Big Bash League: Ricky Ponting has tried to learn lessons from Perth Scorchers’ unmatched success

Perth Scorchers have been so successful in the Big Bash League, even the legendary Ricky Ponting has tried to learn lessons from the five-time champions. The Scorchers will resume their long-running rivalry with Sydney Sixers in The Final on Sunday in what will remarkably be the sixth time the sides have come up against each other in the last game of the season across the competition’s 15-season history. Ponting remains actively involved with Twenty20 sides throughout the world, serving as the head of strategy for his hometown Hobart Hurricanes — who lost to the Sixers by 57 runs in The Challenger on Friday — and coaching IPL side Punjab Kings and Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket. While also heaping praise on the Sixers, the Channel 7 expert, who was at the helm of an all-conquering Australian side in their golden era, credited the Scorchers as “the benchmark of the BBL since it started.” “I think you’d be silly not to look at what they’ve been able to achieve and, more importantly, what they’ve been able to create over a period of time,” Ponting told The West Australian. “It’s all about trying to put a group of players together that we can hold together for a long time. I think Perth and the Sixers, what they’ve done really well, they’ve kept a solid core of players together and leaders together. “Experience is such a big part of winning T20 tournaments, and you look at those two sides, and they’ve got exactly that. “The Scorchers have got a great core group of experienced players, and that then means because the core is so strong, you can bring some of these younger guys in, like Cooper Connolly and Mahli Beardman, and they fit in and have great people right around them from the start. They’re able to grow really quickly in that environment. “These two teams have been the most successful in BBL history and it’s probably pretty fitting that we see them playing in another final.” Sydney will make their second cross-country flight within the span of a week to take on the Scorchers at Optus Stadium, where they lost The Qualifier on Tuesday by 48 runs. The Sixers also closed their regular season out with a virtual elimination final in Brisbane, with Ponting — who will be part of Channel 7’s commentary team for The Final, which will be shown live across Seven and 7plus —saying the travel factor was “potentially a really big advantage” for Perth. “I think you could even see a bit of fatigue coming in last night. Their (the Sixers’) fielding was quite sloppy at different times, that might just be a bit of an indicator,” he said. “The Scorchers deserved to finish where they did, they deserved to host that first final, and they’ve earned the right now to have a few days break going in to the grand final. They’ll be the fresher side. “They’ll start favourites in the game, but you never know what’s going to happen in a T20 game. “You only need two or three of your players on any given day to stand up and have a day out, and that can be the difference between winning and losing a game or, if you’re in a grand final, a tournament. “The Sixers have got (Mitchell) Starc, (Steve) Smith, (Moises) Henriques and (Josh) Phillipe — if those boys all have a day out, they can be very, very hard to beat.”