Big Bash Daily: Heat and Strikers complete final five line-up

Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars are left to rue missed opportunities to reach the play-offs, Marnus Labuschagne comes good again, Dawid Malan stalls and January 26 takes place across Australia

Big Bash Playoffs: All you need to know

Malan's slow start undoes Hurricanes chase

Of the three sides who will have a watching brief during the play-off stage, Hobart Hurricanes will surely have the most regrets.

They came into their final round match knowing victory over the already-eliminated Melbourne Renegades would deliver a top-five finish.

All four points might have even been good enough to finish top of the table. But they went from the brink of a home Qualifier to sixth in the space of a single afternoon.

Renegades prevented Brisbane Heat reaching the play-offs last term with a final-round win - and they repeated the trick again despite their campaign having already been curtailed.

Though Hurricanes did collect the Bash Boost point but were already off the pace in the chase. That wasn't helped by Dawid Malan's tedious innings, which saw him accumulate 34 off 36 balls, including two boundaries.

In England, there has been ample scrutiny over Malan's role in the team and whether his slow starts justify the explosive finishes. His international average of 53.43, strike-rate of just below 150 and status as the ICC's No.1 batsman suggests it is working, so far.

But this performance - indeed his entire BBL campaign and overseas T20 returns are a cause for concern - highlighting the risk England could be taking. Granted, the 33-year-old is a match-winner, but there will come a time when he doesn't produce the fireworks required.

It will be fascinating to see how he gets on during the white-ball matches in India, and then the Indian Premier League should he submit himself for the mini-draft and be picked up. He has never previously played in the competition but this is surely the year to do so.

Eoin Morgan believes he already has the core of his squad pencilled in for the T20 World Cup, but if the Yorkshire man struggles further of the next couple of years it'll be intriguing how much that changes.

_{Melbourne Renegades had a campaign to forget}

Bash Boost: the verdict

The final 12 overs of the BBL group stage will be remembered not for Sydney Sixers securing victory over Melbourne Stars, but how inconsequential they were in the context of the final table.

The Bash Boost point would help answer two of the key questions heading into the contest. Stars were clinging on to the hope of a top-five finish, while Sixers were eyeing top spot and a home Qualifier.

In the end, Sixers cruised to the bonus point with 12 balls to spare. The remainder of the contest was merely for show.

The Power Surge and Bash Boost rules have been largely successful during BBL10. They are likely to be back. X-Factor substitutes have been rarely used, with just 20 of the 56 matches seeing at least one implemented. That needs a rethink.

But not everyone is convinced. Commentating on Channel 7, former Australia international Michael Slater said: "Why do we mess with the game all the time? Why when you've got a T20 World Cup, why aren't we running the same competition here? The game gets too confusing with change all the time."

Slater isn't wrong that the constant changing of rules won't help engage the casual viewer. And we haven't got to The Hundred yet. But while the Bash Boost could be tinkered with (moved to later in the innings) it feels as though it is here to stay.

Playoff line-up complete

Boris Johnson was trying to charm his way to a Brexit deal, Joe Biden nominated his new defence secretary and Tottenham were top of the Premier League. How times have changed.

When the BBL kicked off on December 10 it was the release from reality that we all needed. After 56 games we're now down to the final five.

After a three-day break, we'll be right back at it. Here is the schedule to come:

January 29: Eliminator - Brisbane Heat v Adelaide Strikers (The Gabba)

January 30: Qualifier - Perth Scorchers v Sydney Sixers (Manuka Oval)

🔝 💥 Hilton Cartwright #BBL10pic.twitter.com/Igu87p5wSE

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) January 26, 2021

Break looms for Finch

One hundred and seven-nine runs from 13 innings at 13.76 is quite easily the worst return Aaron Finch has produced in his BBL career. 

Though Renegades finishing bottom was largely expected, that Finch's poor form comes after months in various bio-secure bubbles is less of a surprise.

Unless schedules are managed better, then the Covid-19 era is going to produce more fluctuations in form and stints like Finch's are going to occur more regularly.

Australia are due in New Zealand for five T20 internationals between February 22 and March 7, which will, of course, be preceded by a period of quarantine, though the group will still be able to train.

The squad are set to depart on February 7 but before that Finch won't be lifting a finger.

"Myself, I had an absolute shocker with the bat," he said of his BBL returns. "The harder I trained, the worse I got, which is the opposite of what everyone tells you to do. It was just one of those seasons.

He added: "My wife worked it out the other day, it was something like 20 days or 21 days since April that I haven’t been in lockdown or in a bubble. It’s not a huge amount.

"I’m going down to the beach for a few days, relax. My kit bag won’t be coming out of my car, I can tell you."

Marnus, the bowler

The return of Marnus Labuschagne was intended to see Heat's batting order bolstered for the latter stages. But few could have expected the impact he's having with the ball.

After taking wickets in his two previous outings, he rounded off the group stage with the best T20 figures of his career with 3-35 against Scorchers.

Getting Colin Munro, Josh Inglis and Ashton Turner made a major difference as Scorchers fell seven runs short.

Naturally, the spinner's performance followed a 46 with the bat. Labuschagne is essentially that guy you knew at school who was annoyingly good at everything.

Fortunately for Heat, not seemingly jaded by a demanding summer, the 26-year-old looks primed to spark their title challenge.

BBL mark January 26

Cricket Australia's latest off-the-field skirmish has been with the country's government over the dropping of Australia Day from all Big Bash League promotion.

The day is not one which is recognised for all the same reasons across Australia. 

While it marks the date a British fleet first arrived in Sydney in 1788, it also saw Indigenous Australians uprooted and there have been calls for the date to be moved.

Upon CA opting not to promote the final round of matches using the holiday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison criticised the move and asked them "focus on cricket and a little less on politics".

A barefoot circle has accompanied many games Down Under this summer and three sides, Sydney Thunder, Scorchers and Renegades have worn Indigenous-themed kits over the past few days.

"There was no politics in regards to changing the date or anything along those lines," said Mel Jones, co-chair of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cricket Advisory Committee and CA director

"The conversation was purely about, ‘how do we help this day be as safe and respectful for everyone involved in cricket’."