Perth Scorchers skipper Ashton Turner offered updates on injuries to Jhye Richardson and Aaron Hardie, while departure dates were confirmed for Marcus Stoinis, Rilee Rossouw and Chris Lynn.
TEAM NEWS
The Melbourne Stars named an unchanged 16-man squad for Friday’s game against the Sydney Sixers at the MCG.
News came to light on Wednesday evening that Marcus Stoinis ($104k BAT/BWL) had signed with ILT20 franchise Sharjah Warriors, although that will occur after his BBL commitments conclude. The ILT20 runs from January 13 to February 12.
The Sixers named a 15-man squad, with Steve O’Keefe ($148k BWL) managed out, while Chris Jordan ($135k BWL) is named amid uncertainty on when he leaves for the ILT20.
On O’Keefe, the Sixers said: “Will sit out of the trip to Melbourne (January 6 game) as the club continues to manage players across a busy block of seven matches within the fortnight.”
Stars: Zampa (c), Boult, Cartwright, Clarke, Couch, Coulter-Nile, Hatcher, Hinchliffe, Kellaway, Larkin, O’Connell, Rogers, Seymour, Stoinis, Webster, Wood
Sixers: Abbott, Bird, Christian, Dwarshuis, J.Edwards, Henriques, Hughes, Jordan, Kerr, Murphy, Izharulhaq Naveed, Patterson, Philippe, Silk, Vince
The Heat named their 14-man squad for Saturday’s game against the Perth Scorchers with Xavier Bartlett ($173k BWL) back in the group.
Heat: Peirson (c), Bartlett, Bazley, Billings, Brown, Bryant, Johnson, Kuhnemann, McSweeney, Munro, Neser, Steketee, Swepson, Whiteley
UPDATES
Jhye Richardson ($223k BWL) succumbed late to an injury in the Perth Scorchers’ loss to the Sydney Thunder on Wednesday night.
Scorchers captain Ashton Turner said: “It’s not his heel. He felt something in his hamstring. I’m not sure how it is. He’s walking around in the changeroom, he’s got ice on it. Fingers crossed Jhye is only on the sidelines for a short period of time, if at all.”
Honeyball understands Richardson will have scans on Thursday evening in Perth will learn the results on Friday, having “experienced hamstring tightness” in Wednesday’s Scorchers game.
Aaron Hardie ($127k BAT/BWL) missed the game with a quad issue. Turner said: “Hards was really close to playing. Someone like him, who’s so valuable, has had such a big workload in domestic cricket, in the short term we are just going to be really cautious. It’s a long tournament.”
Daniel Sams ($184k BAT/BWL) also missed the game with what the Thunder described as a “groin strain” with no certainty on the severity. Thunder batsman Ollie Davies said: “I guess we get Samsy hopefully back next game which will lock in our order.”
Davies’ comment was in reference to that game being Rilee Rossouw’s ($82k BAT) last for the Thunder before heading to the SA-20, while Alex Hales ($167k BAT) is finishing up soon to depart for the ILT20.
Davies also talked up his brother Joel Davies ($42k BAT/BWL) prospects at taking up Rossouw’s role, while acknowledging Sam Whiteman ($62k BAT) is in the mix too. He said: “We’re going to need someone to fill that no.3 role for us. I think there’s talk of him slotting into the no.3 spot but they also have the option of gong joel at the top.
Honeyball can also confirm Chris Lynn’s ($113k BAT) final game for the Adelaide Strikers will be on January 14 before exiting for the ILT20.
