Big Bash League: Perth Scorchers star Jhye Richardson pays tribute to club’s supporters after sixth title

Perth Scorchers star Jhye Richardson has paid tribute to the club’s legions of fans in the wake of their sixth Big Bash League title and said the importance of their support was not lost on the players. The Scorchers’ six-wicket win over arch-rivals Sydney Sixers in The Final on Sunday was played in front of a sea of orange at Optus Stadium made up of 55,018 fans, which was the best ever crowd for a cricket game in WA. The club was far and away the pace-setter in BBL crowds this season, with a total of 272,626 fans coming through the gates across Perth’s seven home games. An average crowd of 38,947 was nearly 9000 greater than second-placed Brisbane Heat. Richardson said the club’s players walked taller in the knowledge the parochial home crowd would be firmly in their corner. “It’s something that you can thrive off. WA fans are so passionate and we love them, we love playing in front of our home crowd,” Richardson said. “We know they support us really well and you can see that by looking around the stadium and see the wave of orange. “All the merchandise that’s sold, all the support that we get from people, even today, driving down the coast and driving around, you’ve still got kids and families wearing Scorchers kit and supporting us, it’s awesome to see.” Richardson also revealed captain Ashton Turner had urged his side to use Optus Stadium’s atmosphere to their advantage ahead of both The Qualifier on Tuesday and The Final on Sunday. “In the team huddle before we started warming up, AT made a couple of mentions, just about taking a moment to soak in how cool it is and how amazing it is to play in front of 50-plus thousand people, who are all there to support us,” he said.