I continue from the yesterday’s article where I previewed the chances of Adelaide Strikers and Brisbane Heat the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League.
This edition of the Big Bash League will see eight franchise-based sides featured in a round-robin competition which will be followed by two semi-finals and the final.
In this piece, I look at the Hobart Hurricanes and the Perth Scorchers.
Hobart Hurricanes
After having made it to the semi-final in the first season of the Big Bash League, the Hobart Hurricanes fell apart last year after it looked like they were in with a huge chance of repeating that performance.
Having notched up eight points from six games, the Hurricanes would have gone through to the semi-final stage had they won even one of their last two games but defeats at the hands of the Strikers and the Heat left them at the sixth spot.
And now with George Bailey ruled out of most of the competition, they will hope that their stand-in captain Tim Paine can guide the Hurricanes through to the last four and even a Champions League T20 spot.
This time around, they have signed up for Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shoaib Malik to go with their favourite overseas cricketer, Owais Shah, who will be representing them for the third season in a row.
Shah was one of the best batsmen in the Big Bash League in its inaugural edition.
Some of the others to look out for will be Doug Bollinger, Ben Dunk and Xavier Doherty while Travis Birt will hope to add to the form that had seen him finish as the top run-getter in the BBL 2011-12.
Dunk’s stock is on the rise as a hard-hitting wicket-keeper batsman and he could well be one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in the team if not in the competition itself.
Bailey aside, Hobart could also end up going without Doherty if he gets selected in the Australian ODI squad but that will be for the second half of the tournament.
Hobart Hurricanes squad
George Bailey (captain), Travis Birt, Doug Bollinger, Aiden Blizzard, Cameron Boyce, Xavier Doherty, Ben Dunk, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Joe Mennie, Tim Paine, Sam Rainbird, Owais Shah, Shoaib Malik, Timm van der Gugten, Jonathan Wells.
Perth Scorchers
There can be two ways of looking at the Perth Scorchers’ performances over the first two seasons of the Big Bash League.
For one, the fans would be disappointed at the way they have lost two successive finals despite being the hosts in both.
But in another way, given the problems that besieged the Western Australia cricket in recent times, it’s remarkable they had made it to successive finals.
The Simon Katich-captained and Justin Langer-coached Perth Scorchers will now look to make it three in a row in T20 competitions following below-par performances by the Western Australia side in both the Ryobi Cup and the Sheffield Shield this season.
Langer had taken over as the coach of the side after their shoddy campaign in the Champions League T20 late last year where they are more remembered for their off-field shenanigans than the cricket on the field.
Under Langer they made it to the final yet again last year and while their BBL campaign did not meet with any success yet again, it was more to do with the plethora of fitness issues they had before the tournament.
This year, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Smith and South Africa’s Alfonso Thomas will join the side as overseas players as they look at the Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell, Adam Voges, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins to fire all cylinders.
Cummins is on his way to regain full fitness and he will have a point or two to prove after having been dropped by the Sydney Sixers following the first season.
Left-arm spinner Brad Hogg will feature in his third straight BBL and he will be 43 if the Scorchers make it to the final again. Hogg’s chinamen have been difficult to pick up and he has 24 wickets over the two seasons with an economy of around six an over.
The Scorchers have lost no player to the Ashes but could be without Coulter-Nile if he makes it to the Australian ODI squad.
The other players in line for an Australian ODI call-ups could be Marsh and Voges and it would augur them well to build themselves up to a position of strength in the points table before losing them.
Perth Scorchers squad
Simon Katich (captain), Ashton Agar, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Liam Davis, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Marsh, Joel Paris, Shaun Marsh, Joel Paris, Dwayne Smith, Alfonso Thomas, Tom Triffitt, Ashton Turner, Adam Voges, Sam Whiteman.
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