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The Hobart Hurricanes ended fifth in BBL|13 with four wins and six losses, while Ben McDermott stood out, they just failed to click as a team in most of their games, and wins were largely a result of individual performances.
Despite having an extremely strong squad on paper, their drafting choices were questionable, with Ricky Ponting drafting in Corey Anderson who has struggled since his move to the USA and their utilisation of Sam Hain was poor, who fared much better in his time with the Brisbane Heat!
What went wrong for the Hobart Hurricanes?
The Hobart Hurricanes, like most other teams, could not play against the spin bowlers. While they averaged 26 per wicket against spin, their strike rate shot down to 123, compared to their strike rate of 137 against the pacers.
The Hurricanes conceded 12 more runs than they made on average, which in a T20 is the difference between a winning total and a par score.
Mac Wright was their best player of spin, striking at 136, but he averaged just 18.8 against it, the others failed to strike over 120 against spin.
Corey Anderson was a major let down, striking at 92.43, scoring 110 runs in 9 games, causing the Hurricanes to lose momentum right when they could not afford to do so.
Their spin bowling could not stand out, as they combined to averaged 43.67 per wicket taken and went at an economy 8.21, conceding more runs via spin than they could make.
Their pace unit endured a similar issue as they picked up a wicket for every 31.61 runs conceded and had an economy rate of 8.66! And the pacers couldn’t fire in the powerplay, where they averaged 35.2, allowing the opposition batters to settle.
Caleb Jewell’s struggles further compounded their batting problems with only Ben McDermott being able to consistently find runs.
What went right for the Hobart Hurricanes?
Not a lot went right for the Hurricanes, but Ben McDermott was a massive upside for the men in purple. Having scored 261 runs in 8 innings, he averaged 43.5 and struck at 136!
Nathan Ellis was the only positive from their bowling attack, having picked up 12 wickets at 25, with an economy of 8.28 predominantly bowling in the death overs!
Did Hobart Hurricanes manage to address them?
Hobart have done very well, in recruiting Waqar Salamkheil to address their issues with the spin bowling department, Salamkheil has already impressed in 2024, having picked up 33 wickets at just 20.06 with an economy of 8.24 to go with it.
In Shai Hope, they likely got the pick of the draft, a player who has transformed his own game, striking at 136.72 vs pace from 2023 and at 143.68 against the spinners, allowing the Hurricanes to have a player who has balanced yet aggressive approach against both bowling types.
Read more on Shai Hope’s changed fortunes here.
In Chris Jordan, they bring back their best batter against pace, if Jordan starts contributing a bit more with the ball, he may well be a solid lock for the Hurricanes for a while.
Players to watch out for:
Nikhil Chaudhary: He has been playing in the Abu Dhabi T10, where he scored 78 runs, striking at 195, to go with his 90 runs scored in club cricket at a strike rate of 155.17, and 14 overs bowled at an economy of just 6.35!
Charlie Wakim: Wakim has scored 100 runs in two innings, at a strike rate of 151 and an average of 50 for Lindisfarne heading into BBL|14!
Caleb Jewell: Jewell comes into the tournament on the back of 104 runs in three games at a strike rate of 135.6 having played for North Hobart!
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