Blewett reunites with Gillespie at Strikers

The rekindling of South Australia's fleeting 'golden' era of success continues, with the State's two most-capped cricketers of recent decades reunited to help the Adelaide Strikers push for their maiden KFC T20 Big Bash League title.

Former Test batsman Greg Blewett will join the Strikers in a roving consultancy role to assist the franchise's newly-appointed coach – and Blewett's long-time SA teammate – Jason Gillespie identify T20 talent and trends from around the cricket world.

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Blewett and Gillespie celebrate a wicket in national colours // Getty Images

Blewett, who was last year appointed to a three-year term as Bupa Support Team Fielding Coach to work alongside men's team coach Darren Lehmann (another Redbacks stalwart), will act as Gillespie's global eyes, ears and talent scout as he remains part of the international circuit.

His appointment comes just weeks after Jamie Siddons – the man who captained SA to its most recent Sheffield Shield success almost 20 years ago – was confirmed as the West Ends Redbacks coach for the next three seasons.

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Blewett in action for the Redbacks one-day side // Getty Images

With former Australia coach and SA wicketkeeper Tim Nielsen now in the role of the SA Cricket Association's High Performance Manager, a third of the team that brought past glories to Adelaide Oval are now charged with plotting a brighter future for the success-starved State.

All four were key (with Gillespie a fledgling) members of the Redbacks line-up that reached the finals of the domestic 50-over and first-class competitions in 1994-95 and delivered SA's only Shield success for the past 35 years the following summer.

What's more, Gillespie (71 Tests) and Blewett (46) are the only locally produced players to have secured a regular berth in Australia's Test XI – more than 30 Test caps – since Greg Chappell made his debut as a 22-year-old in 1970.

Lehmann and 'keeper-batsman Wayne Phillips both played 27 Tests, as did the recently retired Ryan Harris (a home-grown player who headed to Queensland to forge an international career) while Nathan Lyon (40 Tests), Rodney Hogg (38) and the late Phillip Hughes (26) all honed their talents interstate before moving to Adelaide.

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Blewett scored a century on Test debut at the Adelaide Oval // Getty Images

In confirming Blewett's appointment, Adelaide Strikers General Manager Bronwen Klei said his roving role that has this year seen him travel to the Caribbean before Australia's current Qantas Tour of the British Isles and on to Bangladesh prior to the coming home summer provides a timely fit for the BBL club.

"Greg not only works with some of the best cricketers in the world but is also able to see first-hand some of the best international cricketing talent and is exposed to a range of high performance structures," Klei said.

"We feel that combined with his vast experience as a coach and player, Greg will offer a unique perspective and allow us to better plan our Strikers' strategy in BBL|05 and for years to come."

In the four incarnations of the BBL to date, the Strikers best result came last summer when they finished the qualifying rounds atop the table but heavily lost their elimination semi-final to the fourth-placed Sydney Sixers at Adelaide Oval in front of a record crowd of 52,633.

In the previous three seasons, the Strikers finished sixth, fifth and seventh in the eight-franchise competition.

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