Perth Scorchers coach Justin Langer has revealed his inspired decision to play inexperienced paceman Jhye Richardson in the BBL final was all thanks to his daily meditation ritual.
Langer faced one of the toughest selection decisions of his coaching career when weighing up whether to play Jason Behrendorff or Richardson in Saturday's final against the Sydney Sixers.
Behrendorff - one of the best T20 bowlers in Australia - hadn't played since breaking his leg in November.
Richardson had performed admirably throughout the tournament, but he was battling ankle and rib injuries.
Langer said he asked about 50 people for their opinion about who to play.
In the end, the answer came to him at 6.50am on the morning of the match during his daily meditation.
"It just came, and it was crystal clear," Langer said.
"I sent a text to the selectors at about 7.20am saying it was a crystal clear decision."
Richardson didn't let his coach down, with the 20-year-old snaring 3-30 and completing a run-out to earn man-of-the-match honours.
His heroics helped lift the Scorchers to a crushing nine-wicket victory, securing their third BBL crown.
Richardson said although he pulled up sore from the semi-final win over the Stars, he was desperate to play in the final.
And he was given every chance by Langer to prove his fitness.
"I asked him a week ago how's your rib. And he said, 'Oh, a bit sore'," Langer said.
"I said, 'I tell you what, I'm going to walk away and give you five minutes to think about how you're going to answer that question again'.
"When I asked how his rib was, he said, 'It's good, I'm feeling really good'.
"And when I asked him again on Friday night, he said, 'I'm going brilliant, I don't even feel it'. He's getting street wise the young fella."
Behrendorff remains a key cog in WA's cricket set-up.
The left-arm paceman will build up his bowling loads over the coming weeks in the hope of returning to Sheffield Shield ranks before the season is out.
While Richardson was the hero in the BBL final, former Test paceman Mitchell Johnson was just as pivotal.
Just four days after snaring 3-3 in the semi-final, Johnson returned figures of 1-13 off four overs against the Sixers.
The feats of Johnson and Richardson restricted to the Sixers to 9-141.
The Scorchers reached the victory target with 25 balls to spare.
Michael Klinger scored an unbeaten 71 off 49 balls, while fellow opener Sam Whiteman (41 off 21) was also influential.
Johnson has already indicated he wants to return to the Scorchers next season, and Langer says he would love to have the left-arm paceman feature again for his side.
