BBL|14 preview: Heat face early challenge in title defence

It'll be a different looking Brisbane Heat side that takes the field next Wednesday for their season opener to the one that stormed to the KFC BBL title last summer.

The defending champions are missing their three Australian players – captain Usman Khwaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney – and their two star quicks, Michael Neser and Spencer Johnson, are under injury clouds.

It presents a tough initiation for new head coach Johan Botha who inherits a stable list on paper that fans will be expecting to feature again come the business end of the season.

Rising talent Xavier Bartlett will lead the pace attack to open the campaign with Neser and Johnson unavailable and he'll be looking to build on a breakout BBL|13 campaign that saw him top the wickets tally followed by an international debut.

"He's done really well for Australia, he did a great job for the Heat last season and with two of our senior bowlers under an injury cloud at the moment, he's going to become huge," Botha told cricket.com.au.

The Heat secured Colin Munro's return for a third straight season with the Kiwi journeyman signing a two-year deal ahead of the draft. The left-hander will likely captain the side again for the first half of the season with Khawaja absent on Test duties.

Fan favourite 'Tall' Paul Walter returns for another season, with the Heat also selecting 29-year-old Sussex wicketkeeper-batter Tom Alsop in the draft in September.

"Their availability is for the full tournament and that's very important because when I was with Adelaide Strikers in BBL|12, three or four of their main players left after about game eight and things fell away pretty quickly," Botha said.

"Hopefully Matthew Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson, Colin Munro or someone else can have a good start to the tournament and then carry that momentum through."

Last season: Champions (9 wins, 2 losses, 2 no result)

 

BBL|14 squad: Tom Alsop (England), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Colin Munro (New Zealand), Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Will Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Callum Vidler, Paul Walter (England), Jack Wildermuth, Jack Wood

 

Ins: Callum Vidler, Tom Alsop (England)

 

Outs: Josh Brown (Renegades), Sam Billings (Thunder)

 

BBL|14 Draft selections: Colin Munro (pre-signed, allocated pick 7 – Platinum), Paul Walter (pick 14 – Gold), Tom Alsop (pick 30 – Bronze)

Season fixture

Player availability

In a blow for the Heat's title defence, star allrounder Michael Neser is set to miss the first half of the season with a hamstring injury, while Spencer Johnson is also under an injury cloud.

Test batters Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne will also be unavailable until at least their eighth match of the campaign (against Adelaide Strikers on January 11) due to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India.

But the positive is, all three of their overseas recruits – New Zealand's Colin Munro, and Englishmen Paul Walter and Tom Alsop – will be available for the entire season including finals.

Possible best XIs

Usman Khawaja (c), Colin Munro, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Paul Walter, Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann, Mitch Swepson

 

For the first game: Colin Munro (c), Max Bryant, Tom Alsop, Matthew Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson, Paul Walter, Jack Wildermuth, Will Prestwidge, Xavier Bartlett, Matt Kuhnemann, Mitch Swepson

Inside word with new Heat coach Johan Botha

Title defence

"It's something we'll have to deal with throughout the season – everyone's going to expect us just to do it again, which doesn't just happen. We're going to still have to play good cricket and get ourselves into winning positions and then hopefully be good enough to take those opportunities. You don't just carry over momentum, you've got to start all over again and other teams will want to play well against us."

Bowling depth

"The bowling attack was outstanding last season. They had six guys, six different options and all six were in the top 20 at the end of the tournament. The key for us (in BBL|14) is going to be making enough runs to give that bowling unit something to defend.

"We're going to call on a few more this season – Michael Neser's (hamstring) injured until probably mid-January, Spencer Johnson's (toe) not 100 per cent at the moment so we could start the tournament with two of our main bowlers out. Our starting XI for this first game won't be the same as the final from last season.

Who opens?

"We've got Jimmy Peirson and Max Bryant – we've got options, and we'll work through that in the next few days. One of those two will probably go with 'Munners' (Colin Munro) or that could be three out of our top four or five. Teams that have been successful in the BBL, their keeper bats in the top six and Jimmy can certainly do that … if you want to fit in six bowlers, that becomes an important piece."

Overseas recruits

Colin Munro (New Zealand): "Munners is our pre-draft, long-term signing and he's got so much experience, we can definitely lean on that a lot especially with our three Test players not here. (The captaincy with Khawaja away) is another part of it we want Munners to fill, and he's done it in a lot of different tournaments around the world."

Paul Walter (England): "He was an important one for us to get back – the crowd and their engagement in the game and team plays a big part and he's very good with that."

Tom Alsop (England): "Availability was a big one for us and he's played really well over in England in the Blast and Hundred. I liked the way he played spin and that's a big part of the middle overs of short-form cricket and he's a back-up 'keeper.

Player to watch

"Matt Renshaw has been in excellent white-ball form so he's going to be an important batter for us. He's played so well in the one-dayers this season … certainly as well as I've seen him play, so hopefully he can continue that."

Teams to beat

"This tournament is so close. The Strikers have signed pretty well, you can't go past the Scorchers because they know how to win and then the Sixers are the other team that have been very successful. Those are the top three for me … and we have to play the Strikers and Sixers twice, so that's going to be a little test for us."

Season previews: Strikers | Heat | Hurricanes | Renegades | Stars | Scorchers | Sixers | Thunder

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