Round 6 brings about a whole round of single games with all eight sides playing once, so it’ll require craft to navigate the sample size and pick the best available players without double games.
Sydney Thunder v Hobart Hurricanes
Saturday 31 December, Albury, 3:30pm AEDT
Thunder
The Thunder have put together a few wins so don’t expect many changes but Gurinder Sandhu is out injured, meaning spinner Toby Gray, youngster Joel Davies or veteran all-rounder Ben Cutting could get a game.
Ins: Ben Cutting
Outs: Gurinder Sandhu
Unavailable: David Warner (Test duty), Tanveer Sangha (back), Jason Sangha (collarbone) Fazalhaq Farooqi (contract terminated), Gurinder Sandhu (calf)
1 A.Hales
2 M.Gilkes
3 R.Rossouw
4 O.Davies
5 A.Ross
6 D.Sams
7 B.Cutting
8 N.McAndrew
9 C.Green
10 B.Doggett
11 Usman Qadir
12th J.Davies
Hurricanes
Matthew Wade will return from suspension, likely seeing Tim Paine drop out, but Caleb Jewell isn’t safe either. Ben McDermott is still out due to a hamstring concern, so Jimmy Neesham should stay at the top of the order in his final game for Hobart. Shadab Khan has one more game after this before he exits for ODI duty.
Ins: Matthew Wade
Outs: Tim Paine
Unavailable: Zak Crawley (Test duty), Faheem Ashraf (Test duty), Billy Stanlake (hamstring), Ben McDermott (hamstring)
1 D.Shor
2 J.Neesham
3 M.Wade
4 C.Jewell
5 Shadab Khan
6 T.David
7 Asif Ali
8 J.Paris
9 N.Ellis
10 P.Dooley
11 R.Meredith
12th C.Tremain
Adelaide Strikers v Melbourne Stars
Saturday 31 December, Adelaide Oval, 7pm AEDT/6:30pm ACST
Strikers
Wes Agar should return for Ben Manenti in a horses for courses situation. Jake Weatherald is still out with injury, so Henry Hunt should hold his spot. Harry Conway is back in the squad and in the mix too.
Ins: Wes Agar
Outs: Ben Manenti
Unavailable: Travis Head (Test duty), Alex Carey (Test duty), Cameron Boyce (calf), Jake Weatherald (abdomen)
1 M.Short
2 H.Hunt
3 C.Lynn
4 A.Hose
5 C.de Grandhomme
6 T.Kelly
7 H.Nielsen
8 Rashid Khan
9 H.Thornton
10 W.Agar
11 P.Siddle
12th B.Manenti
Stars
We’ll wait on injury news on Nathan Coulter-Nile but he did seem to have a tight hamstring in the loss to Perth on Thursday.
Ins: Liam Hatcher
Outs: Nathan Coulter-Nile
Unavailable: Glenn Maxwell (broken leg), Joe Burns (hamstring), Nathan Coulter-Nile (hamstring)
1 J.Clarke
2 T.Rogers
3 B.Webster
4 N.Larkin
5 M.Stoinis
6 H.Cartwright
7 C.Kellaway
8 L.Wood
9 L.Hatcher
10 T.Boult
11 A.Zampa
12th C.Hinchliffe
Melbourne Renegades v Perth Scorchers
Sunday 1 January, Marvel Stadium, 1:40pm AEDT
Renegades
After the Gades only scored 7-124 on Friday, they may make changes to their batting line-up but it’s hard to know what they can do. Sam Harper could return for Peter Handscomb.
No changes
Unavailable: Marcus Harris (Test duty), Zac Evans (pectoral)
1 M.Guptill
2 N.Maddinson
3 S.Marsh
4 A.Finch
5 J.Wells
6 P.Handscomb
7 A.Hosein
8 W.Sutherland
9 T.Rogers
10 K.Richardson
11 Mujeeb Ur Rahman
12th M.Harvey
Scorchers
Ashton Agar’s third Test call-up creates a conundrum but given Perth have fired with the bat, they’ll likely add a batting option in Cameron Bancroft or import Steve Eskinazi rather than a pure spinner like Hamish McKenzie or all-rounder like Cooper Connolly. Nick Hobson isn’t safe either and dropping him could allow Perth to pick a second full-time spinner on the turning Marvel deck, so look out for McKenzie or Connolly.
Those changes may mean more overs for Aaron Hardie or Ashton Turner.
Ins: Cameron Bancroft
Outs: Ashton Agar
Unavailable: Cameron Green (finger), Mitch Marsh (ankle), Phil Salt (shoulder), Tymal Mills (personal), Lance Morris (Test duty), Ashton Agar (Test duty)
1 A.Lyth
2 F.du Plessis
3 N.Hobson
4 J.Inglis
5 A.Turner
6 C.Bancroft
7 A.Hardie
8 J.Richardson
9 A.Tye
10 J.Behrendorff
11 P.Hatzoglou
12th M.Kelly
Brisbane Heat v Sydney Sixers
Sunday 1 January, Gabba, 7:15pm AEDT/6:15pm AEST
Heat
Brisbane are struggling but it’s tough to know where they can find improvements. Matt Renshaw is out on Australia duty so Josh Brown should get a reprieve. Matt Kuhnemann appears at risk, with either Jack Wildermuth or Spencer Johnson potentially getting a go. Nathan McSweeney hasn’t had a chance this season but was in good form in the lead-up to BBL|12 too. Mitch Swepson is in doubt with an ankle injury too.
Ins: Josh Brown
Outs: Matt Renshaw
Unavailable: Marnus Labuschagne (Test duty), Usman Khawaja (Test duty), Matt Renshaw (Test duty)
1 M.Bryant
2 J.Brown
3 C.Munro
4 S.Billings
5 J.Peirson
6 R.Whiteley
7 J.Bazley
8 M.Neser
9 M.Steketee
10 M.Kuhnemann
11 M.Swepson
12th J.Brown
Sixers
It’s hard to know how the Sixers will manage their bowlers but expect Sean Abbott to come back in after being “load shared” out on Friday night. Chris Jordan has been managed after his first game back from injury with Naveen-ul-Haq into the squad and someone like Jackson Bird may be unlucky to miss out as they rotate, although Hayden Kerr could get a break too.
Ins: Sean Abbott
Outs: Chris Jordan
Unavailable: Nathan Lyon (Test duty), Chris Jordan (managed)
1 J.Philippe
2 J.Vince
3 K.Patterson
4 M.Henriques
5 J.Silk
6 D.Christian
7 H.Kerr
8 S.Abbott
9 B.Dwarshuis
10 J.Bird
11 Izharulhaq Naveed
12th D.Hughes
