TOPSHOT - Pakistan's Haris Rauf celebrates the wicket of New Zealands Mark Chapman during the first T20 international cricket match between New Zealand and Pakistan at Eden Park in Auckland on December 18, 2020. (Photo by MICHAEL BRADLEY / AFP)
Sunday’s BBL Draft offered a rare opportunity to get some opinions from coaches and club officials about their squad plans in the lead-up to BBL|13, offering insights into batting orders and bowling roles.
Stay tuned, we’ll have HB member-only content and insights in the lead-up to SuperCoach BBL|13, with early-bird special offers
It’s still bloody early prior to BBL|13 but gleaning this kind of info is crucial to your SuperCoach preparations. Plus SC AFL and NRL are done, so why not indulge.
Here’s our take from quotes and grabs coming out of the clubs.
Adelaide Strikers
The Strikers retained Rashid Khan and Adam Hose so it’s hard to expect much will differ in their roles. They also grabbed bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton, who was recently named Player of the Series in The Hundred in England, helping Manchester Originals finish runners-up.
Overton will likely slot into the role filled by Colin de Grandhomme last season, batting at 6-7 and bowling a few overs, alongside domestic all-rounder recruit James Bazley. It’s a role Adelaide have struggled to nail in recent times. In The Hundred, it was Overton’s batting that stood out, blasting 202 runs in nine knocks with a strike rate of 181. He typically batted 7 but was often elevated to bat the late overs if wickets were in hand.
Strikers coach Jason Gillespie said: “Jamie is a big hitting middle order player who can bowl quick and is good in the field. He compliments our list, we’re really comfortable with our top order batting, we just think some power in the middle (to add to top order players) D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Jake Weatherald and Matt Short (makes) this a good fit for us.”
It’s worth noting Travis Head and Alex Carey are unlikely to play any BBL this season, with the Test series going all summer. They’ve added Brendan Doggett to replace death bowler Peter Siddle who’s headed to the Renegades.
Brisbane Heat
The Heat retained the services of Sam Billings and Colin Munro, along with Paul Walter who is an English all-rounder who was also part of the Originals’ side in The Hundred. Walter typically batted ahead of Overton on the team sheet at 6, but sometimes dropped below him depending on the situation. Expect Walter to take up a middle-order role around 5-6-7, stepping in for James Bazley who has moved to the Strikers.
However, Walter’s record in The Hundred is a tad underwhelming, averaging 15.12 from nine knocks with a strike rate below 130. He did take seven wickets in 10 games bowling left-arm mediums from a height of 6’7, so offers some variety, with a mix of cutters and seamers with bounce. His T20 Blast numbers are solid, averaging 21.35 from 17 knocks with a strike rate of 157.82 plus he took 12 wickets.
Along with Bazley, Sam Hain and Mark Steketee have also exited the Heat, so there’s still some gaps to fill, with two domestic spots left. Spencer Johnson’s rise may mitigate Steketee’s departure.
Hobart Hurricanes
It’s all change at the Canes, with three new imports in English bowling all-rounder Chris Jordan, English middle-order bat Sam Hain and New Zealand middle-order bat Corey Anderson who averaged 47.5 from five knocks in the recent Major League Cricket comp in the USA.
Hobart has lost Zak Crawley, D’Arcy Short and Joel Paris, while spinner Peter Hatzoglou was recruited from Perth, so there’s a bit to digest but head of strategy Ricky Ponting spelt out their plans rather explicitly which helps piece it all together.
Ponting said: “We’ll shuffle our batting order around from where it was last year with the quality domestic batsmen we’ve got, Jewell, Wade, McDermott and David, we’ll probably structure the top order a little bit different than it was last year. So we want a 4-slot and a 6-slot. Tom Curran was our first choice (but the Sydney Sixers retained him). Jordan probably goes down to a 7-8 slot now. That’s why we needed another lower-order batter in Anderson. We’re really happy with Sam Hain. We did our homework. His record at no.4 is outstanding. He’s the sort of player we need in that middle order to bat around McDermott and Tim David.”
So it seems Jewell, Wade and McDermott make up the top three, followed by Hain, David, Anderson and Jordan. Having Jordan as an all-rounder, means they can likely play both spinners Paddy Dooley with new recruit Hatzoglou.
