BBL|14 preview: Scorchers driven to amend last season's early exit

Perth Scorchers have had several injury and availability concerns over the past week, but with the disappointment of being knocked out of the finals on their home ground last season still burning, expect a strong response in the KFC BBL|14 opener against Melbourne Stars on Sunday.

Captain Ashton Turner has been named after recovering from a rib complaint, as has Ashton Agar who suffered a shoulder injury in the Sheffield Shield last month, while emerging allrounder Cooper Connolly is firming to return from a broken hand.

Should Turner be cleared to play, he'll lead a new-look Scorchers line-up featuring Kiwi blaster Finn Allen at the top of the order, with English recruits Keaton Jennings and Matthew Hurst also expected to play with Aaron Hardie missing due to a quad injury and Josh Inglis with the Test squad.

As always, the bowling unit is elite and, importantly, fit to start the season, with Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris, Jason Behrendorff and Andrew Tye ready to go, making it a tough job for selectors picking the team to face the Stars.

"We keep a really strong core of local talent that's helped us have success over the last little period," Scorchers head coach Adam Voges said.

"No doubt the disappointment of last season drives us, but we start afresh and look forward to Sunday."

Last season: Fourth, lost Knockout (6 wins, 4 losses, 1 no result)

 

BBL|14 squad: Ashton Agar, Finn Allen (New Zealand), Mahli Beardman, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Sam Fanning, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Matthew Hurst (England), Josh Inglis, Keaton Jennings (England), Matt Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Spoors, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye. Signed replacement player: Bryce Jackson

 

Ins: Mahli Beardman, Finn Allen (New Zealand), Matthew Hurst (England), Keaton Jennings (England), Matthew Spoors, Bryce Jackson

 

Outs: Hamish McKenzie (Stars), Laurie Evans (Renegades), Liam Haskett, Sam Whiteman

 

BBL|14 Draft selections: Finn Allen (pre-signed, allocated pick 8 – Platinum), Matthew Hurst (pick 18 – Silver), Keaton Jennings (pick 31 – Bronze)

Season fixture

Player availability

Test allrounder Mitch Marsh will be unavailable until at least the end of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India, which concludes with the fifth Test at the SCG from January 3-7. His participation in the Scorchers final three matches of BBL|14 will then depend on his workload across the series with Australia then set to travel to Sri Lanka for a two-Test series beginning on January 29.

Scorchers coach Adam Voges said the prospect of Marsh being available would only be known closer to the end of the Test series, while he said the Australian squad's reserve batter Josh Inglis won't be released for their first match against the Stars due the "tough" travel schedule from Brisbane to Perth and back again.

Aaron Hardie is unlikely to play until after Christmas as he recovers from a quad injury, while captain Ashton Turner (rib) and spinner Ashton Agar (shoulder) have proved their fitness for the first match of the season. Voges said allrounder Cooper Connolly (hand) was also "50-50" to play on Sunday after breaking his left hand when hit by Muhammad Hasnain in last month's third ODI against Pakistan.

Overseas recruits Finn Allen, Matthew Hurst and Keaton Jennings are all available for the entire BBL|14 campaign including finals.

Squad reinforcements

West Australian quick Bryce Jackson has signed as a replacement player for Marsh while he is away on Test duties. The 25-year-old right-armer took 6-31 in September in just his second List A game for WA. "We saw what he did earlier this year in the One-Day Cup, and we're really pleased to have him on board for BBL|14," Voges said.

Possible best XIs

Finn Allen, Josh Inglis (wk), Mitch Marsh, Aaron Hardie, Ashton Turner (c), Cooper Connolly, Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye

 

For the first game: Finn Allen, Keaton Jennings, Sam Fanning, Matthew Hurst (wk), Ashton Turner (c), Cooper Connolly, Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye

Inside word with Scorchers coach Adam Voges

Lesson from last season

"It was disappointing that we didn't play our best cricket at the time of the tournament that you need to. We took a lot of lessons out of that, and you've seen that in our list management with our overseas players (for BBL|14) and their (full) availability. All teams are going to get hit with Test selection with the tour of Sri Lanka and some teams will have overseas players leaving in the back half as well."

Losing Laurie Evans

"We've certainly been a big fan of Laurie for a long period of time and that was a really tough call that we needed to make knowing that Finn Allen was fully available, and Laurie wasn't. As soon as we made that call, we knew we opened ourselves up to Laurie being poached by another team. I'm sure he'll enjoy his time in Melbourne. We come up against him pretty early in game three at Marvel Stadium and like all teams we'll be well planned and prepared."

Pace depth

"If they're all fit and available, they can't all fit in and that's a nice selection headache to have. It was really positive to see Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff and Lance Morris out there (during our centre wicket scenarios this week) so our pace bowling stocks are looking good.

"(Richardson) got through the recent Sheffield Shield game in Adelaide well, albeit having a shoulder dislocation in the celebration (after taking two wickets in two balls). But he's fully functional and we expect him to be available for the first game."

Overseas recruits

Finn Allen (New Zealand): "The relationship he had playing with Josh Inglis in Major League Cricket was probably the catalyst for our discussions with him. We're really pleased to bring someone of the calibre of Finn into our squad, particularly with full availability and the commitment over a two-year period.

"He hits a big ball; he's going to put some pressure on opposition attacks and that's why we've brought him over. He's one of the more destructive batters in world cricket at the top of the order and it was certainly a role that we felt like we needed to fill."

Matthew Hurst (England): "We'd had some good discussions with Simon Katich who was coaching Matt in the Hundred at Manchester Originals. Matt's batting is really exciting, I think he'll adapt well to the conditions here and he can fill a role anywhere in our top four and he also has the ability to take the gloves if required."

Keaton Jennings (England): "His numbers over the past 18 months have been really strong and he provides us a bit more experience for us at the top of the order as well as a left-hand option. He has a nice relationship with Matt Hurst as well, they play together at Lancashire. He's played Test cricket but certainly the way he's gone about his white-ball cricket over the last period of time has attracted us."

Who opens with Allen?

"Without playing all of our cards, we've got multiple options. It'll be dictated by availability and personnel, but I've certainly got a few ideas. The beauty of who we've brought in from the overseas perspective is that we've got multiple options at the top of the order … to be able to sprinkle a little bit of local knowledge and skill sets in between those (overseas) guys will be important."

Player to watch

"I'm really excited for Cooper Connolly, albeit he's coming in under a little bit of an injury cloud for this first game. I think he'll get better and better as the tournament wears on. He's an exciting talent and announced himself on the BBL stage a couple of years ago in that final. We're certainly looking forward to seeing him continue to develop and impact games and hopefully he can have a really positive role for us this season."

Team to beat

"We play the Stars first game so they are the ones we need to beat on Sunday and then we'll go from there."

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

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