Matador Cup team preview: Western Warriors

Having been the hunter for so long, how will Western Australia fare as the hunted in 2015?

The Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors were one of the biggest beneficiaries of the postponed Bangladesh tour, with quality batsmen returning to the squad for the three-week Matador BBQs One-Day Cup.

Here’s a full team preview to get you up to speed before the event gets underway in a matter of days.

The squad

Western Australia welcome back a wealth of talent with the bat following the postponement of the Qantas Tour of Bangladesh. Cameron Bancroft, Adam Voges and the Marsh brothers should now ensure an already-imposing bowling attack is ably supported in the other innings.

However, the Warriors have suffered a nasty injury blow on the eve of the summer with Nathan Rimmington ruled out of the Sydney-based tournament after sustaining a partial ligament tear in his right shoulder at training. Exciting young quick Jhye Richardson has been called up from the Cricket Australia XI as a replacement.

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Andrew Tye was one of the stars of the KFC Big Bash League for the Perth Scorchers last season and  the crafty seamer could complement the all-out pace attack with his clever variations.

Adam Voges (c), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Michael Klinger, Simon Mackin, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh (vc), Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman.

Coach: Justin Langer

The fixture

Langer’s men open their title defence against the West End Redbacks at Hurstville Oval on Monday, before cricket fans are treated to a domestic blockbuster against the NSW Blues in a rematch of last year’s decider on October 10.

That final rematch – as well as the games against the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers, Cricket Australia XI and Tasmanian Tigers - will be broadcast live in HD on GEM, as well as being streamed on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live app for fans with a Live Pass subscription.

Quick Single: Full fixture and broadcast schedule

What’s new?

Richardson is a 19-year-old fast bowler who can swing the ball both ways and has spent the year in the national U19s program. He played alongside some decent company in last year’s exhibition match between ‘Gilly’s legends’ and the Perth Scorchers, featuring the likes of Brian Lara, Dean Jones, Andrew Symonds and Andy Bichel.

Shaun and Mitchell Marsh aren’t exactly new, but they did miss last year’s tournament and will provide a massive boost for the side’s hopes of going back-to-back.

What to expect

With a similar group in the BBL, Justin Langer turned the Scorchers into a ruthless line-up that simply found a way to win from any position. Expect much the same from these Warriors over the next few weeks.

Cricket fans can only hope that Coulter-Nile, Behrendorff and Paris manage to stay fit throughout the three-week tournament as there will be few sights more exhilarating than this bowling attack in full flight.

Quotable

“It’s been a really, really tough couple of months but now we’ve done all the hard work so the fun part of the season is upon us now,” Behrendorff chatting with cricket.com.au about the team’s pre-season.

Player to watch

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Exciting left-arm paceman Joel Paris hasn’t played a competitive match since succumbing to injury in the final of last season’s Matador Cup. He’ll feature in a scintillating Warriors pace attack and will look to pick up where he left off 12 months ago.

Young Warrior leaves the field

Last season

They came, they saw, they conquered. The Warriors lost only one match on their way to the title and even that was a one-run thriller against the myFootDr Queensland Bulls.

Run-machine Michael Klinger led the way with the bat, scoring 274 runs at an average of 45.66. Tellingly, four WA quicks took more than 10 wickets with Coulter-Nile’s 14 scalps at an amazing average of 10.07 the team leader.

Klinger (96) and Behrendorff (5-27) were the stars of the final as the Warriors bowled NSW out for 191, 64 runs short of the target.

Warriors break one-day drought

Predicted finish

Third. There’s something rather unsettling about making a prediction and knowing in all likelihood that Justin Langer and his side will prove you wrong. They’ll field an incredibly strong all-round squad, but will also come up against tougher competition than they did last year.

Quick Single: All you need to know guide

Team preview: Cricket Australia XI

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Team preview: Tasmania