Stars land Dre Russ for DGW, Abbott ruled out, Finch out again for Renegades
The Melbourne Stars made a massive signing with gun all-rounder Andre Russell confirmed for a brief stint that does include their Round 3 double, while Sean Abbott was ruled out for the Sydney Sixers.
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TEAM NEWS
The Adelaide Strikers and the Melbourne Renegades their squads for Thursday’s game, electing for 13-man and 14-man groups respectively.
Liam O’Connor ($80k BWL) comes in for the Strikers to replace the injured Ryan Gibson ($65k BAT), with Fawad Ahmed ($102k BWL) still not available due to a side niggle. Expect either Liam Scott ($42k BAT/BWL) or Thomas Kelly ($42k BAT) to come into the Strikers XI, rather than O’Connor to reinforce their batting depth.
The Renegades have dropped out Cameron Boyce ($106k BWL), Aaron Finch ($62k BAT) and Josh Lalor ($106k BWL) from their travelling group. The only reasonable change to the Gades XI would be Zak Evans ($164k BWL) replacing Reece Topley ($125k BWL) who struggled on debut.
Strikers: Siddle (c), Agar, Drew, Garton, T.Kelly, Rashid Khan, Nielsen, O’Connor, Scott, Short, Weatherald, Wells, Worrall
Renegades: Richardson (c), Evans, Fraser-McGurk, Harper, Harvey, Zahir Khan, Merlo, Mohammad Nabi, Pattinson, Perry, Prestwidge, Seymour, Sutherland, Topley
SIGNINGS
The Melbourne Stars landed gun West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell (BAT/BWL), who has an excellent T20 resume, including a fine previous spell with the Sydney Thunder along with the Renegades.
However, there’s a catch with Russell only available for five games, starting on Friday against the Sydney Thunder at the MCG. Russell will essentially be replaced by Haris Rauf ($151k BWL) after Christmas.
Stars coach David Hussey said: “To have someone of Andre’s quality play for the Melbourne Stars is a huge signing for our club… I can’t wait to work with him in the time that he’s here and look forward to his debut on Friday night.”
UPDATES
Perth Scorchers’ English import Tymal Mills ($125k BWL) tweeted on Wednesday morning: “Landed into Australia last night, three days quarantine watching The Ashes then into the BBL.”
The Scorchers play the Strikers in Sydney on Adelaide. It had been unclear if Mills would be available but that seems likely now. That will likely impact Matt Kelly ($101k BWL).
Honeyball confirmed early on Wednesday that Sean Abbott ($169k BWL) had not flown to Tasmania for the game against the Hurricanes in Launceston due to the imminent birth of his child.
Dan Christian ($184k BAT/BWL) , however, has made the trip after his wife gave birth on Monday.
Honeyball SC BBL memberships are on sale! Only $35 season offer or $20 per month. Get access to all HB content, plus our exclusive injury list, comprehensive global T20 leagues form guide, HB Twitter & Whatsapp chats, entry into our members-only SC group (with a SC Champion ring for the winner) and more.
