There’s two games on Wednesday to open Round 6 of SuperCoach BBL with the squads coming through including the returns of Sixers all-rounder Tom Curran and Strikers paceman David Payne.
SQUAD NEWS
The Sydney Sixers named a 15-man squad for their clash with the Brisbane Heat in Coffs Harbour on Wednesday from 6:05pm AEDT, with Tom Curran returning from suspension while Dan Hughes is left out.
Despite a recent deluge of rain into Coffs Harbour, the ground surface appears to have drained brilliantly and with no rain forecast for the region on gameday, this game should go ahead fully despite previous reports.
Sixers squad: Abbott, Bird, Curran, Davies, Dwarshuis, Edwards, Henriques (c), Kerr, Murphy, O’Keefe, Patterson, Perry, Philippe, Silk, Vince
The Heat named an unchanged 14-man squad for the game.
Heat squad: Munro (c), Bartlett, Billings, Brown, Bryant, Buckingham, Johnson, Kuhnemann, McSweeney, Neser, Peirson, Renshaw, Swepson, Walter
The Adelaide Strikers added David Payne back into their 14-man squad for their match with the Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium on Wednesday night.
Strikers squad: M.Short (c), Agar, Bazley, Boyce, Doggett, Hose, Kelly, Lynn, Manenti, Nielsen, Overton, Payne, D.Short, Thornton
The Scorchers named an 18-man squad for the game, with WA batsman Sam Fanning added as a local replacement player for the injured Ashton Turner.
Scorchers squad: Hardie (c), Agar, Behrendorff, Connolly, Crawley, Eskinazi, Evans, Fanning, Gannon, Haskett, Hobson, Inglis, Kelly, McKenzie, Morris, Richardson, Tye, Whiteman
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Scorchers left-armer Jason Behrendorff flagged the potential for their bowling attack being rotated during their upcoming busy period but added he doesn’t want to miss a game. He said: “I’d love to play all 10 games this year. It’s a condensed tournament. We play 5 games in 10 or so days, so that’ll be the test for us as a fast bowling unit, how we all pull up after each game and the flights and that stuff. But my body is feeling good and ideally I’m playing all those games.”
Behrendorff also talked up spinner Hamish McKenzie, who has been earmarked for a role during their upcoming away run of games on more spin friendly decks. He said: “He’s such an exciting prospect. He brings a lot of energy. He’s not afraid to bowl his wrong’un, bowl his leggie, give it a rip.”
Hurricanes batsman Ben McDermott explained his two-game absence after being sidelined with a concussion and neck injury, but also clarified he was fine moving forward.
He said: “I got hit in the head in training just before the Renegades game. I failed a couple of tests which are protocols to do when you get hit in the head. I just woke up with a really sore neck which is another symptom of concussion.
“The medical staff put me into concussion protocols which is 8 days, meaning I missed 2 games which was unfortunate. I was really sore the Renegades game… I was absolutely fine the last game, so I was itching to get back tonight.”
McDermott also praised teammate Mac Wright who continues to score runs. He said: “I’ve seen him do it for a long time, playing with him at Lindisfarne it’s nice to see him show Australia what he can do. I’ve played with him a long time and knew he had this in him.”
Renegades veteran batsman Aaron Finch explained he’s available for selection despite being left out lately. Finch told FoxCricket: “Just not playing. I’m available for selection but the boys had a really good win last game… I’m good to go. The game against Hobart I tweaked something there, missed a game against Perth but apart from that everything is good.”
Meanwhle, Gades import Joe Clarke’s scans on his quad injury revealed his season is officially over.
