Big Bash League 2019, Standout player, biggest takeaway, best team – Haris Rauf, Glenn Maxwell, and cricket in times of AQI readings

The first week of the ninth edition of the Big Bash League comprised everything one’s come to expect from the tournament – runs, wickets, plenty of excitement. It made for plenty of talking points. We look at them below.

Standout player – Haris Rauf

It’s been a rise out of the blue for Rauf. He joined the Melbourne Stars outfit only on the eve of the tournament, and that too because Dale Steyn had a side strain. Two matches in, he is the top wicket-taker in the tournament, having taken seven wickets at 6.71 and a fine economy of 5.87. Hobart Hurricanes felt the full force of his high speeds when he took a brilliant 5/27 against them in their last outing. After that, he promptly stated his intentions to play for Pakistan at next year’s T20 World Cup. With Steyn recovering, however, Stars now have the happy headache of having to pick between a legend of the game and an in-form paceman. It’s a good problem to have, and Rauf’s rise has been one of the stories of the tournament so far.

Standout moment – Glenn Maxwell

When Glenn Maxwell took the field against Brisbane Heat in the Stars’ tournament opener, it was the first time in a little under two months Maxwell was turning out for a high-level event. He had taken a break due to mental health reasons, and if anyone needed proof of the effects a good break can have, Maxwell’s subsequent knock should be case study: He hammered a 39-ball 83, a knock comprising seven fours and five sixes, and the break evidently seemed to have done him a world of good. Maxwell is now speaking of regaining his national team spot. Australia will be all the more dangerous for it.

A turn for the worse – Cricket in times of AQI

It’s quite the times we live in. One of the undying images of this decade is Sri Lanka’s players playing in face masks in New Delhi in 2017 due to the pollution in the air of India’s capital. There was a flashback to that this week, when the clash in Canberra between Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder had to be abandoned due to poor air quality. Unlike in Delhi, however, this wasn’t due to a systemic failure to prevent air pollution – this was an outcome of the bushfires that are currently raging across Australia.

The way things are going, this perhaps won’t be the last time a BBL match will be effected by the fires. In fact, The Sydney Test between Australia and New Zealand is said to be under threat. The authorities shouldn’t, however, hesitate to pull the plug on any matches likely to be affected: Peter Siddle had to be treated for smoke inhalation after the Canberra debacle, and it’s best for everyone concerned if that’s the last time something like that is necessary for someone at a cricket field.

Standout quote – “As a player out there standing in those conditions as soon as it changed, it felt unhealthy. The air quality, it didn’t taste too good either.”

• Alex Carey on the smoked-out match experience