Role changes deliver Hurricanes elusive silverware: BBL|14 review

Hobart Hurricanes "invested in their environment" and it paid off in spades in KFC BBL|14, crowned Big Bash champions for the first time on a night that will live long in the memory of Tasmanian sport.

With predominantly the same players and coaches, the Hurricanes reversed years of mediocre results to cap a dominant season by lifting the BBL trophy at home in front of a sold-out Ninja Stadium.

They unearthed a new star in Mitch Owen who shot to global prominence with a record 39-ball century in the Final, and leaders Nathan Ellis, Matthew Wade, Tim David, Ben McDermott and Riley Meredith all enjoyed strong campaigns to lift Hobart to the top of domestic T20 cricket in Australia.

"The biggest thing we're talking about in our review now is how we created an environment that's built around trust," said Salliann Beams, the Hurricanes' high performance general manger.

"We've got some key players that you would perceive as having quite big egos that play around the world, but actually they're just humans.

"High performing and functional teams, for me, are based around trust and when you've got that between a group, you can have really good conversations, make people accountable and get full commitment to what we're trying to do.

"And that's what happened because we had the same players, we moved a few around, but we invested in our environment, and it paid off."

Several role changes were also key to the Hurricanes' triumph, none more so than Owen's move to the top of the order.

The 23-year-old had a top score of just 28 in 13 BBL appearances spread across four seasons prior to BBL|14, but peeled off a 63-ball hundred against Perth Scorchers in just his second T20 match opening the batting.

But he saved his best for last, equalling Craig Simmons' record for the fastest BBL century to ensure 15,706 adoring Hurricanes fans chanting his name wouldn't have to wait any longer for Big Bash success.

Other more subtle but just as impactful shifts saw Wade take on a flexible batting position and Ben McDermott move permanently to No.4, aimed at combating spin through the middle overs which had previously been an "Achilles heel" for the Hurricanes.

While the season couldn't have started worse – bowled out for 74 against Melbourne Renegades in Geelong – Beams knew they "would be OK" as soon as they reviewed that game.

"It is so emotional Big Bash cricket and you're managing so many different people," she said. "It actually doesn't matter what plan you have, it's just making sure you're consistent to it."

Seven straight wins followed as the Hurricanes locked up top spot and a home Qualifier final with a game to spare, allowing them to rest star speedster Riley Meredith for their final home-and-away fixture against the Stars, while skipper Ellis only bowled one over.

Many of those seven wins were by big margins too, thumping five-time champions Perth Scorchers by eight wickets, and fellow finalists Sydney Sixers by 50 runs and the Thunder by six wickets with more than three overs to spare.

After accounting for the Sixers in the Qualifier to earn a home grand final for the first time, they fought back with the ball in the decider after conceding an opening stand of 97, before Owen's 108 from 42 balls carried them to their maiden title with almost six overs to spare.

And with the addition of Test allrounder Beau Webster during the post-season Player Movement window, Beams believes the 'Canes are well equipped for sustained success.

"We've got our key players, and we've got Beau coming back, I hope that sounds as scary as it is," she said.

"One thing we can't take our eye off is looking who those (next) players are in three years' time because if we do get off to a good run and create success, we don't want to fall off the back of the cliff either.

"So it's making sure that we've got a good crop of young players coming through."

Season snapshot

BBL|14 result: Champions (9 wins, 2 losses, 1 no result), beat Thunder in Final by seven wickets

 

Most runs: Mitch Owen (452 at 45.20)

 

Best strike rate (min. 50 runs): Mitch Owen (203.60)

 

Most wickets: Riley Meredith (16 at 20.25)

 

Best economy (min. 10 overs):  Nathan Ellis (7.86)

 

Contracted for BBL|15: Iain Carlisle (contracted until BBL|15), Nikhil Chaudhary (BBL|17), Nathan Ellis (BBL|17), Chris Jordan (BBL|15), Ben McDermott (BBL|17), Riley Meredith (BBL|17), Mitch Owen (BBL|17), Matthew Wade (BBL|15), Beau Webster (BBL|17), Mac Wright (BBL|15)

 

In: Beau Webster (Stars)

 

Out: Caleb Jewell (Renegades)

 

Uncontracted: Marcus Bean, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Jake Doran, Cameron Gannon, Peter Hatzoglou, Shai Hope, Waqar Salamkheil, Billy Stanlake, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward

International impact

English veteran Chris Jordan returned to the Hurricanes for the second straight season, and while his wickets and runs output dipped from BBL|13, he was a vital cog in their run to the title. The right-armer was captain Nathan Ellis' go to bowler alongside himself for the tough Power Surge and death overs, finishing with seven wickets at an economy rate of 8.85 in nine matches.

"Chris Jordan, Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith and Billy Stanlake before he got injured, they were excellent in our conditions – I've never seen so many yorkers that well executed," Hurricanes high performance general manager Salliann Beams said.

