The squads for the New Year’s Day double-header will be confirmed around 5pm AEDT.
SQUAD NEWS
The Melbourne Renegades will host the Sydney Sixers at Marvel Stadium. The Hobart Hurricanes face the Perth Scorchers with Hobart coach Jeff Vaughan speaking to the media on Wednesday, flagging Nikhil Chaudhary is no certainty to play after a shoulder worry.
Vaughan said: “The crowd would’ve seen Nik Chaudhary go down with a shoulder. We’ll work through that today, through training and give him as much time needed tomorrow. We’re pretty confident that he’ll play. But middle of the tournament, there’s always going to be some niggles. We’ll just work through that. We feel as though we’ve got some really good back-up. Our 12th to 18th player is really quite strong as well.”
Vaughan was asked if being 4-1 would enable them to not risk Chaudhary and added: “That won’t determine what we’re doing. Being 4-1 halfway through the tournament, we’re still attempting to put our strongest team on the park tomorrow night. Little bit more to work through with him at training today. We’ll know more in the next 24 hours.”
The Canes coach confirmed Beau Webster won’t play, having returned to the Test squad but flagged they’re hoping he’ll be available for their Round 7 double, starting January 9.
He said: “It was great for Beau to play some cricket… he’ll go re-convene with the Australian team. We’re hoping to have him back for the game on January 9 or January 11. Hopefully at the back-end of the tournament and some finals.”
Vaughan also backed all-rounder Mitch Owen to produce a big score soon. He said: “You mention his first game, 32 off 14 balls when we’re chasing 180, that was an important knock. From game one he was impactful.
“He’s been a little bit lean the last couple of games. Bowling well, taking some important wickets for us, he got Seifert out, Finn Allen out in Perth. He’s certainly impacting games, not solely with the bat. We’re really pleased with how he’s going. It feels like a big score is around the corner. Training well, hitting the ball nicely in the nets.”
The Canes have added local replacement Charlie Wakim – as cover for the injured Tim David – to their 14-player squad for the game with Webster dropping out.
Hobart Hurricanes
Ins: Wakim / Outs: Webster (Aus)
Hurricanes squad: Rehan Ahmed, Burdon, Chaudhary, Ellis (c), Rishad Hossain, Jordan, McDermott, Meredith, Owen, Stanlake, Wade, Wakim, Ward, Wright
The Scorchers added fast bowler Bryce Jackson for wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Inglis who returns to the Australia Test squad.
Perth Scorchers
Ins: Jackson / Outs: Inglis (Aus)
Scorchers squad: Turner (c), Agar, Allen, Beardman, Connolly, Couch, Evans, Fanning, Hardie, Hobson, Jackson, Marsh, Paris, Rocchiccioli
In the earlier game, the Renegades made one change with spinner Adam Zampa unavailable due to a neck muscle strain, opening the door for Fergus O’Neill to re-join their 14-player squad.
Melbourne Renegades
Ins: O’Neill / Outs: Zampa (injury)
Renegades squad: Sutherland (c), Behrendorff, Brown, Elliott, Fraser-McGurk, Hassan Khan, Jewell, O’Neill, Peake, Muhammad Rizwan, Sandhu, Seifert, Spoors, Tye
For the Sixers, Kane Richardson and Jake Scott drop out, with fast bowler Mitch Perry and all-rounder Hayden Kerr added.
Sydney Sixers
Ins: Perry, Kerr / Outs: Richardson, Scott
Sixers squad: Henriques (c), Abbott, Babar Azam, Chohan, Davies, Dwarshuis, Edwards, Hughes, Kerr, Manenti, Perry, Philippe, Shaw, Silk
UPDATES
Sydney Sixers all-rounder Sam Curran looks set to miss his side’s second game of their Round 9 double after being named in England’s ODI squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka series.
The ECB announced the squad will fly to Sri Lanka from the UK on January 18. BBL players will likely travel from Australia on the same day, which clashes with the Sixers’ final round-robin game against the Heat on that day.
Adelaide Strikers pair Luke Wood and Jamie Overton and Hobart’s Rehan Ahmed have also been called into that England squad and will miss BBL finals, but no round-robin games.
Curran’s BBL|15 availability is already significantly compromised with the Desert Vipers on Tuesday qualifying for the ILT20 Final to be played on January 4, meaning he’ll miss the first game (January 5) of their Round 6 double too. Scorchers quick David Payne is in the same Vipers team and will also arrive for Round 6.
Heat fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has been ruled out of the remainder of BBL|15 due to a knee injury, ending a disappointing campaign for the Pakistani.
The Heat announced: “Afridi will return home due to a knee injury. Afridi suffered a knee cartilage injury while fielding in the Heat’s final over win over the Adelaide Strikers at the Gabba on Saturday night.
“After consulting with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s medical staff during the past 24 hours, it was agreed that Afridi would cut short his KFC Big Bash League stint to return home for further treatment ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.”
