Josh Brown, who lit up the Gabba to lead the Brisbane Heat to a 15-run victory against the Sydney Sixers, not only builds his own bats but also knows how to use them. Heat all-rounder Michael Neser caught Sixers’ Jordan Silk (41 off 23 balls) in the 19th over just inside the boundary rope, threw it in the air, left the field of play, and then threw it up again while in the air.
This resulted in an exciting conclusion to the game. As the Sixers were on the verge of setting a BBL record run chase, he finished the catch within the boundary rope in accordance with the regulations. In the Heat’s 224 for 5, the 29-year-old Brown had previously delivered his lightning-quick innings, scoring 62 off only 23 balls.
Despite a valiant effort, Sixers were all out from the penultimate ball despite a night of pure batting entertainment. Brown used a Cooper Cricket bat to give the Heat the unique spark they needed to start their season in front of 23,689 spectators. In just his second BBL game, he reached his fifty-run mark in just 19 deliveries, which is tied for seventh quickest in Heat history.
Brown made six boundary clearances with a variety of brilliant shots, including one lofted cover drive off Jackson Bird that was dripping with style. Rod Grey, the creator of Cooper Cricket, is his coworker. He has repaired thousands of Cooper bats and built hundreds of them.
After his knock, Brown said to Fox Cricket, “That is my full-time work outside of cricket.” “I construct my own bats. I like performing the majority of the [Heat] lads’ repairs.” This season, Brown has been in fantastic form for his Brisbane club team, Norths, but he claims he didn’t discover his cricket prowess until he was 24.
There is little question that T20 teams from all around the world will continue to research him. In his analysis, Adam Gilchrist quipped, “I have found my new favourite player.” All-rounder Nathan McSweeney (84 off 51 balls), who helped the Heat reach their highest score in BBL history, maintained Brown’s momentum with a well timed first BBL half-century.
A club record 54 runs were scored by Sixers openers Josh Philippe and James Vince in the opposition’s four overs of the power play. For the sixth wicket, Silk and all-arounder Hayden Kerr contributed 54 runs in 26 balls, but Jimmy Peirson’s superb stumping of Kerr off of spinner Matt Kuhnemann was important. After taking 3 for 41 with the ball, Neser’s catch to remove Silk from the game proved to be the turning point in the run chase.