The team of the tournament

Finch was the man who did it all in the 2016-17 Big Bash League. He was the Melbourne Renegades' captain and lynchpin, he scored a stack of runs, kept wicket twice and even became an unlikely end-overs bowler, serving up the final over against the Perth Scorchers (which went pretty well, until the last ball). Finch was smart and intuitive as captain - he made excellent use of Tom Cooper's part-timers in the Powerplay - and also did well as a batsman with four fifties, the most in this edition. He finished the tournament at the top of BBL's all-time run-charts.

The Brisbane Heat fell at the penultimate hurdle but were a team transformed under McCullum, on and off the field. The Gabba had never sold out a single BBL match before this season, and then had sell-out crowds for all five games. McCullum's swashbuckling team were a major reason for this, and he got the best out of junior and senior players alike. McCullum led from the front, too, with a series of typically dashing innings at the top of the order, including an 18-ball fifty against the Renegades.

After a badly mismatched trade with the Hobart Hurricanes for Hamish Kingston, Dunk hit the ground running for the Adelaide Strikers, and was the highest run-scorer in the 2016-17 edition. Batting mainly as an opener but occasionally as first drop, he passed at least 30 in seven out of eight innings, going on to score three half-centuries. He kept wicket in five of the side's eight matches and also took his first-ever BBL wicket with peculiar part-time offspin.

Lynn is now the BBL's biggest draw. He played only five games but, going into the final, had still hit seven more sixes than any other batsman, He also hit nine more sixes than fours. His three scores of more than 30 became huge, unbeaten innings, and his 98 not out at the WACA - his final contribution of the season, against the BBL's best attack at its toughest venue - was the innings of the tournament, just pipping Ben McDermott's breakout ton against the Renegades.

It seems remarkable that Hodge - who wants to play on - does not expect to be retained by the Strikers. Sure, the team he captained struggled, with only Hodge and Dunk making 150 runs, but he was a model of consistency. Batting anywhere from opener to No. 5 (the Strikers looked a better team the higher he went in), Hodge tended to start slowly but grew into his innings, and his lowest score was 17.

Christian had a funny tournament. In a struggling Hurricanes order, he misfired with the bat and, for the first three games, his wily medium-pacers went unused by Tim Paine. But when he finally got a bowl, he was a revelation, taking 5 for 14 (at that stage the tournament's second-best bowling figures ever) to set up a win against the Strikers. He was a consistent contributor thereon, and was used everywhere - in the Powerplay, the middle overs, and slog overs, taking a wicket every 12 balls.

Abbott is perhaps the tournament's most improved player. In 2015-16, he was remembered for being the bowler at the receiving end of Travis Head's New Year's Eve assault in Adelaide. This season, his bowling was a box of tricks, with an arsenal of slow balls - both off and leg-cutters - yorkers and bouncers, plus a deceptive faster one, too. He bowled the toughest overs for the Sixers and was Moises Henriques' go-to man, taking 5 for 16 against the Strikers to banish last season's demons, and also holding his nerve in the semi-final Super Over. Abbott took at least one wicket in eight consecutive matches and will finish as the season's top wicket-taker. He also hit the winning runs in a last-over chase against the Heat, and scored 33 off 17 to beat the Stars and make the semi-finals. He also took seven catches, second only to Ashton Turner.