Melbourne Renegades
The Gades only pouched two imports but GM James Rosengarten has promised they’ll get more, with South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock joining, but only available for the first eight games before his SA-20 commitments. Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has also been retained.
De Kock typically plays best at the top of the order and Rosengarten indicated he’ll open the batting and take the gloves, which is what they needed with Sam Harper moving on. Rosengarten said: “Quinton’s someone who suits Marvel well. He’s a super player at the top of the order and a really good keeper as well. He was our number one priority as a batting and keeping option.”
What that means for Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey and Nic Maddinson remains to be seen.
Mujeeb will play the same role as last season, although they’ve not retained spin partner Akeal Hosein having signed Adam Zampa. Peter Siddle has been added to bolster their death bowling options alongside Kane Richardson and Tom Rogers, making that an excellent attack.
Melbourne Stars
The Stars had a crack at Rashid Khan, but the Strikers retained him, instead opting for Ashes dasher Harry Brook, as well as retaining Pakistani quick Haris Rauf and spinner Usama Mir, who was part of the aforementioned Originals side, taking six wickets in six games in The Hundred including a 4fa as well as a handy 32* with the bat. He’ll likely bat around 8-9 and step in for the departed Zampa.
Stars GM Blair Crouch offered a great insight into their batting order plans after Brook’s signing. He said: “He does stretch our batting so we can probably reorder down to number 7, and maybe for some of the guys at the top of the order that can allow them to play really freely. Tommy Rogers and Sam Harper as a new opening combo can be really aggressive knowing you’ve got Maxwell, Stoinis, Brook, (Hilton) Cartwright and (Beau) Webster to come down the order.”
Brook’s quality is known given his Ashes exploits but for the record, he was the third top scorer in The Hundred with 238 runs from seven knocks at 47.6 at a strike rate of 196 for Northern Superchargers, including a 41-ball century.
Perth Scorchers
Not much has changed for the champions, but their two Draft recruits Laurie Evans and Zak Crawley bolster their batting order, which seems increasingly likely to be without Mitch Marsh again, this time due to Test duty after missing last campaign with injury. Cameron Bancroft has moved on, while Adam Lyth and Faf du Plessis won’t be returning.
Thus Crawley is earmarked to open the batting. On Crawley, Perth coach Adam Voges said: “He’s a really tall batsman who plays good cricket shots but has some serious power. That’s the prototype we want, particularly at Optus Stadium, who can handle pace and bounce, and get us off to a couple of quick starts.”
Evans will likely play the same role he did in BBL|11 as a steady middle-order batsman. Evans, who missed BBL|12 after a drug ban which was eventually overturned, was also part of the Originals side in The Hundred, batting at 5-6. He was the fourth top scorer in the 2023 T20 Blast with 563 runs at 37.53 for Surrey.
Sydney Sixers
Top-order bat James Vince, who was the top scorer in the 2023 T20 Blast, has been retained while English all-rounder Tom Curran returns after a few seasons away from the Sixers to occupy that 6-7 role vacated by the retired Dan Christian. It’s an interesting selection given Hayden Kerr’s rise.
The other import is 19-year-old English right-arm leggie Renan Ahmed who has already debuted for his country. He is the youngest English cricketer to debut at international level across all three formats. He took nine wickets in nine games with a tight economy rate for Southern Brave in The Hundred.
With Steve O’Keeffe only getting older and more injury prone, Nathan Lyon exiting for the Gades, Todd Murphy in the Test mix and Izharulhaq Naveed not really working out, expect Ahmed to play a key role.
Sydney Thunder
Alex Hales was retained so he’ll occupy his typical opening slot alongside new domestic recruit Cameron Bancroft, with David Warner likely to miss the whole summer due to Test duty (if he holds his spot).
The Thunder’s other addition is Pakistani right-arm slinger Zaman Khan (he’s similar in action to Lasith Malinga). Khan took 25 wickets in 14 games for Derbyshire in this year’s T20 Blast but only managed two in five games for the Originals and was expensive. Hit and miss, but comes in with Fazalhaq Farooqi not to return and Doggett leaving for the Strikers.
With Tanveer Sangha fit again, the Thunder have some decent bowling options with Khan alongside Daniel Sams, Nathan McAndrew, Gurinder Sandhu and Chris Green.
Stay tuned, we’ll have HB member-only content and insights in the lead-up to SuperCoach BBL|13, with early-bird special offers
