Big Bash 2015/16 team guide: Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne Renegades rated
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Tuesday 15 December 2015 14:45, UK
Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Renegades... here's part one of our Big Bash League preview...
ADELAIDE STRIKERS (2014/15: First, semi-finalists)
They can win it because…
After years of underachievement, the Strikers qualified for the semi-finals for the first time last year, topping the table with six wins from eight.
They can't win it because…
They were soundly beaten in that semi-final, dismissed for 94 in an 87-run thrashing at the hands of the Sydney Sixers. Doubts remain over their ability to mix it with the bigger boys of the BBL.
Six-hitter
Tim Ludeman. He upstaged Kevin Pietersen on his Big Bash debut last year, smashing an unbeaten 92 from 44 balls as the Strikers chased down the Stars' 149-run target inside 13 overs on the opening night of the tournament. Ludeman never looked back, striking the second-most sixes in the competition, with 11.
Wicket-taker
Ben Laughlin. Although he took 13 wickets in his first year in Adelaide, he was expensive, conceding 8.61 runs an over. Laughlin is still the leading wicket-taker in the Big Bash with 48 at an average of 19.54 due in large part to his efforts in Hobart in the previous three seasons. Much is expected of him.
Overseas influence
Adil Rashid. The leg-spinner's exclusion from England's Test tour of South Africa has given him the opportunity to further develop his white-ball skills, working closely with his county coach at Yorkshire, Jason Gillespie. It's Rashid's BBL debut, but he had success during a spell with South Australia in the previous domestic T20 competition, taking 10 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14, helping them to the 2010/11 title. Kieron Pollard was also supposed to return but has been ruled out through injury.
BRISBANE HEAT (2014/15: Eighth)
They can win it because…
West Indies spinner Samuel Badree is ranked second in the World T20 rankings. That's all we've got...
They can't win it because…
They finished rock-bottom of the table last year with just two wins from eight. A toothless bowling attack was the main problem, with Dan Christian's six wickets in seven games leading the way, and he has since left for Hobart, further depleting their ranks. Plus, international commitments will prevent Brendon McCullum from representing Heat, while there is no Freddie Flintoff and Elvis medleys to inspire this year…
Six-hitter
Joe Burns. Struggled last year, averaging a pretty pathetic 9.66 in his three matches, but has sufficiently impressed for Australia since being called up to the ODI side in the summer, and returning to the Test team. Chris Lynn and Nathan Reardon both smashed 10 sixes in 2014/15, so keep an eye on them, too.
Wicket-taker
Badree. Not a huge amount to pick from, but the West Indian leg-spinner could offer a similar threat to the one his countryman Sunil Narine poses in the Indian Premier League, and new Heat head coach, Daniel Vettori, is about as good a spinner as you'd want to learn from in T20 cricket. Brisbane veteran James Hopes is also a consistent performer with the ball.
Overseas influence
Lendl Simmons. Should form a sensational opening partnership with McCullum. Simmons has been a revelation for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL over the last couple of years, with nine fifties and a ton in 21 appearances.
HOBART HURRICANES (2014/15: Fifth)
They can win it because…
Kumar Sangakkara and Shaun Tait are two high-profile additions to an already strong-looking T20 squad which includes Darren Sammy, Dan Christian, Cameron Boyce, George Bailey and Tim Paine.
They can't win it because…
Runners-up two years ago, the Hurricanes took a step back last year, finishing fifth, and although the team boasts the talent listed above, Boyce is the only one of those names listed who is under the age of 30. The squad appears to lack some younger legs.
Six-hitter
Darren Sammy. The West Indies all-rounder returns after playing in four games last year. In those outings, Sammy smacked three sixes, to place him joint-second in the team for six-hitting on the year. The onus will be on him to clear the boundary again.
Wicket-taker
Shaun Tait. The death-bowling, toe-crushing specialist is headed for Tasmania from the shores of South Australia. He took eight wickets in six games last year for Adelaide, with an impressive economy rate of only 6.94 an over.
Overseas influence
Kumar Sangakkara. Hobart is Sangakkara's next stop on his extended farewell tour from cricket. It was Surrey who benefited from the Sri Lankan's class this summer, as he scored 332 runs across nine innings at an average of 41.50, with a strike rate of 149.54 in the T20 Blast.
MELBOURNE RENEGADES (2014/15: Sixth)
They can win it because…
The side is stacked. After years in the shadows of their star-studded and star-named neighbours at the MCG, the Renegades arguably now have the stronger squad and are poised to take the city under the stewardship of Melbourne native, and former England bowling coach, David Saker.
They can't win it because…
The Renegades have threatened to challenge before, but have made the semi-finals only once, three years ago, and were bettered by their noisy neighbours in both contests last year.
Six-hitter
Chris Gayle. He smashed a staggering 29 sixes for Somerset - the joint-highest in the T20 Blast - this summer. All the more incredible, those sixes came in only three matches, compared to the 14 it took Worcestershire's Ross Whiteley and Sussex's Luke Wright. Gayle was dismissed only once, and scored 15 of his sixes in an unbeaten 151 from 62 balls against Kent. If you missed that, you surely won't have escaped his World Cup double hundred against Zimbabwe, all 10 fours and 16 sixes of it...
Wicket-taker
James Pattinson. If and when he is fit to play. Peter Siddle adds some more international pedigree to the mix, as do discarded Ashes spinners from an era Australia would rather forget, Xavier Doherty and Nathan Hauritz.
Overseas influence
Dwayne Bravo. A stalwart of the Chennai Super Kings' successes in the IPL. He joins his West Indies team-mate Gayle in adding some Caribbean flair to the Renegades, and also some skilled death bowling.
Watch the whole of the 2015-16 Big Bash live on Sky Sports, starting with Sydney Thunder v Sydney Sixers from 8.30am, Thursday, Sky Sports 1.
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