Perth Scorchers


The Perth Scorchers is an Australian domestic Twenty20 franchise cricket team representing Perth in the Big Bash League.
The Scorchers are the most successful team in BBL history, winning three championships and coming runners up twice. They were defeated in their second final by the Brisbane Heat in BBL02. They then won the next two consecutive championships, becoming the first team to achieve the feat in the league's history. These wins came against the Hobart Hurricanes and the Sydney Sixers in a last-ball thriller at Canberra's Manuka Oval.
Mickey Arthur was originally appointed coach, but quit before the beginning of the 2011–12 season after he was appointed coach of the Australian cricket team. He was replaced by his former assistant, Lachlan Stevens. Justin Langer replaced Stevens in November 2012. Following the appointment of Langer as the Australian coach in May 2018, Adam Voges was named as the new coach for the 2018–19 season.
Some of the Scorchers finest players since their inception into the BBL have been Shaun Marsh, Michael Klinger, Cameron Bancroft, Mitch Marsh, Adam Voges, Ashton Turner, David Willey, Pakistani cricketer Yasir Arafat, Brad Hogg, Jason Behrendorff and Andrew Tye.
The Scorchers also have a side in the Women's Big Bash League.

Squad

History

2011–2012: BBL01 season

The majority of the initial Scorchers squad was recruited from the Western Australia cricket team, with the addition of former West Australian Simon Katich and international imports South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs and England's Paul Collingwood. Brad Hogg was recruited despite having not played state or international cricket since the 2007–08 season.
The Scorchers started the 2011–12 Big Bash League season poorly, losing to the Hobart Hurricanes in their opening game at the WACA Ground by 31 runs. However, they subsequently won 5 games in a row, finishing the season at the top of the ladder and securing a home final. The Scorchers then won the semi-final against the Melbourne Stars by 11 runs but lost to the Sydney Sixers in the final by 7 wickets.

2012 Champions League

By finishing in the top two of the Big Bash League, they won a position at the 2012 Champions League Twenty20 tournament, held in South Africa in October 2012. The team performed poorly, only winning one game. The Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell were both dropped from the final game after excessively celebrating Mitchell's 21st birthday during the tournament.

2012–2013: BBL02 season

For the 2012/13 season, Collingwood did not return, and when their first choice overseas player Albie Morkel was unavailable, new coach Justin Langer recruited South African all-rounder Alfonso Thomas, who he had previously played with at Somerset. Other squad changes included the return of Adam Voges and the departure of Nathan Rimmington and Luke Ronchi. Tasmanian Tom Triffitt was recruited as the wicket keeper. Pat Cummins was recruited from the 2011–12 winning Sydney Sixers, but was injured whilst playing for the Sixers at the 2012 Champions League Twenty20 and did not play for the Scorchers.
The Scorchers again started the season poorly, losing to the Melbourne Stars in their second match when they scored an Australian record low team total of 69 runs. However, as they did in the previous season, they recovered and won five of the next six games in a row, finishing in second position and securing a home final against the Melbourne Stars. In a rain-affected semi-final, the Scorchers won by 8 wickets off the final ball of the innings. They hosted the grand final against the Brisbane Heat but were defeated by 34 runs.

2013 Champions League

The Scorchers again qualified for the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 tournament, but with a squad depleted by injury and a lack of player availability, again performed poorly, losing all three of their matches to finish bottom of their group.

2013–2014: BBL03 season

For their third BBL season, the Scorchers retained the services of senior players Simon Katich, Brad Hogg, Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh, but lost Michael Hussey and Marcus North to the two Sydney-based teams. South African Alfonso Thomas returned as an international player, but new signing Dwayne Smith from the West Indies did not travel to Perth due to personal reasons. He was replaced in the team by Yasir Arafat from Pakistan.
The Scorchers finished third with five wins from eight games and defeated the Sydney Sixers in their semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground to advance final. The fourth-placed Hobart Hurricanes defeated the Melbourne Stars in the other semi-final, affording the Scorches the hosting rights for their third consecutive final. The Scorchers finally won their first BBL title, and brought silverware to Western Australian cricket for the first time in over a decade.

Final

2014–2015: BBL04 season

Adam Voges was elected to captain the side after the retirement of Simon Katich, while Englishman Michael Carberry signed on for the season as an international recruit, and also regained the services of Yasir Arafat. For the fourth straight year, the Scorchers made it to the final of the Big Bash League, after finishing in 2nd place and defeating the Melbourne Stars in the semi-final for the third time. However, the final was not played the WACA Ground and was instead played at Manuka Oval due to World Cup and tri-series constraints, despite Perth technically earning a Home final after finishing ahead of their finals opponents the Sydney Sixers. The rematch of the BBL01 final came down to the last ball, with the Scorchers needing a run to win. After a brilliant last over from Brett Lee in his final cricket game which included 2 wickets, a fumbled run-out on the last ball handed the Scorchers their second title.

Final

2015–2016: BBL05 season

Adam Voges retains his role as captain, while Michael Carberry and David Willey become the two international players. On 30 December 2015 the Scorchers completed the first ever 10-wicket win in BBL history against Melbourne Renegades. They maintained their record of qualifying for every Big Bash finals series, but lost to the Melbourne Stars in the semi-final, making this season the only one in which the Scorchers failed to qualify for the final, and ending their hopes of a third successive trophy.

2016–2017: BBL06 season

Mitchell Johnson, having retired from international cricket, joined the Scorchers. Crowd favourite Brad Hogg left the Scorchers to join the Melbourne Renegades. In the semi-final, Johnson took three wickets for three runs from his four overs, a BBL record low runs conceded, and the third best in all Twenty20 history.
He was economical again in the final, conceding only 13 runs as Perth won their third BBL trophy, against the Sydney Sixers.

Final

2017–2018: BBL07 season

The Scorchers unveiled an updated logo ready for the upcoming seventh Big Bash season. Unusually, they decided to only recruit a single overseas player, David Willey who would return for his third season.
They won the first 4 games of the now 10 game season and currently sit on top of the table.

Year by year history

Sponsors

Honours

Domestic

Note: The Scorchers qualified for the 2015 tournament, but the tournament was cancelled before it started.

Records and statistics

Imported players

Albie Morkel from South Africa was signed for the 2012/13 season, but was not issued a clearance to play by the South African Cricket Board. The next year, Dwayne Smith from the West Indies was signed, but did not arrive. Alfonso Thomas and Yasir Arafat were signed as the respective replacement players.

Timeline