Team wise Signings and delisting for BBL 05 - The Big Bash 2015-16 starts from 17 December 2015 with Sydney Thunder taking on Sydney Sixers in the first match of the new season. The schedule for the upcoming Big Bash can be downloaded from here.
ADELAIDE STRIKERS:
Adelaide Strikers have signed probably a major person for the upcoming BBL 05 season. They have signed Jason Gillespie as coach. Along with Gillespie, the Strikers have also signed young and emerging batsman Kelvin Smith for the next two seasons.
With their signings, the Strikers also lost some valuable players like spinner Adam Zampa, who moved to Melbourne Stars. They also lost veteran spinner, Johan Botha, as he exited the Strikers set up to join Sydney Sixers team.
In: Kelvin Smith (Strikers Rookie)
Out: Johan Botha (Sixers), Shaun Tait (Hurricanes), Adam Zampa (Stars)
Reserved players: Jono Dean, Travis Head, Brad Hodge, Ben Laughlin, Tim Ludeman, Michael Neser, Kieron Pollard, Gary Putland, Kane Richardson, Alex Ross, Craig Simmons
BRISBANE HEAT
Brisbane Heat made a coup of sorts by signing the world’s number one ranked T20 bowler in West Indian Samuel Badree and then cranked the heat up several notches when they secured the services of New Zealand’s hard hitting opening batsman and captain Brendon McCullum for the BBL 05 season.
They also made changed to their support staff as they hired former New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori as their head coach. Later they acquired former Kiwi quick Shane Bond as an assistant coach in what is supposed to be a part of their new trans-Tasman theme.
Captain of Heat in previous seasons, James Hopes has agreed to continue with the team on a one-year agreement and Heat also managed to keep their star hitter Chris Lynn with them despite several offers from rivals.
Former Renegades batsman Alex Doolan also joined the club along with the Queensland Bulls paceman Luke Feldman, who has been part of no less than four BBL franchises. As for fast bowling firepower, The Heat signed Australia A fast bowler Andrew Fekete, who previously played for Melbourne Renegades and they resigned the services of all-rounder Jason Floros.
Brisbane Heat did lose Australia all-rounder and their best performer Dan Christian to Hobart Hurricanes along with young and rising player Simon Milenko who moved to with Christian to Hobart. Ryan Harris also became unavailable to play due to his knee problems and subsequent retirement.
In: Samuel Badree (West Indies), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand), Andrew Fekete (Renegades), Luke Feldman (Stars), Alex Doolan (Renegades)
Out: Dan Vettori (retired, now coach), Dan Christian, Simon Milenko (both Hobart), Andrew Flintoff (UK), Ryan Harris (retired), Shane Watson (Thunder)
Retained: Nick Buchanan, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Jason Floros, Peter Forrest, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Jimmy Peirson, Nathan Reardon, Mark Steketee
HOBART HURRICANES
Hobart Hurricanes secured probably the biggest signing ever in the Big Bash league when they signed the now retired former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara and that also for a two-year deal. With this mega-signing, they have strengthened their top order and now also have a 3rd wicket-keeping option alongside Tim Paine and Ben Dunk.
The Hurricanes also added the former Melbourne Stars’ 25-year-old spinner, Clive Rose. Hurricanes managed to re-sign star batsman George Bailey, Dutch all-rounder Timm van der Gugten and batsman Michael Hil. West Indian power hitter Darren Sammy returned to Hurricanes filling the second international spot on the roster for Hurricanes.
On the flip side, though, Hurricanes lost star spinner Xavier Doherty to the Melbourne Renegades.
In: Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Shaun Tait (Adelaide), Dan Christian, Simon Milenko (both Brisbane), Clive Rose (Stars)
Out: Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus (Stars), Alex Hales (UK), Shoaib Malik (Pakistan), Xavier Doherty (Renegades)
Retained players: Tim Paine, Ben Dunk, Cameron Boyce, Darren Sammy, Jake Reed, Timm van der Gugten, Michael Hill, Sam Rainbird, Jon Wells, Beau Webster, George Bailey
MELBOURNE RENEGADES
The Melbourne Renegades may very well possess the best and most destructive opening partnership in the BBL05 with their signing of West Indian blaster Chris Gayle to partner their captain Aaron Finch on the top of the order.
Chris Gayle missed the last 2 editions of the BBL, previously played for the Sydney Thunder franchise. He lit up the Big Bash with his big hitting prowess and scored one of the fastest centuries in BBL in his last stint.
