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Preview: Fleeing Strikers get early taste of unique season

Forced to flee their home base due to a COVID19 outbreak, the Adelaide Strikers have learnt some early lessons about what it will take to be successful in BBL|10

BBL|09 result: Third, lost Knockout final

BBL|10 Squad: Wes Agar, Danny Briggs (England) Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head (c), Spencer Johnson, Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Liam O'Connor, Matthew Renshaw, Phil Salt (England), Liam Scott, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall. 

Ins: Danny Briggs, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Renshaw (Heat), Liam Scott, Daniel Worrall (Stars) 

Outs: Jake Lehmann (delisted), Billy Stanlake (Stars), Cameron White (retired), Nick Winter (Hurricanes) 

Possible Best XI: Jake Weatherald, Phil Salt, Travis Head (c), Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Jon Wells, Michael Neser, Rashid Khan, Peter Siddle, Wes Agar, Danny Briggs 

Possible Best XI for first game: Jake Weatherald, Phil Salt, Matt Short, Matt Renshaw, Jon Wells, Harry Nielsen (wk), Rashid Khan (c), Peter Siddle, Wes Agar, Danny Briggs, Daniel Worrall 

The inside word with coach Jason Gillespie 

The off-season 

"When that COVID19 cluster hit in Adelaide, within 24 hours we were out of the state. The boys were actually playing golf about 80km south of Adelaide that day and I live on that golf course, so I had walked over to meet them on the practice green before their round. The situation was changing quite rapidly, so I'm on my balcony looking down the 18th fairway when the decision was made to go to Coffs Harbour and I could see the boys walking off to clubhouse.

"I had to put together a coaching kit at short notice – luckily I packed enough kit and balls for us to train for the two-and-a-half weeks we there – and get a COVID test and get to the airport. It all happened quite quickly.

"I have to say the local council, the stadium management and grounds staff in Coffs Harbour deserve all the credit. The facilities we had – at short notice – have been world-class and they all bent over backwards to help. I can't thank them enough.

"We were under restrictions initially until our COVID tests came back, then the rules were relaxed back to NSW government rules. We had a COVID test again on December 1 and it was back to hub-life rules before flying to Hobart on December 4, where we have players and staff flying in from Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. Our overseas players Phil Salt and Danny Briggs join us on December 6 and Rashid Khan on December 8.

"I'm incredibly proud of our players and staff, they're all just cracking on with it and understanding it's a unique time in our lives and for our sport. There hasn't been one complaint. The attitude has been unbelievably brilliant."

Player availability 

"All our players are fresh and ready to go, which is very exciting. We're going to miss a few guys at various stages of the tournament but we're not alone in that regard.

"We'll have to wait and see with Rashid Khan and if any confirmation of any tours do come up we'll deal with that on an individual basis. (Editor's note: Afghanistan are scheduled to play ODIs against Ireland in the UAE on January 18-23).

Every one of Rashid Khan's 19 wickets | KFC BBL|09

"I can assure you Travis Head will be jumping out of his skin to join us once the Test series is done. Alex Carey will miss our first game with the Australia A squad but he wants to get down as soon as he can and join the team. He'll captain the side in Travis's absence. Who captains when both Travis and Alex are away … well, I'm not going to give that away just yet.

"With Michael Neser, we just have to be adaptable and flexible. It is our hope if he's not required for the Tests and there's a couple of BBL games on, he could come. But it will depend on the medical advice at the time. Our approach is if a player is with the Australia squad, we assume they're not available and if they do get released to us then that's a bonus."

Imports

"When we were looking at options for our third overseas player we weighed up our list, looked at a few options and felt that Danny Briggs would fit the bill as a good option for us to utilise. Danny is the highest wicket-taker in the history of the T20 Blast in the UK, which has been running since 2003. He's a vastly experienced left-arm spinner, he's a very adaptable player. He can bowl in every phase of the game, so he gives us flexibility and options. He'll do a fine job whenever he plays. He's a very calm head, very experienced, he's been in all sorts of situations against all types of batting and can adjust and adapt his game accordingly.

Salt spices up Perth with fast and furious innings

"Phil Salt is a lot of fun, he's a great kid, an aggressive top-order player, but he's also very adaptable. So, he could possibly be utilised anywhere in the batting order, depending on situations and with the new rules in the game.

"And Rashid Khan, well we all know what he brings, and we absolutely love him. No concerns about him getting out of quarantine later than the rest, he's a professional, he'll be right to go."

Your thoughts on the new rules? 

"It's hard to have an opinion on the new rules until you actually play some games. We'll see how they go, but we've been bouncing around some thoughts and ideas between our coaching group and I've spoken with Trav at length about it. We do have a few practice games in Hobart so that will give us a good opportunity to try a few things.

"The squad we had in Coffs had been putting themselves in different situations in centre-wicket practices and trying things which worked really well. We've got some good ideas on how effective different strategies are going to be. It's been a good learning curve. We'll see what happens."

Players to watch 

"We're pretty excited Matthew Renshaw agreed to join us. He's a player I've long thought very highly of and as a franchise we've long respected his ability. We see it as a massive coup. Matt came down from Brisbane to Coffs to get around our boys after a few hits in Premier Cricket. He's in a pretty good place and a very fine player and that's the reason we went hard to recruit him. He's a very flexible batter with a lot of upside and he can also bowl some handy slower deliveries too.

Renshaw unleashes with rapid 60no

"We're also rapt to have picked up Daniel Worrall in the trade in with the Melbourne Stars. Billy Stanlake indicated he wanted a change of scenery and we respected that. But Worrall gives us a very handy swing bowling option and an experienced head."

The biggest threat

"It will be interesting to see what tactics other teams use, particularly with the X-Factor substitute player coming in. We could see teams potentially tweak their batting orders to take advantage of these new rules, but the competition is so well balanced these days and every team has recruited very well. It makes it very exciting for the fans, and any team can beat anyone on their day. Hub life will no doubt be a challenge but our guys have handled it very well so far, there's been no complaints, they just cracked on with the job and I couldn't be prouder."