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The Perth Scorchers ended the season as the fourth team to bow out of the championship race, and they ended third on the table with six wins and just three losses.
Perth suffered the loss of Ashton Turner, their inspirational captain early on in the season, and they lost multiple players to injuries and international call-ups, losing Laurie Evans to the ILT20, Hardie and Inglis lost form towards the back end of the tournament.
Not a lot went wrong for the Scorchers, they just imploded when they could on afford to against Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce in the knockouts!
What went right for the Perth Scorchers?
Their middle overs batting was incredibly impressive, with Hardie, Inglis and Evans leading the charge. The Perth Scorchers struck at 136.25 through overs 7-15 and averaged 40.7 runs per wicket lost, only behind the Adelaide Strikers during this phase.
Laurie Evans took down pace with consummate ease, having scored 245 runs against the fast bowlers, at a staggering strike rate of 215 and a batting average of 61.25!
Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie were excellent players of spin, and both of them struck at over 140 against it while also averaging over 30 per wicket lost against spin.
Their pace bowling unit was excellent, having taken 57 wickets, at an average of 20.2 and an economy of just 8.15 with Jason Behrendorff, Lance Morris, Andrew Tye, Aaron Hardie and Jhye Richardson all contributing.
Cooper Connolly was impressive with the ball in hand, taking 6 wickets at an average of just 12.67, with an economy of 6.91, making sure the loss of form for Agar was not felt.
What went wrong for the Perth Scorchers?
Ashton Agar struggled for form, taking 6 wickets, same as Connolly, but Agar had an economy of 8.28 and a bowling average of 44.17, taking a wicket once every 5.2 overs!
Besides Inglis and Hardie, the majority of the Scorchers struggled to strike quickly enough against spin, with Crawley, Whiteman, Eskinazi and Hobson all striking at below 100 while Evans and Connolly struck under 120.
Jhye Richardson went through a tough rut of form, taking 6 wickets, but at an average of 40.33 with an economy of 9.13!
But the major problems for Scorchers lied in the Powerplay, with bat and with ball. Averaging 34.54 with the ball, they had an economy of 7.57, keeping it tight but not striking often enough.
Whereas with the bat, they averaged just 26.7 and struck at 114.56, with run scoring for the Perth Scorchers having turned into a game of grinding them out.
This was partly because of an unsettled top order, where they tried five different opening combinations including Cooper Connolly, Sam Whiteman, Marcus Harris, Sam Fanning, Steve Eskinazi and Zak Crawley!
How did the Scorchers go about fixing it?
The Perth Scorchers began by signing Finn Allen, making sure to sign players with 100% availability, allowing them a second keeper in case Josh Inglis ever gets called up.
Allen also fixes one of their issues inside the powerplay, where Allen strikes at 172.54, much higher than what the Perth Scorchers managed all season last year.
Alongside Allen, they signed Keaton Jennings, a bit of an odd pick, but his form was impressive and they had a salary cap to manage, but Jennings strikes at 156 in the last two years of T20 Cricket and averages 32.
His ability to play against spin will be crucial for the Scorchers, allowing them a third great player of spin. With his batting average
Matty Hurst is a underrated signing from the Perth Scorchers, the wicket keeper batter already strikes at 140.14 in his career and has a solid if not impressive batting average of 25.13! Hurst stood out in The Hundred, scoring 149 runs at a strike rate of 162!
Players to watch out for!
Matthew Spoors: The former Canadian international, Matthew Spoors has begun his 2024/25 season in great form, scoring 339 runs at an average of 37.67 and has managed 10 wickets at 39.4 to go with!
Ashton Agar: Agar has scored 214 runs this season alongside taking 10 wickets at 36.4, while not in his best form, Agar has had recent gametime under his belt.
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