The Hobart Hurricanes will start their BBL11 campaign with some of their biggest names on the sidelines.
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Facing the Sydney Sixers at UTAS Stadium at 6.35pm on Wednesday, the 'Canes will be without Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith (both injured), Jordan Thompson (COVID-19 close contact), Scott Boland and Harry Brook (Australia A and England Lions duties).
However, coach Adam Griffith believes the side's depth will cover the big losses.
"It's gonna create plenty of opportunity," he said.
"We're really happy with the depth in our group and our squad, so we're just looking at [Ben McDermott's] role and who best suits it within the group.
"Caleb Jewell and Mac Wright we've got in our squad, Caleb's been in great form for Tasmania the last couple of months and Mac's done a really good job for us in the past."'
Thompson's COVID-19 close contact status has been described as "unfortunate and unlucky" by Griffith, having had a training session at the MCG at the same time as a second XI game where a case was identified.
With both Thompson and Brook out, the Hurricanes have signed international replacements Tom Lammonby and Jordan Cox, who are like-for-like new-comers that both hold Australian passports and played in the inaugural iteration of The Hundred.
Despite the less-than-ideal build-up, Griffith also backed his bowlers, led by T20 World Cup squad member Nathan Ellis, to get the job done against the in-form Sixers.
"It's well documented, his form over the last six to 12 months with the opportunities he's had around the world, he's gone very, very well," he said.
"Tom Rogers is back in the squad who's had some success for us in the past ... he's actually done well for Tasmania over the last month or two back playing white-ball cricket for us there.
"Joel Paris is training the house down, getting an opportunity to open up the bowling for us.
"So [I am] really looking forward to seeing those guys go and obviously with Sandeep [Lamichhane] back in the mix.
"He's a world-class spinner, and we're really excited with the all-rounders we've gotten as a group as well."
The Sixers come into the 'Canes clash after the most dominant performance in BBL history.
Josh Philippe's 83, captain Moises Henriques' unbeaten 76 and Stephen O'Keefe's father time-defying 4-14 led the Sixers to a 152-run win over the Stars in the tournament's opening clash.
"Obviously their top order played really well, so that'll be a challenge for us to make sure that we execute how we want to bowl to those guys," Griffith said.
"They're a really good, well-drilled group, they're experienced [and have] played a lot of cricket together, but we've had some really good success against the Sixers over the last few years and our method against them has been pretty good."
The Hurricanes have won four of the last five resulted contests against the magenta side, dating back to 2019, but unfortunately for the home team, their win-loss record in Launceston isn't as pretty.
Dropping their first match at the stadium to the Sydney Thunder in BBL07, the 'Canes bounced back to win against the Perth Scorchers the following season.
However, since then, four consecutive losses - three against the Strikers and one against the Stars in a rain-affected contest - have seen the side's UTAS Stadium record dwindle to 1-5.
We probably haven't gotten the results we would have wanted the last few times we played up there
- Adam Griffith on the Hurricanes' record in Launceston
"Probably one of the things is not playing the Strikers up there, I think they've beaten us three times in a row, so luckily we haven't got them this year.
"But it's about making sure that each player understands the role that they play at that ground, it's obviously different dimensions and a different wicket to what we have down Hobart.
"We've sort of tweaked our game plan a little bit for there and hopefully that shows up in the results that we get."
The Hurricanes will fly into Launceston alongside their opponents on Wednesday before playing their first of two UTAS Stadium clashes for the season.
Their second is on January 10 against the Sydney Thunder.
SQUADS
Hobart Hurricanes
- Tom Andrews, Jordan Cox, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Peter Handscomb, Caleb Jewell, Josh Kann, Sandeep Lamichhane, Tom Lammonby, Joel Paris, Wil Parker, Tom Rogers, D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (c), Mac Wright
Sydney Sixers
- Sean Abbott, Dan Christian, Tom Curran, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Daniel Hughes, Chris Jordan, Hayden Kerr, Ben Manenti, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Steve O'Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, James Vince, Nick Winter