Highly-owned Adelaide Strikers paceman Jordan Buckingham has an injury worry heading into BBL|14, after picking up a side strain playing for Australia A.
INJURY NEWS
At the start of day three, Buckingham was ruled out for the rest of the game against India A. The extent of the injury is expected to be confirmed post-game once the SA-based quick has had scans.
Scorchers quick Jhye Richardson continues to build up his match fitness and will play for the WA second XI this week against the NSW second XI.
Richardson told The West Australian: “Second XI next week, I have got a bigger workload, sort of introducing myself back to a proper red-ball hit-out and then again just playing the one-dayers and building back up for shield cricket. That’s the goal for me, getting back to red-ball cricket, I’m comfortable with how things are going at the moment.”
There was more positive news on the injury front this week, with Sixers all-rounder Jack Edwards returning at Shield level following a hamstring injury.
Cricket NSW Chief of Cricket Performance Greg Mail said: “Jack Edwards also returns after managing some hamstring soreness and is one of our key players in all facets of the game.”
Fast bowling trio Spencer Johnson, Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis have all been out injured lately but were selected for Australia’s upcoming ODIs and T20Is against Pakistan.
Australia selector George Bailey said: “Spence played the one-day game for SA on Friday and the feedback from that was really good. He’s bounced back.”
“Xavier and Nathan are progressing really well through their return to play protocols. Expecting they should all be fit and firing come the start of this series.”
Other injury updates included Stars left-armer Joel Paris playing at Shield level following a hamstring problem, while Stars quick Mark Steketee remains out for Queensland with an ankle injury.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The dates for Australia’s two-game Test series in Sri Lanka in January were confirmed and it was good news for SuperCoach BBL, with likely minimal impact.
The first Test starts on January 29 in Galle, with the squad likely to leave around/after the final BBL home-and-away game on January 19. Players, however, may want a break between series on a case-by-case basis.
England confirmed their squad for their three-game Test series in New Zealand running from November 28 to December 18, impacting the first round of SC BBL. As expected, Stars bat Ben Duckett and Strikers bat Ollie Pope were selected, but Renegades newcomer Jacob Bethell was a shock inclusion too, meaning he’s miss the Round 1 double. Read the full story here.
England’s ODI side are in action at the moment and Strikers all-rounder Jamie Overton is a big watch, given he’s not bowled for 6 months due to a back issue. Overton played game 1 against the West Indies as a specialist bat (made a golden duck) and didn’t bowl.
Overton was dropped for game 2 on Saturday but was spotted by ESPNCricinfo bowling in the warm-up. The report said: “Jamie Overton is having a bowl in the warm-ups which I don’t really know what that means but just for general #fitness #watch.”
It also has been reported by Cricbuzz that Hurricanes spinner Rishad Hossain will be ruled out of the entire BBL|14 season with his Bangladeshi Premier League club opting not to grant him a release. The BPL starts on December 30, coinciding with the BBL. Read the full story here.
INSIGHTS
Strikers coach Tim Paine spoke on the Grade Cricketer podcast this week and noted his desire to use spinners Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce in tandem. He said: “We stumbled on a really exciting brand of cricket last year, playing lots of spin. We’ve got a really dynamic top order with the Shorts, Chris Lynn, I’ll just be encouraging them to take the game on, play to their strengths.
View Honeyball’s predicted line-ups of every club in BBL|14
View Honeyball’s SC BBL fixture analysis with doubles, byes & loopholes
View Honeyball’s comprehensive SC BBL availability calendar
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