BBL|16 isn’t far away and squads are getting firmed up, so Honeyball is going club by club to analyse ins/outs, key intel and predicted line-ups for the season start.
Contracted squad (15)
Batsmen: Josh Brown, Harry Dixon, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Caleb Jewell, Ollie Peake
All-rounders: Michael Bracewell (NZ), Ben Manenti, Will Sutherland
Wicketkeepers: Jonny Bairstow (ENG)
Bowlers: Michael Archer, Jason Behrendorff (out for season injured), Brendan Doggett, Sam Elliott, Tom Rogers, Callum Stow
Rumoured: Chris Lynn, Mustafizur Rahman
Changes
Ins: Jonny Bairstow, Michael Bracewell, Ben Manenti (Sixers)
Outs: Fergus O’Neill (Sixers), Andrew Tye (retired), Tim Seifert (Sixers), Will Salzmann (Thunder), Adam Zampa (Hurricanes)
TBC: Gurinder Sandhu, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Spoors, Muhammad Rizwan (Pakistan), Hassan Khan (Pakistan/USA)
Key Intel
The ‘Gades have declared Jonny Bairstow will take the gloves, providing them with a wicketkeeper option. New Gades coach Luke Ronchi said: “He’s aggressive, he puts pressure back on the opposition and he’s capable of changing a game very quickly. We’re building a squad that we believe can play an exciting and aggressive brand of cricket and Jonny is a great fit for that.”
Michael Bracewell is a powerful left-handed batter and right-arm off-spinner. Ronchi said: “Michael gives us a lot of options and that’s incredibly valuable in T20 cricket. He’s a genuine all-rounder. He can play a number of different roles with the bat, he’s a very smart off-spinner and he brings a huge amount of experience from playing international and franchise cricket around the world.”
Bowling all-rounder and Italy international Ben Manenti is the other addition. Ronchi said: “He’s coming off an outstanding period of cricket and he’s a highly competitive player who offers genuine flexibility with both bat and ball, and just as importantly he’s the type of character we want in our environment.”
Big-hitting top-order bat Chris Lynn and left-arm quick Mustafizur Rahman are yet to be formally confirmed.
Further Info
The ‘Gades have lost plenty of key bowlers this off-season so the season-ending shoulder injury to Jason Behrendorff is a cruel blow. It’s unlikely any squad members will be part of Australia’s Test squad at this stage.
Predicted Line-up
There’s still some players to be announced in Lynn and Mustafizur, while the future of last season’s leading wicket-taker Gurinder Sandhu isn’t locked in either, but let’s assume all 3 are available for BBL|16, so we’ve slotted them in.
Lynn adds big-hitting ability at the top of the order along with Jonny Bairstow to compliment Josh Brown and Jake Fraser-McGurk, with Tim Seifert and Muhammad Rizwan departing. Ollie Peake was decent last season, scoring 165 runs in 6 knocks, so he’ll hold his spot at 5.
The addition of Michael Bracewell and Ben Manenti adds some good all-round batting options to their middle order around captain Will Sutherland.
The bowling stocks are depleted, which is the biggest concern, so expect some additions to come. Tom Rogers and Sandhu are good BBL players. There’s some new all-round options plus Mustafizur could be handy with his off-cutters, effectively replacing Behrendorff. Manenti could come in and out for Callum Stow or Michael Archer. If Sandhu doesn’t sign, Brendan Doggett is next in line.
1 Josh Brown
2 Jonny Bairstow (wk)
3 Chris Lynn*
4 Jake Fraser-McGurk
5 Ollie Peake
6 Michael Bracewell
7 Will Sutherland (c)
8 Ben Manenti
9 Tom Rogers
10 Gurinder Sandhu*
11 Mustafizur Rahman*
