Jhye Richardson is back in the mix for the Perth Scorchers’ opening BBL|12 game while Matt Renshaw is set to miss for the Brisbane Heat, plus Hilton Cartwright’s Melbourne Stars batting role has been clarified.
TEAM NEWS
The Adelaide Strikers confirmed their 15-man squad for Wednesday’s game with the Sydney Sixers late on Tuesday, with Harry Conway ($70k BWL) the big absentee. Young right-arm fast medium bowler Jordan Buckingham (BWL) comes in as a replacement player after 12 wickets in four Shield games for SA this season.
The Sixers confirmed their 16-man squad on Tuesday evening with Chris Jordan ($125k BWL) absent as he is yet to arrive in Australia. Ex-Hurricanes all-rounder Josh Kann (BAT/BWL) has been added as a local replacement.
Strikers: W.Agar, Buckingham, de Grandhomme, Hose, Kelly, Rashid Khan, Lynn, Manenti, Nielsen (wk), Short, Siddle (c), Thornton, Weatherald
Players to miss out: Head, Carey, Boyce, Conway, Gibson, Hunt
Sixers: Abbott, Bird, Christian, Dwarshuis, J.Edwards, Henriques (c), Hughes, Kann, Kerr, Murphy, Izharulhaq Naveed, O’Keefe, Patterson, Philippe, Silk, Vince
Players to miss out: M.Edwards, Lyon, Jordan
Adelaide Strikers coach Jason Gillespie confirmed Chris Lynn ($112k BAT) will bat at 3 for them. He said: “Chris Lynn will bat 3 for us… (If Short opens with Weatherald) You’ll have to wait and see until the toss.”
He also provided an update on Cameron Boyce’s ($171K BWL) calf strain. He said: “He tweaked it at our first training session. Initially we were quite concerned he’d be out for quite a while but the prognosis is a lot better. He’s been running the past few days. That’s really promising. Probably not available the first few games but we’ll reassess that and hopefully see him soon.”
Gillespie discussed the role of Colin de Grandhomme ($125k BAT/BWL). He said: “He gives us a bit of flexibility. He bowls some medium pace. It gives us options with the make-up of our attack. He’s a big-hitting allrounder, strike rate north of 150 in back half of innings.”
UPDATES
Jhye Richardson ($149k BWL) has bolted back into selection calculations for the Perth Scorchers, after being kept in cotton wool over the past few weeks with a heel issue that needed to settle. Honeyball understands he bowled at full tilt in the side’s practice wicket session on Monday in a sign he is available.
Richardson missed WA’s last two Shield games with heel bruising and didn’t participate in last week’s intrasquad practice games. Perth’s first game is on Saturday against the Sydney Sixers, which is part of their Round 2 SuperCoach double.
Honeyball understands Matt Renshaw ($136k BAT/BWL) has not traveled for the Brisbane Heat-Melbourne Renegades game on Thursday in Cairns, with his wife due to give birth to their first child. This may open up a spot for Josh Brown ($42k BAT) to play after impressing in the Heat’s intrasquad game on Friday.
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Hilton Cartwright ($122k BAT) appears set to remain as a middle-order batsman for the Melbourne Stars rather than move back up to the opener’s spot. “
Stars coach Dave Hussey told SEN this morning: “He wanted to be a top-order player but we’ve turned him around to be that middle-order finisher. I think he’s arguably one of the best strikers of the cricket ball in Australian domestic cricket. I’m looking forward to him securing that middle-order role for us that he can finish games of cricket. He’s got power, he fields well and is well respected.”
Hussey also suggested Cartwright wouldn’t bowl much this season. He said: “He’s probably more of an insurance policy (with the ball), but he’s still working on his bowling.”
The Stars coach also outlined the likely role of Trent Boult ($180k BWL). He said: “Generally up front, he bowls 2 in the power play, one in the surge and then one in the end. He’s arguably one of the best T20 bowlers in the world, he swings the kookaburra up front. His role is pretty safe and secure.”
The Heat need to be in the back of SuperCoaches minds’ with a Round 3 double after their Round 2 bye and Mitch Swepson ($107k BWL) looms as a cheapie. Heat coach Wade Seccombe told cricket.com.au: “He’s an attacking spinner… But I think Sweppo’s performance in T20 cricket, particularly in the BBL, is right up there. He plays a great role for us as an attacking weapon through the middle overs.”
Max Bryant ($95k BAT) is another one who could be under-priced. Seccombe said: “Max is in a really sweet spot with his game at the minute, he’s just trusting it and that’s the piece that we’re really enjoying, he’s just going out there, playing good natural cricket shots and that’s explosive enough for us.”
