Preview: Global experience to aid 'Canes quest for first title

BBL|10 result: Sixth

Squad: Scott Boland, Harry Brook (England), Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Peter Handscomb, Caleb Jewell, Josh Kann, Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Joel Paris, Wil Parker, Tom Rogers, D’Arcy Short, Jordan Thompson (England), Matthew Wade, Mac Wright

Ins: Harry Brook (England), Josh Kann, Caleb Jewell, Joel Paris (Perth Scorchers), Tom Rogers, Jordan Thompson (England)

Outs: Jake Doran, James Faulkner, Will Jacks, Dawid Malan, David Moody, Tim Paine, Keemo Paul, Nick Winter

Possible Best XI: D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (wk), Ben McDermott, Peter Handscomb, Harry Brook, Tim David, Jordan Thompson, Nathan Ellis, Scott Boland, Riley Meredith, Sandeep Lamichhane

Possible Best XI for first game: D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (wk), Ben McDermott, Peter Handscomb, Tim David, Mac Wright, Jordan Thompson, Joel Paris, Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith, Sandeep Lamichhane

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After 10 seasons, it’s time for some success down south.

Despite having one of the strongest lists on paper in BBL|10, the Hurricanes were unable to string together a consistent run of form, ultimately missing the finals, albeit by less than a game.

Coach Adam Griffith will be expecting his side to jump back into title contention this summer, and is confident his squad can more than adequately cover the loss of England's No.2 ranked T20 batter Dawid Malan.

Especially with D’Arcy Short now one of the BBL’s most successful batters and Matthew Wade looking set to be available for the entire campaign after the Test incumbent was left out of both Australia’s men’s Vodafone Ashes squad and the Australia A side.

Ben McDermott, Peter Handscomb and Tim David are other established T20 batters, showing why this squad should feature deep into the competition. Young allrounder Mitch Owen who debuted in BBL|10 also looks to be an exciting prospect that the 'Canes will utilise throughout the season.

Overseas signings Harry Brook and Sandeep Lamichhane will feature heavily, with the former looking to seamlessly replace his countryman Malan in the Hurricanes’ top six. Hard-hitting English allrounder Jordan Thompson will also be used as a role player down the order and through the middle overs.

The Canes aren’t short of fast bowlers either, picking up Joel Paris from the Perth Scorchers in the off-season, to go alongside Nathan Ellis and Riley Meredith, while Scott Boland’s career best form in red-ball cricket will see him miss at least the early parts of BBL|11 with Australia A duties.

Youngsters Wil Parker, Caleb Jewell and Josh Kann provide depth across the board for Hobart, as they look to put all the ingredients together to claim their inaugural BBL title.

Inside word with Hurricanes coach Adam Griffith

The off-season

"In the short-term to start the tournament we've had to get out of Tasmania to make sure we can get all our squad together with players in different states and the overseas contingent. We've popped into Melbourne for three or four days to play some practice games and then we've got to head up to Sydney for a few days before we fly in under quarantine to Launceston. It's a little bit of a different prep for us but we're actually happy with that because it means that once that border opens on December 15 we can go back to normal. We've been able to identify a couple of areas that we'll look to improve on and whether we change the makeup of our team, that's another option … we're looking at those at the moment."

Player to watch

"I'm really looking forward to seeing the young guys that have been away involved in international cricket over the last 12 months. Whether that's the Australian squad, or T20 competitions, franchises around the world. We've got four guys in particular – Riley (Meredith), (Ben) McDermott, (Nathan) Ellis and (Tim) David – who have all had experiences outside of our program and they've learned a lot over the last 12 months. You can just see the way they go about their cricket now, it's just a little bit different and I'm really looking forward to seeing what they've learned and how they can implement it this year in the BBL."

The imports

"We're so happy to have Sandy (Lamichhane) back, he was brilliant for us last year not only with what he did with the ball on the field, but off the field, he's a young guy that fit in really well with our group and he's excited to come back, we're really excited to have him and also for the full tournament this year. Harry Brook, his last 12 months in the UK and the form he's been in, the climb he's had within English cricket, we're just thrilled to have someone that bats in the middle order who's got huge upside, is a supremely talented player, but not only that, he's just a really good kid. Jordan Thompson, he's more of an icing on the cake player for us. He hit couple of big bombs yesterday, he bowls a couple of overs through the middle of the innings for us and he's a gun in the field. He just does a lot of things well. We're not going to rely on him to dominate the competition and win games for us, but what he will do is add an extra dimension for our group."

Biggest threat

"It's a bit harder than usual this year to put a finger on the teams with overseas players. It's been a different road to get them in this year for all teams. It's been tougher to get that top end talent. There's probably a few unproven guys or younger guys that will be looking to push their name up. We won't really get a handle on it until halfway through the tournament with which teams are going really well and when they get all their players back."

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