THE addition of Ben Hilfenhaus to the Hobart Hurricanes' attack gives Tasmania's Twenty20 franchise one the country's best bowling line-ups for the shortest form of the game, says Hilfenhaus's teammate Ben Dunk.
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Hilfenhaus will make his return to cricket tonight at the Gabba as the Hurricanes search for their first win of this year's Big Bash League against reigning champion Brisbane Heat.
The 30-year-old from Ulverstone has been on the sidelines since suffering a side strain in Tasmania's Sheffield Shield loss to New South Wales last month.
"If you have a look through the stats, his T20 record (47 wicket in 37 matches at 19.36, with an economy rate of 6.83) is exceptionally good," Dunk told The Examiner yesterday.
"He'll be able to ease back into it with only four overs required, and he'll swing the new ball and bowl really well at the death.
"One thing we lacked at Bellerive (in the abandoned match against Adelaide when it conceded 1-87 from six overs) was another senior head with Dougie (Bollinger) and Benny (Laughlin). I think we now boast one of the best attacks in the competition with those two (Hilfenhaus and Bollinger) available to us."
The 26-year-old Dunk will return to his former state in good personal touch, showing T20 aggression at times against the red ball for the Tigers, where he has scored 445 runs at an average of 40.45, placing him sixth on the run scoring list.
The wicketkeeper batsman, who plays purely as a batsman with Tim Paine leading the side, averages 18.16 at a strike rate of 110.10 from 17 T20s.
"This has been a break- out year for me in terms of consistency, and this is the first time in my career I feel I have contributed week-in and week-out and what has worked for me against the red ball should work for me against the white ball," Dunk said.
Fellow big-hitter Aiden Blizzard has also been included in the squad, with paceman Joe Mennie omitted, in a game Dunk said was vital to create early season momentum.
Tonight's match starts at 7.15pm.
Meanwhile, former Launceston all-rounder James Faulkner has returned to the Melbourne Stars squad after recovering from his fractured thumb.
Faulkner, who could replace Shane Watson in the Sydney Test depending on Watson's fitness, will play against the Sydney Sixers tomorrow night.
HOBART HURRICANES: Tim Paine (c), Xavier Doherty (vc), Aiden Blizzard, Travis Birt, Doug Bollinger, Cameron Boyce, Ben Dunk, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Shoaib Malik, Owais Shah, Jon Wells.
BRISBANE HEAT: James Hopes (c), Joe Burns, Dan Christian, Ben Cutting, Peter Forrest, Cameron Gannon, Nathan Hauritz, Craig Kieswetter, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Luke Pomersbach, Chris Sabburg, Daniel Vettori.
