The Hobart Hurricanes have flattered to deceive a little in recent seasons but a couple of massive overseas names and a batch of Australian internationals have been accrued and they will be looking for a big season in the Big Bash League this year.
Stats
Last Season: 7th
Captain: Tim Paine
Overseas Players: Kumar Sangakkara & Stuart Broad
Key Player: George Bailey
Best Odds: 10/1 Coral
Predicted Finishing Position: 8th
Fixtures
Friday December 23 – Sydney Sixers (a)
Monday December 26 – Melbourne Stars (h)
Friday December 30 – Brisbane Heat (a)
Monday January 2 – Adelaide Strikers (h)
Friday January 6 – Adelaide Strikers (a)
Sunday January 8 – Sydney Thunder (h)
Thursday January 12 – Melbourne Renegades (a)
Saturday January 21 – Perth Scorchers (h)
Preview
Players In: D’Arcy Short, Hamish Kingston, Ben McDermott, James Bazley, Stuart Broad
Players Out: Darren Sammy, Michael Hill, Ben Dunk, Joe Mennie, Timm van der Gugten
It was a season to forget for the Hurricanes last year. Their big names all failed to fire and a lack of direction with the ball made them cannon fodder in many matches. On paper they should be doing a lot better than they are as Dan Christian, Shaun Tait and George Bailey all have plenty of experience under their belts.
It is clear to see there has been a focus on securing more bowling options to go into this season but if George Bailey is away then their batting could look a little on the light side and there is no Darren Sammy to come in down the order and blaze away this year either so there will be a lot of pressure on Tim Paine, Dan Christian and Jono Wells to deliver.
Betting
With George Bailey extremely likely to be involved in Australia’s limited overs series which are coming up there is a vacancy to be filled as their top batsman. Kumar Sangakkara would be the obvious looking choice but having just come from the Bangladesh Premier League he might need a week or two to adjust to the hugely differing conditions here and he was pretty average throughout last season which would be a concern.
The man to fill the place could well be the captain Tim Paine. Paine is one of the better limited overs batsmen in the country and already has plenty of 50 over runs behind him this season. In the first two matches of the tournament we have seen six of the eight openers score 40 or more which highlights the advantage of batting at the top of the order. At 3/1 Paine is good enough to maintain that advantage.
With the ball I quite like Cameron Boyce to be the top wicket taker but the potential is there for Australia to come calling at some point which is a negative so I’ll stick with Paine as my only Hurricanes bet for the season.
Tips
Back T.Paine Top Hobart Hurricanes Tournament Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Bet365
Back him here:
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