Draft card: Middle-order stability key for Hurricanes

08 Sep 2023 Jack Paynter

We recap each club's draft strategy, overseas player availability and where they still need to strengthen their BBL|13 squad

Draft picks: Chris Jordan (Platinum), Sam Hain (Gold), Corey Anderson (Silver)

Draft spend: $880,000

Total payment pool post-draft: $2.12 million of $3m

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Hobart Hurricanes locked away half of their six marquee player spots in the draft by taking Chris Jordan, Sam Hain and Corey Anderson with platinum ($420,000), gold ($300,000) and silver selections ($200,000). Under new contracting rules announced in April – made possible by the new five-year Memorandum of Understanding between CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association – each club's total payments pool for players has increased by almost 58 per cent from $1.9m to $3m for KFC BBL|13.

A part of that $3m, each BBL club must have a minimum of six players (whether domestic, overseas or CA-contracted) who are paid $200,000 or more per season. The six marquee players at each club must collectively be paid a minimum of $1.7m in BBL|13 with all overseas players taken with a silver selection or higher considered marquees.

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A handful of the Hurricanes international representatives could be in line for the remaining three marquee spots with Matthew Wade, Tim David and Nathan Ellis all vying for a spot in Australia's T20 squad for next year's World Cup in the United States and Caribbean, while Ben McDermott and Riley Meredith have both been in Australian squads in the past 18 months. Wade recently signed a two-year contract extension, while David, Ellis and McDermott also signed extensions during the off-season.

Overseas availability

Pending international selection, Jordan may miss the Hurricanes’ opening three matches due to England's T20 series against the West Indies, which concludes on December 22. That would leave the right-armer available for Hobart's remaining seven regular season matches before leaving to join UAE domestic T20 side the Gulf Giants.

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Hain and Anderson are also involved in the ILT20 competition for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and MI Emirates respectively with the former New Zealand allrounder available for up to nine games and Hain the full 10 home-and-away matches. However, like Jordan, Hain's availability for the start of BBL|13 could be dependant on international selection with the 28-year-old batter this week named in England's ODI squad for the first time.

But the Hurricanes will be able to sign overseas replacement players when the trio are unavailable at the start or end of the tournament, as long as those players were part of the original 374 nominations for the BBL|13 Draft.

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BBL|13 squad (so far): Corey Anderson (USA), Iain Carlisle, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Nathan Ellis, Sam Hain (England), Peter Hatzoglou, Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan (England), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade, Mac Wright

Ins: Peter Hatzoglou (Scorchers)

Outs: Joel Paris (Stars), D'Arcy Short (Strikers)

Uncontracted from BBL|12: Wil Parker, Chris Tremain

Draft strategy

As has been the case for a number of years, when fully fit the Hurricanes boast a formidable pace attack with Australian representatives Ellis, Meredith and Billy Stanlake on the books. But given their susceptibility to injuries over the past few seasons, it's not surprise they looked to sure up their pace depth in the draft by adding England star Jordan into the mix.

Having pinched Hain from under the nose of the Brisbane Heat, the Gold Coast-raised English batter adds middle-order stability to a sometime volatile batting line up. With big-hitting allrounder Anderson joining the powerful trio of David, Wade and McDermott, the Hurricanes will look to bat around Hain – who averages more than 40 in the T20 format – in BBL|13.

Squad gaps

With the acquisition of leg-spinner Peter Hatzoglou from the Perth Scorchers and Jordan in the draft, along with the re-signing of Paddy Dooley at the end of last season, the Hurricanes have their spin and pace stocks sorted. They have three domestic list spots remaining for BBL|13 and will likely be looking for another opener to replace D'Arcy Short who signed with Adelaide Strikers during the off-season. That being said, they'll be hoping the in-form Caleb Jewell – who hit a superb century for Australia A this week against New Zealand A – can step up again after a breakthrough campaign last summer that yielded 289 runs striking at 144.50 with three half-centuries.