Canes’ test in west
HOBART skipper George Bailey says the Perth Scorchers are the Hurricanes’ biggest test of the summer and could be the difference between a Big Bash home semi-final and a final on the road.
After losing a close encounter with the Strikers in Adelaide on Wednesday night, ending their club record five wins in a row, the Hurricanes jetted to Perth yesterday to prepare to face the Scorchers in a must-win game tomorrow.
“I’m looking forward to it — it’s a big game,” Bailey said. “They’re all big games now.” The fitness of all-rounder Simon Milenko hangs in the balance after he was a late withdrawal from the Strikers match. Milenko dislocated the little finger on his left hand in the warm-up, forcing Nathan Reardon to step in literally minutes before the start.
The third-placed Hurricanes must win their last two games against the Scorchers at the WACA and Melbourne Stars at the MCG next weekend to stay in the running for a home final.
They are also relying on the top two sides, the Strikers or the Scorchers, losing their last two games to finish in the top two and earn a semi at Blundstone Arena on February 1.
Bailey is happy just to make the finals.
“I’ve never been one too concerned about home finals,” he said. “It’s very much a tournament of two halves — mak- ing sure you get in the top four, and worry about the rest then.
“We’ve played some really good cricket. We’ve won five out of our last six games, so we are still in a really good position. We’ve got two games to go and if we play well we’ll make it; if we don’t, we won’t.”
Bailey was frustrated by the loss to Adelaide but confident the Hurricanes can return to their best after an 11-run loss, which elevated the Strikers to the top of the ladder.
“That’s the game, isn’t it,” he said. “It would have been really frustrating if we’d [been] smacked. They got too many runs and we got really close to it — some more fantastic batting from Benny McDermott [45 off 29] and it’s great to see ‘Dools’ [Alex Doolan, 70 off 55] get some runs.
“We had some really good bowling in among some really disappointing bowling, but the bowlers weren’t helped much by the fielding.”
Short remains the competition’s leading run scorer despite his “subdued” knock of 28 off 24, and is streets ahead as the BBL’s top six-hitter with 22.