Sixers have a Ball as Curran replacement

Jake Ball will be among the five KFC BBL-bound England players arriving from South Africa this week after the Sydney Sixers confirmed they have signed the one-time Ashes paceman for the coming season.

Ball, who played the opening Test of the 2017-18 Ashes, will join Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone (both Perth Scorchers), Lewis Gregory (Brisbane Heat) and Sam Billings (Sydney Thunder) on a flight that is set to land in Brisbane on Friday.

The Sixers have signed the 29-year-old after key allrounder Tom Curran pulled out of a BBL stint at the eleventh hour. Both Curran and Tom Banton (Brisbane Heat) withdrew citing bubble fatigue, while an expected Test recall for Jonny Bairstow (Melbourne Stars) for their Sri Lank tour in January ruled him out of coming to Australia.

Ball played the last of his 24 games for England in 2018 but went to South Africa as one of three 'reserve' players to the main squad following a strong showing in England's domestic T20 competition earlier this year.

The right-armer will join the reigning BBL champions after Christmas once he has completed his mandatory 14-day quarantine in Australia, joining James Vince, Carlos Brathwaite and Jason Holder as the club's overseas players.

Ball was the leading wicket-taker during this year's T20 Blast tournament, picking up 19 wickets at 14 to help Nottinghamshire claim the title.

His Notts captain, new Sixers recruit Dan Christian, recommended him to the club after Curran withdrew from his deal.

"Jake has been a mainstay of our Nottinghamshire attack in my time there over the last six seasons, leading us to the domestic T20 titles in 2017, and again this year in 2020," Christian said.

"I didn't hesitate putting Jake's name forward upon hearing that Tom Curran was unfortunately unavailable.

"As the leading wicket taker in the T20 Blast this year, I've got no doubt that he'll help us win games here at the Sixers. I can't wait to pull on the magenta with him."

Ball captured the prized wicket of David Warner on his Ashes debut at the Gabba in 2017 but that was his only scalp for the match and has admitted he struggled after being cast aside for the remainder of the series.

"It was probably the hardest thing I've had to deal with as a cricketer," Ball told the Nottingham Post  in 2018. "It's quite a big thing to cope with.

"I had that really good build-up with a lot of media saying I was one of the best bowlers in the first warm-up games and nets.

"I went from being right at the top to right at the bottom."

Daniel Hughes will captain the Sixers in Thursday night's BBL opener in the absence of Moises Henriques, who has been ruled out of the Sixers' opening two matches with a low-grade left hamstring strain picked up on Australia duty.

Their opponents Hobart Hurricanes are also missing regular skipper Matthew Wade to national commitments, opening the door for new recruit Peter Handscomb to take the captaincy reins in his first game since crossing from the Melbourne Stars.

The Hurricanes' batting stocks for the opener have taken a hit with Ben McDermott, who was slated to bat at No.3, called up for Australia A's pink-ball tour game against India starting Friday. 

Hobart, who were knocked out in the first round of the finals last season, could field as many as six club debutants. 

- with AAP

Sydney Sixers squad: Justin Avendano (injury replacement for Mickey Edwards), Jake Ball (OS), Nick Bertus (local replacement for Nathan Lyon), Carlos Brathwaite (OS), Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Jason Holder (OS), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Ben Manenti, Lawrence Neil-Smith (local replacement player for Jackson Bird), Stephen O'Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Tom Rogers (local replacement player for Sean Abbott), Gurinder Sandhu (local replacement for Mitchell Starc), Jordan Silk, James Vince (OS).

Sixers squad for Hurricanes game: Justin Avendano, Nick Bertus, Carlos Brathwaite (OS), Dan Christian, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Daniel Hughes, Ben Manenti, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Stephen O'Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Tom Rogers, Gurinder Sandhu, Jordan Silk, James Vince (OS).

Hurricanes squad: Peter Handscomb (c), Scott Boland, Johan Botha, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, James Faulkner, Colin Ingram (OS), Caleb Jewell, Will Jacks (OS), Riley Meredith, D'Arcy Short, Charlie Wakim, Nick Winter, Macalister Wright.