BBL 2019, Perth Scorchers preview, predictions, likely starting XI: Perth home off-season changes can push them off the surface

There has been change and plenty of it behind the scenes at Perth Scorchers during the off-season. Perth finished the last campaign at the bottom of the pile, with just four wins from 14 matches, and there’s a determination behind the scenes to set things right again.

After all, Perth are three-time champions of the BBL, having won the tournament in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Things have taken a turn for the worse since those heady days, but the good thing is that there has been an overhaul, both in terms of the playing staff as well as the management, to set things right.

One of the big moves was the appointment of Simon Katich in official strategic list management and mentoring capacity. Kade Harvey, the former assistant coach, has been appointed manager of cricket operations, and Matt Mason has been signed on as the team’s bowling coach.

Among the playing staff as well, there’s been a reshuffle. Michael Klinger has retired, and will play no part this season, while the likes of Shaun Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Hilton Cartwright have all moved to Melbourne, with Marsh going to the Renegades, while Coulter-Nile and Cartwright link up at the Stars.

Injuries haven’t helped the case for the Scorchers either. Jason Behrendorff is out for the summer, after having had a back surgery, and Scorchers will also miss fellow paceman Andrew Tye, at least for some stage of the campaign.

It is why the signing of Chris Jordan for the whole season has provided the team a fillip. Jordan, along with Liam Livingstone, will join the squad, and the paceman is expected to link up with Jhye Richardson, the young Australia quick who has so far impressed on his comeback from his own injury.

All in all, there is hope in the Scorchers set up. How far that will go remains to be seen.

Players to watch

Chris Jordan is a T20 gun player, and is one to watch out for. Perth have lost a couple of big pacemen, but Jordan is an explosive player, with the bat in hand as well, and is capable of more than filling the gap. His signing is a shrewd move by the management.

Mitchell Marsh will captain the side, and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares. The all-rounder is clearly a talented player, but hasn’t had the great year as far as making it to the international team is concerned. With the T20 World Cup in less than a year, Marsh will hope to use the BBL to work his way back up the ladder.

Jhye Richardson is an exceptional young paceman. He turned plenty of heads since making his Australia debut, but suffered an injury agonisingly before the World Cup, and missed the big tournament. He’s recovered now, and is making his comeback, and if his performances in the Sheffield Shield and the Marsh One-Day Cup are anything to go by, he will be a handful.

Likely starting XI: Sam Whiteman, Kurtis Patterson, Cameron Bancroft, Liam Livingstone, Ashton Turner, Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Fawad Ahmed, Matthew Kelly, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye

Prediction

Injuries and flux isn’t good for any team, and there’s been plenty of it for Perth in the off-season. Despite that, there should be enough in this squad for them to, at the very least, not finish at the bottom. Expect a 6th-placed finish from them.

Squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Fawad Ahmed, Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Chris Jordan (OS), Matt Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman.