Willey or won't he? Allrounder set for BBL

The Perth Scorchers are set to retain England international David Willey for BBL|08 as the club begins a new era under Adam Voges.

Englishman Willey firmed as returning Scorchers star after new coach Voges hinted at it last week on Perth radio. The allrounder has been a valuable player for the club, featuring in 20 matches across the past three seasons, bolstering a club that prides itself on home-grown depth.

Willey has taken 24 wickets at an economy rate of 7.39, and scored 200 runs at a strike rate of 119.05, with a highest score of 55 in his 20 matches. 

His involvement with the Scorchers has been limited by England international commitments – he featured in six games last season, but only five in BBL|06 after playing nine in his debut season – but he could be available for the majority of BBL|08.

With the competition extended to a full home-and-away season this summer, the Scorchers will have 14 games, plus any finals.

Willey, a regular in England's limited-overs set-up, will almost certainly be called up for national duty at some stage with England due to be in the Caribbean for an extended tour in the new year. But fixtures have yet to be confirmed for that campaign, so the duration of his availability remains unclear, with England expected to play Tests first on an 11-week tour.

Voges won the competition three times as a player, twice as captain in 2015 and 2017, and was named coach of the state side and Scorchers earlier this year after Justin Langer was appointed to the national coaching role.

The Scorchers shunned a second import last year, but did replace Willey with fellow English seamer Tim Bresnan when he left for national duty.

The club has always kept their playing list a closely guarded secret, but a second international is likely this summer with spin-bowling back-up for Ashton Agar a potential target.

Cameron Bancroft will also likely make his return to top-flight cricket in the BBL, and could play as early as the December 30 match against Hobart in Launceston.

The Scorchers, and Western Australia cricket in general, also received a boost this month with Jason Behrendorff returning to the bowling crease.

Behrendorff, who made his international debut in a T20 against India last October, then suffered a flare up of a back injury that limited him to just two JLT Sheffield Shield games and a single domestic one-day match last summer. 

He posted a video to Instagram rolling the arm over at an indoor net session with the Warriors last week.