West Indies batter Shai Hope made some handy contributions in his maiden BBL stint with scores of 38 and 37 in his five games but was unable to kick on big score. The Hurricanes also picked Rishad Hossain in last year's overseas player draft, but when the leg-spinner withdrew due to his Bangladesh commitments, Afghanistan left-armer Waqar Salamkheil stepped in to fill the void. Salamkheil took six wickets in five games, but his wrist spin proved expensive at times, conceding 9.45 runs per over. Like Hope, Salamkheil departed mid-tournament to play in the UAE league, with the Hurricanes backing their local players like Peter Hatzoglou and Caleb Jewell for the rest of the tournament.

Season recap with high performance GM Salliann Beams

The turnaround

"The stuff that was done off field was probably the biggest difference I saw from last year to this year. The likes of Tim David, who was kind of leading those standards and making people accountable to what we said we were going to do. Building the environment where the guys had a presence and a voice in preparation or review meetings. It ended up being an incredible experience that, we got the win at the end, which was great, but it was just incredibly enjoyable for everyone. And we were consistent to our plan, and we made sure those standards remained the same all the way through."

Mitch Owen's breakout

"We saw that a lot of teams were backing their younger players, and we had one. We gave him the opportunity in the One-Day Cup to see how he would go in that opening spot and we saw a great glimpse in a low scoring game at the WACA Ground. We were worried about the condition of the pitch, but Mitch went out and played in his way and it was enough for us to know we we're ready to go with the move. Opening the batting you've got one message and one role, and he came off brilliantly, and that built confidence in the rest of the team."

New roles for Wade and McDermott

"We changed a few roles – Matthew Wade was incredible in being flexible wherever we played him. Not many teams have that luxury where a player can play numerous roles and go wherever for the good of the team.

"We knew that playing spin in the middle overs was normally our Achilles heel and, in the past, we've tried to get overseas players to fill those spots, which is tough because not only do you get overseas pressure when you're having to play in different scenarios, it's bloody hard. So Ben McDermott took up that role of four, as opposed to opening, brilliantly and adapted to every scenario."

Nathan Ellis' leadership

"As a new leader, the biggest skill Nathan had to understand was that he can't do it on his own and he's actually got four people around him (Matthew Wade, Ben McDermott, Tim David and Riley Meredith) that have got numerous different strengths that supplement his growth areas and therefore they make him complete.

"And he was willing to show that it's not all about him and brought people on that journey. He made himself a really robust, strong force, and that's probably been a big difference from last season, rather than trying to do it on your own, using the people around him – he made sure we've just got no blind spots."

Home ground dominance

"We definitely talked about the Ninja Stadium dimensions in that we've probably fallen for traps in the past that square (of the wicket) is shorter and it's longer straighter, so we've targeted square. But we went the opposite way and backed our power to be able to still create twos and fours by targeting straight. And from a bowling point of view, we had a simpler plan of trying to get batters to hit us straight, rather than using our variations."

Looking ahead to BBL|15

Being the hunted

"I feel we'll cope with it very well. We know that we could be good for a very long time. We're managing to keep hold of our key players and we've got a good balance of experience and young players coming through. The key focus for now is that environment piece – we've built the trust and it's about maintaining it.

"(Also) making sure everyone's fit and healthy because people underestimated the number of injuries that we had and the changes we had to make, especially for our batting order, and we still coped with that quite seamlessly."

Priority re-signings

"Once the (contracting) embargo process finishes, it's looking at what we do with Matt Wade (whose contract expires at the end of BBL|15). He's a great player and I think he got better and has a lot more to give. Being so adaptable in the batting order, he oozed confidence for the rest of our team because he was the selfless guy in the process.

"Billy Stanlake, I think he'll be getting a few good offers from how he bowled in first seven games. At some stages throughout the early phase of the competition, watching Billy Stanlake and Riley Meredith open the bowling both averaging mid-140kph was incredible. There's a lot of teams that are probably lacking that pace that could use him but we'd love to keep him."

Keeping Tim David

"I'm pretty confident (we will) and what's nice is that he absolutely loves playing for the Hurricanes. That's probably what separates us a little bit – these guys are genuine mates, and it's got the feel of going back to play Premier League cricket, they're just the very good. They love playing with one another and he's the main cog for Hurricanes in that space. I know he wants to stay so we'll just work through that once the embargo period is lifted."

Beau Webster returns

"We've been after him for a while and he'll fit in seamlessly into that top order spot. He's got really big aspirations – he's there in red-ball and he wants to play white-ball cricket for Australia too. We've got the opportunity and the line-up for him to show what he can do. He obviously can bowl as well, and he knows all the players incredibly well. Next season we've got our key players and we've got Beau coming back, I hope that sounds as scary as it is."

Squad gaps

"Now we've got the players playing in roles that suit them better, that actually weren't their preference but now they've learned to love, that gives us a massive strength. We've got our team and I'm quite happy that I can say to agents 'we're OK, we're not rushing into anything', especially with the draft process.

"We have to continue to build where we want to go from a spin department. Our spinners didn't take many wickets but that could have been because our seamers were that good. Our spinners were economical at stages but unfortunately didn't take the wickets we wanted them to. How we use either the overseas draft or local talent in those roles, that's the biggest area I think we've got to focus on."

BBL|14 season reviews