BBL|11 is underway in less than five days so Honeyball will from Thursday commence our daily news snippets, but before we do that, we’ll wrap up the past week one more time in a bumper edition.

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SIGNINGS

The Perth Scorchers have signed English T20 fast bowler Tymal Mills ($ TBC, BWL) as their replacement import for Brydon Carse according to The West Australian although he will miss the first few games as he finishes up at the Abu Dhabi T10 League and needs to quarantine in Sydney.

It’s unclear how long he will need to quarantine, given Perth entry requirements are still 14 days. Mills took seven wickets in four games for England at the T20 World Cup before a thigh strain ended his tournament prematurely.

The Sydney Thunder are expected to confirm Gurinder Sandhu (pred $70k BWL) as their 18^th squad signing on Thursday after good recent form for Queensland, taking 11 wickets in his past two games.

The 28-year-old right-arm fast bowler played three games for the Sydney Sixers in BBL|10, taking two wickets.

Ex-Scorchers top-order bat Sam Whiteman ($ TBC, BAT) is also expected to be confirmed by the Tunder as a replacement player for Usman Khawaja, beating off interest from Perth, along with the Melbourne Renegades, Stars and Brisbane Heat.

Whiteman, who no longer is a wicketkeeper due to a finger injury, scored a Sheffield Shield century and Marsh Cup half-century just last month for WA.

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The Melbourne Stars confirmed the signing of unknown 19-year-old Pakistani off-spinner Syed Faridoun ($62k BWL), who hails from the Lahore Qalanders where they picked up Haris Rauf and Dilbar Hussain.

Stars GM Blair Crouch said: “We look forward to seeing him in action at the MCG in front of our members and fans.” Faridoun is available all season.

The Sydney Sixers snapped up Chris Jordan ($148k BWL) as a replacement for the first five games only, for Carlos Brathwaite ($117k BAT/BWL) who has been ruled out for the BBL|11 season after shoulder injury.

Sixers captain Moises Henriques: “He does all three things well. He’s a very good bowler, he’s a very good fielder and he can bat. Anyone who can do all three skills in T20 is a very good acquisition.”

The Hobart Hurricanes confirmed their final import in English all-rounder Jordan Thompson ($125k BWL/BAT)

The Hurricanes update said: “Thompson, an excellent fielder, compliments the Hurricanes line-up having the ability to score with a high strike-rate at the back end of an innings with bat and middle-over skill with the ball.” Thompson averaged 66.08 SC BBL points in the Vitality Blast, with six 100+ scores in 12 games.

REPLACEMENT SIGNINGS

The Melbourne Renegades confirmed Jono Merlo ($ TBC, BAT) will replace Nic Maddinson while he is on Australia A duty.

Renegades coach David Saker said: “We see him as a player who can slot into the middle order for us, who also offers a handy bowling option if required & is a strong fielder.”

The Stars confirmed Peter Nevill ($62k WKP/BAT) will replace Sebastian Gotch ($62k WKP/BAT) due to a finger injury and Brody Couch ($42k BWL) comes in to replace Billy Stanlake ($105k BWL) also because of injury.

Stars coach David Hussey said: “Peter will be a valuable asset for our younger players with his wealth of experience and cricketing knowledge that he has gained over a long period of time.”

Couch is a 21-year-old fast bowler who debuted for Victoria earlier this year and was a Renegades replacement in BBL|10.

INJURIES

Aaron Hardie ($103k BAT/BWL) returned to bowling in the Scorchers practice game on Wednesday after elbow surgery. He was among the wickets and one made 83 with the bat, when he came in at four. He may not hold that elevated batting position, with Colin Munro, Laurie Evans and Kurtis Patterson to fly in from Sydney ahead of their opening game.

Lance Morris ($62k BWL) didn’t play in the Scorchers practice game, instead running laps pre-game as he nurses a side strain suffered late last month playing in the Shield.

Joel Paris ($62k BWL) played for the Hurricanes in Wednesday’s practice game against the Stars after a hamstring injury, finishing with 0-38 from four overs.

The Hurricanes are hopeful that Riley Meredith ($134k BWL) will recover in time from a hamstring injury for their first game. He didn’t play in Wednesday’s practice game.

