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Wayne Clark’s BBL08 Preview

Posted on | Posted by Wayne Clark

Adelaide Strikers

Last Season: 1st
Star Players: Rashid Khan, Colin Ingram
Outlook: Reigning champs who again will make their presence felt. Depth may be tested with a number of players (Cary, Siddle, Stanlake, Head, Lehman) up for international duties but their two imports in Khan and Ingram will play important roles. Jake Weatherald can light up the top order and Ben Laughlin and Michael Neser provide stability and depth to the bowling. One player who will get more opportunity is Victorian Matt Short, a quality young player to keep an eye on. The Strikers will again be right in the thick of it.
Top Runscorer: Colin Ingram ($3.20)
Top Wicket Taker: Rashid Khan ($1.90)
Verdict: 4th

Brisbane Heat

Last Season: 7th
Star Players: Chris Lynn, Brendon McCullum, Mujeeb ut Rahman
Outlook: Always a threat in this competition.  The Heat batsmen would be one of the most exciting groups assembled. Last year the Heat had a strike rate of 128.3 and with aggressive players like Brendon McCullum, Chris Lynn, Joe Burns, Jimmy Pierson and Alex Ross; scoring should be quick and entertaining. Add Matt Renshaw back into the fray with Marnus Labuschagne, and the exciting youngster Max Bryant providing batting depth, the Heat will cause some bowling attacks sleepless nights. The bowling group is very good with James Pattinson back fit and healthy and exciting 17 year old Mujeeb ut Rahman (Afghanistan) adding the X-factor. The Heat again will push for favouritism to win this trophy.
Top Runscorer: Joe Burns ($19)
Top Wicket Taker: Ben Cutting ($10)
Verdict: 1st

Hobart Hurricanes

Last Season: 2nd
Star Players: D’Arcy Short, Ben McDermott, Jofra Archer
Outlook: The Hurricanes field a very experienced group of players who will be hopeful of winning their first BBL trophy. George Bailey, Johan Botha, James Faulkner and Matthew Wade lead that group and when you add the talent of D’Arcy Short and Ben McDermott; the Hurricanes will be posting very competitive scores. Short will be hoping to repeat BBL07 (572 runs) and McDermott has shown he may be ready for a break-through year with the bat (if he doesn’t run himself out!). Overseas players Jofra Archer (16 wickets BBL07) and Tymal Mills (8) add some class to their bowling and with Faulkner, Meredith, Milenko, Moody and Rose, the depth in bowling will not be an issue. They could surprise.
Top Runscorer: Ben McDermott ($3.20)
Top Wicket Taker: Jofra Archer ($2.50)
Verdict: 6th

Melbourne Renegades

Last Season: Semi Finalists
Star Player: Cameron White
Outlook: The Renegades have one of the better-balanced squads in BBL08, and with the addition of Dan Christian from the Hurricanes, and the return for the full series of Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan) they will again be a side pushing deep into this competition. The loss of Dwayne Bravo (equal leading wicket-taker last season [18]) will hurt but with an attack including Kane Richardson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth, Cameron Boyce, Nabi and Dan Christian, his loss can be overcome. It is unknown how much Aaron Finch will be available, but Cameron White is ageless and Tom Cooper will come into the competition off fine results in the Shield competition. 3rd last year, they will again be pushing for a finals appearance.
Top Runscorer: Cameron White ($2.40)
Top Wicket Taker: Dan Christian ($4)
Verdict: 2nd

Melbourne Stars

Last Season: Last
Star Player: Dwayne Bravo
Outlook: The Stars have always looked good on paper but have generally been underwhelming in this competition. The addition of Dwayne Bravo may provide the catalyst to see a more dominant Stars side. Their batting line up is impressive, led by Glen Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dunk and Peter Handscome. It could have been better with the signing of Nic Maddison, but unfortunately Maddison will miss the majority of the series after suffering a broken wrist. There is no John Hastings this year so the Stars will be looking to Jackson Coleman and Scott Boland to step up to support Dwayne Bravo. The spin options look good with Adam Zampa, Michael Beer and overseas players Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal) and Matt Parkinson (England). It’s a balanced squad but can they perform consistently throughout the series?
Top Runscorer: Marcus Stoinis ($3.50)
Top Wicket Taker: Dwayne Bravo ($1.92)
Verdict: 5th

Perth Scorchers

Last Season: Semi Finalists
Star Players: Andrew Tye, David Willey
Outlook: The Scorchers go into this series looking for title number four, with one of the most stable line-ups in BBL08. Very few changes from last year and new coach Adam Voges will be expecting a finals appearance yet again. The batting was a little disappointing last year and the form of some of their players recently in the Sheffield Shield has been concerning. Despite this, I’m confident players like Hilton Cartwright, Shaun and Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner, Michael Klinger and Cameron Bancroft (after Christmas) will cause much concern for opposition bowling attacks. The Scorchers bowlers have always been hard to dominate, and signs are again positive with Andrew Tye leading an attack including Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jye Richardson, David Willey, Jason Behrendorf, Ashton Agar and Usman Qadir. One player to look out for could be young all-rounder Cameron Green – can bowl 140km+ and bat high up if necessary, a talent to follow. They should make finals again.
Top Runscorer: Hilton Cartwright ($6)
Top Wicket Taker: Andrew Tye ($2.85)
Verdict: 3rd

Sydney Sixers

Last Season: 5th
Star Player: Moises Henriques
Outlook: A disappointing franchise in recent years and they will need to lift on last year’s performance to be a threat this season. The Sixers will hope Moises Henriques can stay fit and import Joe Denly can provide the spark to an inconsistent batting line-up. A few young-guns that have been added (Josh Philippe, Jack and Mickey Edwards and Henry Thornton) may be able to provide that enthusiastic and fearless approach needed in this Sixers squad. Philippe may be the major surprise package in BBL08, an exciting strike player who is a great get for the Sixers. Thornton bowls quick and will add support to Sean Abbott (13 wickets BBL07) but there seems to be plenty of faith in spin this year with Stephen O’Keefe, Lloyd Pope and Dan Fallins, all included in the squad. The Sixers should improve but difficult to see them making finals.
Top Runscorer: Josh Philippe ($5.50)
Top Wicket Taker: Sean Abbott ($3.70)
Verdict: 7th

Sydney Thunder

Last Season: 6th
Star Players: Joe Root, Josh Butler
Outlook: The Sydney Thunder’s list looks a little like a who’s-who of international cricket – Joe Root, Josh Butler, Usman Khawaja, Pat Cummins; but how many games will these guys actually play? That is the question. Because of this fact I feel they are again going to struggle. Shane Watson will again carry big responsibilities but how long can he maintain the form required at this level? Players like Kurtis Patterson, Callum Ferguson, Ryan Gibson, Chris Green and young Jason Sanga will need to step up if enough runs can be scored consistently. In the bowling, spin will again be to the fore on the slow ANZ Stadium surface. Fawad Ahmed took 12 wickets last season and he was ably supported by Arjun Nair and Chris Green, but they will need support from the pace bowlers. Daniel Sams has shown promise, but I see it as weakness again for the struggling Thunder. Tough season ahead.
Top Runscorer: Callum Ferguson ($5)
Top Wicket Taker: Fawad Ahmed ($2.60)
Verdict: 8th

Odds correct as at 2pm, 13th December 2018.

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