Former Aussie T20 captain Cameron White also joined Renegades from rivals Melbourne Stars where he was the captain. The Renegades have also signed the services star World Cup winner spinner Xavier Doherty from the Hurricanes and they will also have a new head coach in David Saker.
Renegades though lost their two Australian internationals players as spinner Fawad Ahmed moved to Sydney Thunder and they had to let go keeper Peter Nevill after Matthew Wade became their no.1 keeper last season.
In: Cameron White (Stars), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Xavier Doherty (Hurricanes)
Out: Ben Rohrer, Fawad Ahmed (both Sydney Thunder), Andrew Fekete (Heat), Peter Nevill, Alex Doolan, Aaron O’Brien (delisted)
Retained: Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Callum Ferguson, Nathan Rimmington, Tom Cooper, Tom Beaton, Matthew Short, Nick Winter, Dwayne Bravo
MELBOURNE STARS
Melbourne Stars recently were got a very major blow when their star signing for the upcoming BBL 05, former Australia Captain Michael Clarke decided to take a break from cricket to reevaluate himself and withdrew his name from BBL 05.
Furthermore, they also lost their captain Cameron White, who moved to across to rivals Melbourne Renegades and now Stars are left looking for a new leader for their franchise.
On the good news side, they managed to add young leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who was previously signed with Adelaide Strikers and also secured the returns of their two internationals signings in England’s Kevin Pietersen and Luke Wright.
They also signed former Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming as their head coach, who has also coached Chennai Super Kings to 2 IPL and 1 Champions League titles.
In: Adam Zampa (Strikers), Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus (Hurricanes)
Out: Cameron White (Melbourne Renegades), Jackson Bird (Sydney Sixers), Clive Rose (Hurricanes), Luke Feldman (Heat)
Retained: Michael Beer, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, David Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen, Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Tom Triffitt, Luke Wright.
PERTH SCORCHERS
BBL champions from the last two seasons, the Scorchers have more or less a very established squad in the league. They have decided to stick to their tried and tested team which has won them two BBL titles.
However, there is now news on their international signings for this year. Though last year, England’s Michael Carberry and Pakistan’s Yasir Arafat were an important part of the title winning team.
Their most impressive and hero player, the 44 year old chinaman bowler Brad Hogg has decided to play on with the Scorchers as he feels that he is enjoying the game is fit enough to compete with the best of the best BBL 05 have to offer. He also performed exceedingly well for IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders when he replaced their star spinner, Sunil Narine.
In: Nil
Out: Nil
Retained: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Michael Klinger, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Simon Mackin, James Muirhead, Joel Paris, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Voges, Sam Whiteman, Brad Hogg
SYDNEY SIXERS
Sydney Sixers signed two big names in Australian quick Jackson Bird and South African spinner Johan Botha for the BBL 05 season as they are determined to compensate for last year’s loss in the final. They both have a secured 3-year deal and will strengthen the bowling attack of the Sixers after the retirement of pace head Brett Lee.
Trevor Bayliss departed for his new role as the head coach of the England cricket team and the Sixers have secured the services of Greg Shipperd to replace him. They also have a spot to fill in their international player’s quota and their choice is still undecided.
In: Johan Botha (Strikers), Jackson Bird (Stars)
Out: Brett Lee (retired)
Retained: Sean Abbott, Doug Bollinger, Ryan Carters, Ben Dwarshuis, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Stephen O’Keefe, Jordan Silk, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc
SYDNEY THUNDER
The Sydney Thunder was proud to announce their star signing for the BBL 05 in all-rounder Shane Watson and now that he is retired from the duties of Test cricket, he will be more focused on performing well for the franchise.
Watson has been signed for a secured three-year deal with Sydney Thunder and he will most likely replace the enigmatic Mike Hussey at the top of the Thunder’s batting. He is also tipped to take leadership roles in the franchise in upcoming seasons of BBL.
Thunders were also bolstered by the re-signing of 2 of their longest serving players in fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu and top order batsman Usman Khwaja, both of them have signed on for 2 more years with them.
The Thunder poached two big players from the Melbourne Renegades’ lineup, when they signed leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed and star batsman Ben Rohrer for the upcoming season of BBL 05.
Their star international Jacques Kallis of South Africa confirmed his return for BBL|05 and Michael Hussey confirmed that he will captain the team for another season of Big Bash League.
In: Ben Rohrer, Fawad Ahmed (both Renegades), Shane Watson (Heat)
Out: None yet
Retained: Aiden Blizzard, Patrick Cummins, Jake Doran, Chris Hartley, Jacques Kallis, Andrew McDonald, Usman Khawaja, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Green, Mike Hussey, Kurtis Patterson
