The three-time champions Perth Scorchers endured a terrible 2018-19 Big Bash League campaign. Scorchers lost ten matches and finished outside the top four places for the first time in BBL.
(Pic courtesy: Getty Images)
Batting Woes
The Scorchers batting unit struggled in the first half of the BBL 08. Ashton Turner was the only player who crossed 300 runs. Cameron Bancroft, too, made some valuable contribution, but, the rest of the batsmen lacked consistency.
Coach Adam Voges would be hoping that T20 star Liam Livingstone’s arrival would solve the issues in the batting department. The Englishman, who had a decent outing in 2019 T20 Vitality Blast, collected average 44 fantasy points per match for Cape Town Blitz in 2019 Mzansi Super League.
(Pic courtesy: Perth Scorchers)
Voges would also be delighted with Cameron Green’s exploits in the ongoing Sheffield Shield. The 20-year-old has scored two centuries and a fifty in the five matches he played so far.
Coulter-Nile OUT, Jordan IN
Nathan Coulter-Nile’s departure to Melbourne Stars is a big blow to Scorcher’s hopes of landing a record fourth title. The Aussie all-rounder was the most consistent Scorchers performer last season, and the second overseas signing Chris Jordan has a big shoes to fill. Jordan had an impressive run in England’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The all-rounder registered fantasy points (FPs) of 53, 158, 68 & 18 in the four matches.
Jhye Richardson and Ashton Agar, who missed the second part of last season’s BBL, will lead an injury-hit Scorcher’s bowling attack. The experienced Andrew Tye is ruled out for the majority of BBL 09 due to an elbow injury, while Jason Behrendorff is likely to miss the entire season because of a stress fracture. Matthew Kelly, who picked up 374 fantasy points in the last seven games of BBL 08, will be keen to impress for Scorchers this season. Joel Paris, Aaron Hardie and spinner Fawad Ahmed are other bowling options.
Top three FPs scorers in BBL 2018-19 season:
Ashton Turner (672 points from 14 matches)
Andrew Tye (545 points from 14 matches)
Cameron Bancroft (504 points from 11 matches)
BBL 2019-20 squad: Sam Whiteman, Nick Hobson, Joshua Inglis, Cameron Bancroft, Ashton Turner, Mitchell Marsh (Captain), Liam Livingstone (Overseas Player), Ashton Turner, Kurtis Patterson, Cameron Green, Chris Jordan (Overseas Player), Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Kelly, Joel Paris, Aaron Hardie, Fawad Ahmed.
Play the Australia’s biggest T20 League at HalaPlay from December 17th.