Winless Melbourne Stars welcome internationals Glenn Maxwell and Ben Duckett as Adelaide lose an overseas recruit for the season
Maxwell returns as Stars, Strikers get England boost
Glenn Maxwell is set to make his comeback from a hamstring injury on Friday night after being named in the Melbourne Stars squad to face the Strikers in Adelaide.
The superstar allrounder hasn't played since November 18 after injuring his left hamstring while fielding in the third T20 against Pakistan and has watched from the sidelines as the Stars slipped to 0-2 to start KFC BBL|14.
Captain Marcus Stoinis declared at the club's season launch last week that there was no one more deserving of a Big Bash title than Maxwell and the Stars desperately need him to help get their campaign back on track.
The Stars' batting unit has only managed totals of 9-146 and 6-162 in their two games so far this season, losing both convincingly as Perth Scorchers chased down the first with 17 balls to spare and Brisbane Heat the second with 11 balls remaining.
The Stars have lost their past 10 matches batting first, but their most recent victory setting a total came against the Strikers on New Year's Eve two years ago.
Maxwell and Ben Duckett will add a much-needed boost to the batting line-up, with the England Test opener also named in the squad for the first time this season following their 2-1 series victory in New Zealand.
Duckett was taken by the Stars with the first pick in the BBL|14 Draft and returns to the Big Bash for his second season after scoring 302 runs in 12 games for the Heat in BBL|11.
"It's been a lot of a harder grind than I probably thought it was going to be," Maxwell said on Fox Cricket last night prior to the Stars' loss to the Heat.
"I feel really proud that I have been able to shorten the recovery time.
Stars squad v Strikers: Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Ben Duckett, Brody Couch, Tom Curran, Sam Harper, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Jonathan Merlo, Adam Milne, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Beau Webster
"I think my expected return date was probably around Boxing Day so to be able to get back a little bit earlier and face off against the Strikers on the Friday, I'm really proud of."
Peter Siddle also comes back into the Stars 14-player squad, while overseas replacement player Joe Clarke drops out and won't play again in BBL|14 as he heads home to England for Christmas before joining Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the UAE T20 tournament in January.
Campbell Kellaway and Blake Macdonald are the other omissions.
The Strikers have also welcomed their own England Test star for Friday's clash at Adelaide Oval with vice-captain Ollie Pope joining the squad.
However, they've lost West Indies recruit Fabian Allen for the rest of the season after he suffered a "high-grade" right hamstring injury while fielding on the boundary in their first up loss to Sydney Thunder on Tuesday.
Strikers squad v Stars: Matt Short (c), James Bazley, Cam Boyce, Brendan Doggett, Liam Haskett, Chris Lynn, Jamie Overton, Lloyd Pope, Ollie Pope, Alex Ross, Liam Scott, D'Arcy Short, Henry Thornton, Jake Weatherald
"This was Fabian's first time in Australia, and everyone was so excited to see what he could do with the bat, the ball and in the field," said Simon Insley, the Strikers general manager of cricket.
"We are all gutted that the results of the scans have come back ruling him out for the rest of the tournament.
"We wish him well in his recovery and hope to see him and his wife back in Adelaide in the near future."
Pope, who hit a half-century in each of the first and second Tests against New Zealand, was the Strikers' direct signing for BBL|14 prior to the draft and will be available for the rest of the season, including finals.
The 26-year-old scored 224 runs at 32, including a career-best T20 score of 99 not out, to help Surrey reach the semi-finals of England's T20 Blast this year.
Pope said today he would bat in the middle-order for the Strikers and take the gloves after keeping in all three Tests of England's tour of New Zealand with Jamie Smith on paternity leave.
"The Big Bash is a tournament that is one of my first memories of cricket, waking up watching it on the TV on the weekends," Pope said.
"So to be playing it is awesome and what a great place to play as well (at Adelaide Oval).
"I played one Ashes Test here and it didn't quite go as planned, but it's a really exciting month ahead … I'm around for the whole thing so it's good to really get stuck in and not have to just play a couple of games to make an impact."
Harry Nielsen is the other omission for the Strikers with Pope to take over the wicketkeeping duties, while quicks Brendan Doggett and Liam Haskett have been included.
KFC BBL|14 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HUR
|
10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -0.12 | 0 | 15 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.156 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
THU
|
10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.34 | 0 | 12 |
|
4
STA
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.135 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
SCO
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.219 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
REN
|
10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.139 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
HEA
|
10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | -0.831 | 0 | 7 |
|
8
STR
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -0.122 | 0 | 6 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
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