Voges turns to spin as Perth Scorchers prepare for the Big Bash's first match abroad

Perth Scorchers are building a spin-heavy squad for the Big Bash League's first match outside Australia, which opens BBL|16 at Chepauk on December 12

Adam Voges spent part of last week in Chennai, inspecting the MA Chidambaram Stadium square that will stage the opening match of the Big Bash League's sixteenth season. The Scorchers coach came away convinced his side must arrive with more spin than a Perth team normally carries.

The fixture, against Melbourne Renegades on Saturday, December 12, is the first Big Bash match played on foreign soil. Cricket Australia has named the Renegades the designated home team and is aiming to fill the 38,000-seat ground.

Perth go into it as defending champions and the competition's most decorated club, with a record six titles, but without Finn Allen, the opener a rival signed over the winter.

A home record the coach thinks travels

Voges sees a likeness between the two clubs whose grounds frame the fixture. Chennai Super Kings have won 64 per cent of their matches at Chepauk; the Scorchers have won 66 per cent of theirs at Perth Stadium, where crowds have averaged above 38,000 a game over the past two seasons.

"I see the synergies between the Super Kings and us and the success (we've both had) in the past," Voges said in Chennai. The Super Kings are tied with Mumbai Indians on five Indian Premier League titles.

Building for a surface that turns

The two venues produce similar scores and differ almost entirely in how wickets fall. Chepauk concedes 25.69 runs per wicket at a run rate of 8.02 in T20 cricket; Perth Stadium concedes 23.18 at 8.06.

What separates them is the bowler doing the work. Spinners have taken 35 per cent of IPL wickets in Chennai, against 22 per cent at Perth Stadium in the Big Bash, where quicks account for more than 70 per cent of dismissals.

Voges has recruited accordingly. "We've got Ashton Agar, Cooper Connolly and we've just signed Calvin Harrison from the UK, who I've worked a little bit with in the Hundred, who's a tall wrist spinner," he said. "So we are certainly hoping and expecting there will be conditions that favour spin."

Leaning on players who know the country

Four of the squad have played in Indian conditions. Mitch Marsh and Cooper Connolly both featured in this year's IPL, while Ashton Turner and Jhye Richardson have toured India before.

Voges also has a neighbour worth consulting. "I also live just down the road from Mike Hussey, who's been part of the Super Kings coaching staff for a long time," he said. "I'll be leaning on all the contacts that we have in order to understand the conditions and Chennai itself as best we can."

The cost of the new contracting rules

Allen, who hit 38 sixes in a record-breaking Big Bash season for Perth, signed a three-year deal with Melbourne Stars after a restructure of the league's contracting rules raised what clubs can pay their leading overseas and domestic players.

"We're obviously really disappointed to lose Finn, he was incredible for us last season and helped us be successful," Voges said. "But a change of rules meant that there were some teams with pretty deep pockets that were able to offer something to Finn that we couldn't."

Why Cricket Australia picked Chepauk

Cricket Australia said Chennai was endorsed by the BCCI and by the Australian Consul-General, Silai Zaki, citing the city's attachment to the Super Kings, the IPL side it called the competition's most followed franchise on social media with 48.4 million followers.

Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia's general manager of Big Bash Leagues, said the match was part of a wider initiative. "Our sport has such an authentic connection in India," he said. "This game is also part of a much bigger initiative across both our governments."

Dobson has pointed to the league's Indian television audience last summer running 50 per cent higher than for the Ashes Tests. The fixture was unveiled by the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on a joint visit to the MCG.

Cricket Australia expects the most-watched match in Big Bash history when the Scorchers and the Renegades open the season at Chepauk on December 12.

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