Preview: Heat hopes rest on consistency, accountability

BBL|09 result: Seventh

Squad: Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Tom Cooper, Sam Heazlett, Lewis Gregory (England), Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Dan Lawrence (England), Ben Laughlin, Chris Lynn, Morne Morkel, Jimmy Peirson, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan), Jack Wildermuth, Matt Willans, Simon Milenko (local replacement player), Lachy Pfeffer (LRP), Jack Wood (LRP).

Ins: Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Tom Cooper (Melbourne Renegades), Lewis Gregory, Dan Lawrence, Morne Morkel (Perth Scorchers), Jack Wildermuth (Renegades), Simon Milenko (Hobart Hurricanes).

Outs: Ben Cutting (Sydney Thunder), Cameron Gannon (Perth Scorchers), Zahir Khan (Melbourne Stars), Josh Lalor, James Pattinson, Jack Prestwidge (all Melbourne Renegades), Matthew Renshaw (Adelaide Strikers), AB de Villiers

Possible Best XI: Chris Lynn, Max Bryant, Marnus Labuschagne, Dan Lawrence (England), Joe Burns, Lewis Gregory (England), Jimmy Peirson (wk), Morne Morkel, Ben Laughlin, Mitch Swepson, Mujeeb ur Rahman (Afghanistan)

Possible Best XI for first game: Chris Lynn, Max Bryant, Dan Lawrence (England), Sam Heazlett, Tom Cooper, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jack Wildermuth, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mark Steketee, Morne Morkel, Ben Laughlin

Chris Lynn has vowed to be more accountable and Darren Lehmann wants more consistency.

The Brisbane Heat may have the BBL team with the highest ceiling but, as they found out last summer in a horror campaign, they may also have the lowest floor.

Now in his second season as the Heat's coach, Lehmann wants to narrow the gap between the side's best and worst. Given some late setbacks, he could have his work cut out for him.

Tom Banton has pulled out of his planned stint due to bubble fatigue while Mujeeb ur Rahman is in hospital with COVID-19, putting a considerable dent in the Heat's planning.

AB de Villiers had already confirmed he would not return, while Matthew Renshaw, James Pattinson, Ben Cutting and Josh Lalor have all departed.

There are however big raps on English imports Daniel Lawrence and Lewis Gregory, while Morne Morkel could be a handy pick-up given the ex-South Africa star now qualifies as a local player. Tom Cooper and Jack Wildermuth are both coming off so-so seasons with the Melbourne Renegades but could prove shrewd signings if they can recapture their best.

While the absence of their two Test batters (Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Burns) is not a surprise, Mitch Swepson's selection in the Test squad combined with Mujeeb's illness leaves them short in the spin bowling department to begin BBL|10.

The Heat were hopeful Mark Steketee would be released for Australia A duties to start the season, but he was today named in the 12-man squad for the three-day, day-night clash against the Indians starting on Friday. How local players like him, Sam Heazlett and Max Bryant, who have all now been around the traps for a while, can back up the likes of star man Lynn could be decisive in their bid to climb up the table.

The inside word with Heat coach Darren Lehmann:

The off-season

"The players' best is very good. When we're up and about and we play the way we should play, we can beat anyone. But when we're bad, it cost us (last season). We've got to get our consistency better. We lost players for things out of our control, so we've just brought in players who we think will help us work to the goal of being more consistent. Hence Tom Cooper coming in in the middle, order and Jack Wildermuth coming back from Melbourne. We'd love to have AB (de Villiers) back obviously but we couldn't do that … we're just focusing on the things we can control."

Player to watch

"We're lucky that Dan Lawrence is here already. He's a young player who we think is going to be really good for us, like Tom Banton was for us last year, and a good player internationally over a long period of time. That fills a middle order role and he can bowl a bit."

The imports

"(Tom Banton) is obviously a big loss for us so close to the tournament, he's a quality overseas player, but the health and wellbeing is more important than a game of cricket. We've got Dan Lawrence and we've got Mujeeb coming back, everyone knows him well now. Lewis Gregory will be available after Christmas day. He's exciting, he's the captain of Somerset and he's played for England but not a lot of people would have seen it. He certainly gives it a whack, but he's also got great options with the ball. He can bowl up front, in the middle overs and during the death with all his slower balls, so he gives us a lot of options.

Your take on the new rules?

"We're really excited about the new changes and the challenges they'll bring both from a coaching point of view but also from a players' point of view and being forced to think on your feet, particularly in the Powerplays. It could come in handy when you're chasing a bit more, you might be able to put bowlers under more pressure later on and take the chase a bit deeper. You'll have to have plenty of bases covered with the X-factor player. The bonus point (Bash Boost) won't affect us too much, we play a brand (of cricket) that is quite exciting anyway. Let's wait and see what it's like at the end of the year."

Biggest threat

"Everyone is. As we saw last year anyone can beat anyone on any given day. So the challenge for everyone and us especially is to play more consistently. If we do that the results will look after themselves. There's a lot of good players out there so it's just a matter of keeping them quiet when we play them."