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The Roar's BBL preview series: Brisbane Heat
The Roar
14th December, 2015
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The Brisbane Heat were carried through the season on the back of Chris Lynn. (Image: Ten Play)
The Roar
14th December, 2015
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1232 Reads

The Brisbane Heat became only the second team to win the wooden spoon in the history of the Twenty20 Big Bash League last season and their path won’t get any easier when the fifth edition kicks off this weekend.

Brisbane face the Melbourne Renegades in their first game of the new campaign on Saturday night.

After only winning two from eight games in 2014-15 the Heat took out the wooden spoon in place of the Sydney Thunder. There were very few bright moments during the season and it is one Brisbane will want to forget rather quickly.

However, try as they might to forget that torturous season, the new one could be just as bad for the Heat. While they do have some genuine talent in their roster, their depth must be questioned, particularly with Joe Burns sitting comfortably in the Australian Test team and likely to miss the first half of the Big Bash season.

Their biggest player is captain Chris Lynn. He top scored for the Heat last season, collecting 243 runs in eight innings at an average of more than 30 and a strike rate of almost 150. For Lynn, it is the second season in a row where he has been the most prolific run-scorer at the Heat, and it earned him a call-up to the Australian Twenty20 team.

Lynn’s form is without a doubt pivotal to Brisbane’s chances this campaign.

What has made the form of Lynn even more crucial is the fact that one of the most explosive players in the world, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, pulled out of his Heat contract only a few weeks ago.

Joining Lynn and the Heat instead will be West Indian duo Samuel Badree and Lendl Simmons. Simmons will, in some ways, attempt to fill the void left by McCullum, but with all due respect to the man he just isn’t in the same class. Then again, neither are a lot of people.

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Badree, on the other hand, has a huge role to play with the Heat. He was supposed to play for Brisbane last year, but it never happened due to an injury he sustained in the lead up.

The ICC rank Badree as the second-best Twenty20 bowler in the world and with little else in terms of proven bowlers he will be required to play not only a restricting role for the Heat, but also a wicket-taking one.

This, of course, is a change from last year for the Heat. Andrew Flintoff and Daniel Vettori, who is now the Heat’s coach, were the team’s imports last season and the new duo will be expected to produce better returns than the ageing superstars.

Ben Cutting is the other bowler who has a big role to play for the Heat. It is more than probable he will take the new ball on a majority of occasions and he has to use it well.

Cutting will also chip in with the bat, but his role became a little confused at times last season. He was often promoted into the top six of the batting order and this seemed to mess with him, as he didn’t reach his true potential with the willow.

In saying that, Cutting still ended up as the Heat’s fourth highest run-scorer making 133 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 144.6.

The problem for the Heat, however, is going to be their depth. Out of their squad, the amount of established players they have is minimal.

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The likes of Nick Buchanan, Luke Feldman, Jason Floros, Josh Lalor, James Peirson, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson and Jack Wildermuth are not established at the top level of the game domestically in Australia. While this will pose as an opportunity for them, it is going to be difficult to throw them into a pressure cooker arena and expect results instantly.

It’s hard to see the Heat competing with other strong teams, most certainly.

Squad:

Chris Lynn (c), Samuel Badree, Joe Burns, Nick Buchanan, Ben Cutting, Alex Doolan, Andrew Fekete, Luke Feldman, Jason Floros, Peter Forrest, James Hopes, Josh Lalor, James Peirson, Nathan Reardon, Lendl Simmons, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth.

Draw (all time AEDT):

Saturday, December 19 – Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Renegades at Gabba (7:10pm)
Tuesday, December 22 – Hobart Hurricanes vs Brisbane Heat at Blundstone Arena (7:10pm)
Saturday, December 26 – Perth Scorchers vs Brisbane Heat at WACA (7:10pm)
Tuesday, December 29 – Brisbane Heat vs Hobart Hurricanes at Gabba (7:10pm)
Sunday, January 3 – Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Thunder at Gabba (7:10pm)
Friday, January 8 – Brisbane Heat vs Adelaide Strikers at Gabba (7:40pm)
Sunday, January 10 – Sydney Sixers vs Brisbane Heat at SCG (7:25pm)
Thursday, January 14- Melbourne Stars vs Brisbane Heat at MCG (7:40pm)

Prediction: Wooden spoon

It looks like it could be another tough season for the Heat. They haven’t been done any favours with the draw either, having to play the Hobart Hurricanes twice who look to be one of the stronger teams this year.

They could prove everyone wrong, like the Strikers did last year, and all it takes is a few strong innings or brilliant bowling performances, such is the nature of Twenty20 cricket.

However, it doesn’t look like they have the same level of talent as the other teams.

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Don’t forget, you can catch live coverage of every game in the 2015-2016 Big Bash League right here on The Roar.

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