cricket Australia might need to look at revamping the schedule once again.
“I just think Cricket Australia might need to look at the program – I don’t think one day is enough between the Friday (qualifying final) and the Sunday (grand final),” he said. “One day is a tough ask if you’re travelling from one side of the country to the other.”
The Scorchers won the 2026 BBL title.
(Paul Kane via Getty Images)
Sixers coach Greg Shipperd admitted the jam-packed schedule didn’t help his side, who were not able to properly train ahead of the BBL final. “It wasn’t ideal,” Shipperd said of the travel. “Some of the scheduling was not what we were looking for. You don’t get a chance to train the day before the game, which I would have thought not many other sports are letting that happen at this elite level.
“We’ll feed some feedback back to headquarters. I think we were the only team that provided feedback to Cricket Australia (earlier this season). So I don’t know whether other teams are lazy in that respect or we were thinking that we were going to be playing finals, and so we were worrying about that sort of thing.”
Mitchell Marsh (pictured middle) led the Scorchers to the BBL title.
(COLIN MURTY via Getty Images)