Australia's selectors have made some head-scratching selections, and the same can be said of the men who picked the International Cricket Council's Test team of the year. Three Australians have been named but Steve Smith is not one of them – and you'll be stunned to learn which teammate was picked ahead of him. Despite his Test career being all but over, Adam Voges was named at No.5 in a star-studded line-up by the three-man panel of Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten and Kumar Sangakkara. Voges' mind-boggling run against the West Indies and New Zealand fell inside the period considered – from September 14, 2015 to November 20, 2016. His 1087 runs at 91 was deemed more worthy than Smith's 1117 at 62. Opener David Warner and paceman Mitchell Starc were also selected but there was no room for Josh Hazlewood. Despite finishing 2016 as the world's No.1 ranked Test team, India had only spinner Ravi Ashwin in the XI. England had the most selections with four, including embattled captain Alastair Cook, who is also the ICC's skipper, and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow. The team of the year is: David Warner (Australia), Alastair Cook (England, c), Kane Williamson (NZ), Joe Root (England), Adam Voges (Australia), Jonny Bairstow (England, wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (England), Ravi Ashwin (India), Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Steve Smith (Australia, 12th man).
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Bash a ratings smash
It's early days but as the television ratings for the Big Bash League come flying in, it's only reinforcing the industry expectations of a substantial spike in the fee paid for the next five-year rights to broadcast the Twenty20 competition, possibly at the expense of the rights to Australia's international games. The ratings for Wednesday night's game between Adelaide Strikers and Brisbane Heat were highest across capital cities in the tournament's history for a regular season game despite the first session not being on Network Ten's main channel in Brisbane. Of even greater interest is the fact that the game's five-city metro average audience – 915,000 – has the BBL for the first time seriously challenging and even exceeding the numbers put up by international cricket on Channel Nine. The prime-time ratings for the day-night Brisbane Test against Pakistan, for instance, were 957,000 on night one, 935,000 on night two and 873,000 and 884,000 on the final two evenings. Australia's one-day series against New Zealand earlier in the month, meanwhile, drew a capital-city average of 936,000 across the three games, way down on home ODI ratings from last summer, albeit with an earlier slot in the calendar. Ten currently pay $20 million a year for the BBL, while Nine stump up almost $100m a year for Australia's matches. The question ahead of the start of the bidding process for the next round of cricket rights is: if there are the same number of eyeballs on both, why would Nine or any other network pay more than last time for the internationals?
Political games
The simmering feud between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association shows no signs of cooling, with talks over a new MOU suspended by the governing body. But for one of the men behind the ACA's submission to the MOU negotiations the conflict between the two parties probably doesn't touch the sides of what he's seen in Canberra. Jack Whelan, a former political strategist during the Rudd and Gillard years, was brought in by the players' union to help them draft their submission, which was sent to CA six weeks ago but became the subject of headlines and then a war by media statement last week. Highly regarded in Labor circles, Whelan is now a Sydney barrister and while he hasn't been in the room negotiating directly with the governing body we're told he's played a key role on the ACA's approach to the pay talks. Whelan doesn't just bring legal and political nous to the table either. A former first-grade cricketer with Northern Districts, he played at the club with the likes of ex-Test vice-captain and Sydney Sixers veteran Brad Haddin.
Century for security man
There has been so much of a changing of the guard in the Australian team in the past couple of years that it will be some time before another player celebrates 100 Test appearances. There is one highly respected and hugely popular member of the Australian staff, however, who will reach that milestone when the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne begins. Frank Dimasi, the team's security manager, has been on the road with the side since the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India, handling with aplomb the myriad challenges that have come their way in their travels around the world in that time. A very fit man, The Tonk still remembers zipping past in an auto rickshaw as Dimasi and members of the Australian support staff, including Justin Langer, embarked on a long run back to their hotel from training in the heat in Sri Lanka a few years ago. He was way out in front.