Sixers fast bowler Jackson Bird ($119k BWL) will be absent early with an Achilles issue. Tasmania coach Ali de Winter said: “His Achilles is coming along. He’ll play some Big Bash cricket.”

PRACTICE GAMES

Opening batsman Nick Hobson, who is understood to have signed with the Scorchers, made 92 at the top of the order in their practice game on Wednesday, while David Moody was among the wickets as he tries to win a Scorchers contract.

Ashton Turner ($84k BAT) made a quickfire 22 including three consecutive sixes, while Jason Behrendorff ($138k BWL) was back from a virus and among the wickets too.

Josh Kann ($42k BAT/BWL) took 2-16 in the Hurricanes’ practice game win in the first of their two games on Wednesday. Peter Handscomb 41(24), Tim David 37(16) and Mac Wright 35(28) made runs.

For the Renegades, Merlo made 47(28), Will Sutherland 46(31) and Mackenzie Harvey made 20.

In Tuesday’s games for the Gades, Unmukt Chand opened in both games with scores of 43(37) and 1(3). Jake Fraser-McGurk made 5(10) and 13(9), Mackenzie Harvey made 51(35) and 3(4) and Sutherland made 41(19) and 20(18). Sutherland also took 1-35(4).

Josh Lalor bowled a maiden among his spells (0-10 from 3 and 2-29 from 4), while Cameron Boyce (2-29 from 3 and 0-42 from 3.4) and Zahir Khan also played (1-23 from 4).

For the Stars, Glenn Maxwell ($195k BAT/BWL) made 68 on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Joe Clarke ($112k BAT/WKP) starred with 64 from 40 balls in their second game after 6(3) in the first game.

Clint Hinchliffe impressed with 39(20) and 34*(20) along with 1-20 (3). Marcus Stoinis ($163k BAT/BWL) opened and made 33 from 37 balls and trialist James Seymour made 70 from 51 balls. Newcomer Couch took 2-33(4), while Faridoun (1-29 from 4 and 0-20 from 4), Tom O’Connell (3-20 from 4 and 0-42 from 4) and Sam Elliott (1-44 from 4) had a bowl.

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UPDATES

Strikers fast bowler Peter Siddle talked up Matt Short ($62k BAT) and Harry Nielsen ($76k WKP/BAT) as the likely top-order replacements for Test-bound duo Travis Head and Alex Carey.

Siddle said: “We’re going to lose Heady & Kez (Carey), so Matty Short I think can stand up. Harry Nielsen gets his opportunity.”

He also offered praise to English import George Garton ($125k BAT/BWL): “Young Garton that’s coming across from England, a little bit of a replacement for Nes, he can be very exciting. Left-hand opening bowler and can whack it with the bat.”

Stars coach Dave Hussey confirmed that Clarke will be their wicketkeeper and opening batsman to start the season. Hussey said on cricket.com.au: “We’ve also signed Joe Clarke as an overseas player who will be excellent at opening the batting. I truly believe that Joe Clarke’s going to set this tournament alight.”

Heat coach Wade Seccombe confirmed Chris Lynn ($172k BAT) will open the batting. He said: “Lynny had success at the top of the order last season so he’ll be at the top again.”

Seccombe also hyped up Matt Kuhnemann ($85k BWL), offering him early job security. He said: “He’s a player that’s been performing over the past couple of months… We’ll be relying heavily on him initially in this first couple of games. As the tournament goes on, he’ll tap in and out as we need to.”

And he offered positive words about popular R1 pick Xavier Bartlett ($97k BWL). Seccombe said: “He’ll be available for us game 1. He’ll be a crucial player for us, particularly in these early games when we’re missing players… He can bowl in all areas of the game, up front, middle, surge or even the death.”

FORM GUIDE

Check out our latest form guide from Monday, including Daniel Sams‘ ($203k BAT/BWL) stunning T20 innings.

💪 #DidYouKnow Adam Zampa has had one SC BBL score below 20 across the past two BBLs. Reliable.

Get more stats like this (plus expert insights) in the HB #BBL11 mag 👇👇 https://t.co/6MBEBdkzwc #SuperCoachBBL #SuperCoach #BBL

— Honeyball BBL 🏏 (@HoneyballBBL) December 1, 2021