With the BBL Draft completed and SuperCoach opening next month, we’ve put together a story to review the past six months of the BBL off-season on a club-by-club basis.
Adelaide Strikers
Ins: Fabian Allen, Ollie Pope, Jordan Buckingham (Brisbane Heat), Alex Ross (Sydney Thunder)
Outs: Rashid Khan, Wes Agar (Sydney Thunder), David Payne, Adam Hose
The Strikers have had a change of coach with Jason Gillespie departing and former Test skipper Tim Paine stepping in.
They’ve re-signed Alex Carey (who’ll miss most of the summer on Test duty) on a four-year deal, plus leg spinners Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce, top-order blaster Chris Lynn and fast bowler Henry Thornton.
Adelaide have landed middle-order batsman Alex Ross from Sydney Thunder with Wes Agar going the other way. Emerging quick Jordan Buckingham has also joined after a stint with the Heat last season, effectively replacing Agar.
The big loss is Afghan spin king Rashid Khan who won’t return this summer, but they have drafted gun all-rounder Jamie Overton, English wicketkeeper-bat Ollie Pope and West Indian all-rounder Fabian Allen.
Squad:
Batsmen: D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Alex Ross, Jake Weatherald
Wicketkeepers: Ollie Pope
All-rounders: Matt Short, Jamie Overton, Fabian Allen, James Bazley
Bowlers: Henry Thornton, Cameron Boyce, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Buckingham, Brendan Doggett
Brisbane Heat
Ins: Tom Alsop
Outs: Sam Billings (Sydney Thunder), Jordan Buckingham (Adelaide Strikers), Josh Brown (Melbourne Renegades)
Johan Botha has replaced Wade Seccombe as Heat head coach but otherwise it’s a relatively stable set-up for the champions. They retained Paul Walter and Colin Munro in the recent BBL Draft and added English wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Alsop too, with a view to covering Sam Billings’ exit for the Thunder.
Big-hitting opening batsman Josh Brown is another loss, switching to the Melbourne Renegades, but the re-signed Max Bryant may be eyeing that role. Marnus Labuschagne has also been re-signed while Australia U19 fast bowler Callum Vidler is added to the official squad this season.
Squad:
Batsmen: Colin Munro, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Max Bryant, Matthew Renshaw
Wicketkeepers: Jimmy Peirson, Tom Alsop
All-rounders: Michael Neser, Paul Walter
Bowlers: Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Callum Vidler, Will Prestwidge
View the updates on the Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder here
Hobart Hurricanes
Ins: Rishad Hossain, Shai Hope, Charlie Wakim (Brisbane Heat)
Outs: Corey Anderson, Sam Hain
The Hurricanes got crafty at the BBL Draft, adding young Bangladeshi leg-spinner Rishad Hossain along with 30-year-old West Indian wicketkeeper-bat Shai Hope, with middle-order bats Corey Anderson and Sam Hain making way after failing to make an impact.
English all-rounder Chris Jordan was retained, penning a two-year deal. Iain Carlisle and Mac Wright were also re-signed on two-year contracts, although the latter may miss BBL|14 due to an ACL injury sustained in February. BBL|13 revelation Nikhil Chaudhary also re-signed in February.
Squad:
Batsmen: Tim David, Caleb Jewell, Mac Wright, Charlie Wakim, Shai Hope
Wicketkeepers: Matthew Wade, Ben McDermott
All-rounders: Chris Jordan, Nikhil Chaudhary, Mitch Owen
Bowlers: Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith, Iain Carlisle, Paddy Dooley, Peter Hatzoglou, Rishad Hossain
Melbourne Renegades
Ins: Josh Brown (Brisbane Heat), Gurinder Sandhu (Sydney Thunder), Laurie Evans (Perth Scorchers), Jacob Bethell, Tim Seifert
Outs: Shaun Marsh (retired), Aaron Finch (retired), Nic Maddinson (Sydney Thunder), Joe Clarke, Quinton de Kock, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Akeal Hosein (Sydney Sixers)
BBL|13 championship-winning coach Wade Seccombe has been appointed as High Performance Manager with Cameron White given the head coaching gig to replace David Saker at the helm at the Gades. With that comes a long list of changes, which feels the norm for this side.
BBL stalwarts Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh have both retired, although their influence thinned towards the end. Nic Maddinson has exited for the Thunder while imports Joe Clarke and Quinton de Kock weren’t kept on, so the batting line-up has a clean slate.
English middle-order gun Laurie Evans was drafted in, along with 20-year-old England ODI international and middle-order blaster Jacob Bethell. NZ keeper-batter Tim Seifert was a pre-draft signing too.
Like Seccombe, power-hitter Josh Brown has headed south from Brisbane to lead the Gades top order. Medium-fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu has been signed from the Thunder to add some variety to their attack.
All-rounder Will Sutherland and young gun Jake Fraser-McGurk – who had a brilliant 2024 IPL – re-signed back in January. Bats Mackenzie Harvey and Jon Wells along with young speedster Fergus O’Neill have re-committed.
Squad:
Batsmen: Josh Brown, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Laurie Evans, Jacob Bethell, Harry Dixon, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Wells
Wicketkeepers: Tim Seifert
All-rounders: Will Sutherland
Bowlers: Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Adam Zampa, Gurinder Sandhu, Fergus O’Neill, Nathan Lyon
View the updates on the Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder here
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