BBL|14 preview: Strategic signings complement Sixers stability

Sydney Sixers have played off in four of the past five KFC BBL deciders and you'd be a brave judge to suggest they won't be thereabouts again this season.

That consistency has been built on their squad stability, with all their local players except retired great Steve O'Keefe returning for another crack at claiming a fourth men's title for the SCG-based club.

Add in English veteran James Vince who is back to open the batting for a seventh straight campaign and fans know what to expect from the perennial contenders.

O'Keefe will be a big loss, with the Sixers dipping into their overseas recruits to help fill the void, securing West Indies star left-armer Akeal Hosein as their direct signing before picking up emerging English leggie Jafer Chohan in the draft.

Victorian Todd Murphy also looms a key weapon and captured 4-27 with the white-ball in a 50-over match against reigning champions Western Australia last month.

Sixers captain Moises Henriques says even he wasn't a "huge fan of facing" Murphy.

"Which is obviously a big reason why we targeted him when he was playing for Victoria," Henriques told cricket.com.au.

"I could tell being a right-hander who likes to face off-spin that when I wasn't a huge fan of facing him, I (knew) he'd be a great asset for us, and he has been so far.

"He'll definitely start (the season) for us and I'm looking forward to watching him continue to grow and develop."

Last season: Runners-up (7 wins, 3 losses, 2 no result)

 

BBL|14 squad: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Jafer Chohan (England), Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Akeal Hosein (West Indies), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Ben Manenti, Todd Murphy, Kurtis Patterson, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Jordan Silk, Steve Smith, James Vince (England). Signed replacement player: Lachlan Shaw

 

Marquee supplementary list: Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc

 

Ins: Akeal Hosein (Renegades), Jafer Chohan (England), Ben Manenti (Strikers)

 

Outs: Steve O'Keefe (retired), Tom Curran (Stars)

 

BBL|14 Draft selections: James Vince (pick 2 – Platinum), Akeal Hosein (pre-signed, allocated pick 16 – Gold), Jafer Chohan (pick 32 – Bronze)

Season fixture

Player availability

The Sixers have a few injury concerns (detailed below) heading into their opening game of BBL|14 against Melbourne Renegades on Monday and won't see Test star Steve Smith until at least potentially their seventh game of the season against Melbourne Stars on January 9. They are also awaiting confirmation on whether Sean Abbott will be released from the Brisbane Test squad to play in their opening game.

Overseas spinner Akeal Hosein will miss at least the opening match due to West Indies T20 series against Bangladesh and will then be available for seven games until departing for the UAE's ILT20 competition, which is where top draft pick James Vince will also be heading to captain Gulf Giants after playing most of the home-and-away season for the Sixers. But emerging leg-spinner Jafer Chohan is available for the entire season as well as finals unless he's called into the England white-ball squad again for their tour of India in January.

Possible best XIs

James Vince, Steve Smith, Josh Philippe (wk), Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Jack Edwards, Sean Abbott, Akeal Hosein, Ben Dwarshuis, Todd Murphy, Jackson Bird

 

For the first game: James Vince, Josh Philippe (wk), Kurtis Patterson, Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Jack Edwards, Sean Abbott, Akeal Hosein, Ben Dwarshuis, Todd Murphy, Jackson Bird

Inside word with Sixers captain Moises Henriques

Squad stability

"I don't really know exactly how (we keep the squad so consistent). I'm sure there's probably plenty in the squad playing for less than what they could be getting elsewhere. For a lot of the guys, I assume being able to be in Sydney over summer and enjoy the beaches is a draw card.

"I'd love it if they said it had something to do with the culture at the team and they love being around the group, but I feel like it's not my place to comment on that as someone who's trying to create a good environment. I'm hopeful that's the effect that that has – it's definitely the aim."

Injury update

"I'll (groin) be fine for the first game to bat and bowl as long as nothing happens in the practice games. Ben Dwarshuis (pectoral) is travelling really well, we were both supposed to play club cricket last Saturday but it was rained out. He'll play in the practice games (an intra-squad and against Adelaide Strikers). I faced him at training a couple of times in the last week or two and he's flying.

"He's a little bit ahead of Hayden Kerr (hamstring) but Hayden is going to play in the practice games as well, but we'll have to keep monitoring him as he hasn't played at all yet this season. But he's expected to be right to go for the first game and the same with Daniel Hughes (elbow) – it's looking like everyone should be available for the first game and if not, the second."

Emergence of Jack Edwards

"His bowling last season in T20 cricket really came along and over the last two years in all formats his bowling has been really strong – he was probably our best one-day bowler last season for NSW, and he's had a great start to the season again with the ball in Sheffield Shield and one-day cricket. I'm sure he'll have a similar, if not better, season with the ball than he did last season.

"He's got so much talent with the bat as well … he was really close last season on a number of occasions of winning us a game with the bat and he made multiple scores between 15 and 20-odd in that position of six to seven where if he just got a couple more boundaries away, or hung around to the 20th over, he turns it into a really important 35 or 40 not out that can win us a game.

"For him and for us as a team, once he's doing that two or three times a season with the bat, that's going to be the icing on the cake to go with his bowling, which is already more than enough to keep him in any T20 team."

Replacing Steve O'Keefe

"The fact we've had to replace Stephen O'Keefe with an overseas player speaks to how important he was to our team. We specifically thought we needed to get someone like Akeal Hosein to replace what Steve was able to do for us. How Akeal goes will play a big part in how seamless that transition is (following O'Keefe's retirement).

Overseas recruits

Akeal Hosein (West Indies): "I think he'll bat a little bit higher than what 'SOK' (O'Keefe) did, but he gives us that versatility that SOK did of being able to bowl in the Powerplay, through the middle and even at the end if needed."

James Vince (England): "He basically wrote our team song a couple of years ago so he's a huge part of our mentality and our squad and the boys love having him out. In T20 cricket there's a lot of people who want to bat at the top of the order and he does it much better than most … but he offers a lot more than that; he's a good leader, great fielder and off the field as well. It says a lot about James the fact that we keep going back to him even though we do have so many opening options … (in) Josh Philippe, Dan Hughes, Jack Edwards and Kurtis Patterson."

Jafer Chohan (England): "We didn't have a leggie in the squad, and we were keen on trying to find someone with a bit of an X-factor that not a lot of people have seen or faced or be able to pick and not have too much intel on. When he got picked in the England white-ball squad (for the West Indies tour) we felt our intuition wasn't a million miles away. He was at training the other day and he was bowling very nicely … he might start in the first game if Akeal's not out here."

Player to watch

"I'll go Jack Edwards on the back of a 10-wicket haul in the last Shield game and a pretty good season for us (in BBL|13)."

Team to beat

"From our point of view, it's usually always the Scorchers but maybe for us this year after being beaten in the final, we'd love to get one back over the Heat."

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

BKT Big Bash Tipping is back! Simply select who you think will win each match and you’ll be in with the chance to win $1k every week, plus KFC vouchers and signed merch. Join now