KFC BBL|12
With three of their top four from Sunday night's win over the Renegades jetting off to India, Brisbane are set for a new look batting line-up in their do-or-die clash with the Sixers
Riley Alexander
31 January 2023, 04:20 PM AEST
@Ralexander2002
With the Brisbane Heat's quartet of Test stars jetting off to India today, the heavy task of filling their shoes is set to fall on Nathan McSweeney, Max Bryant and Sam Heazlett for Thursday's Challenger final.
Captain Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw and Mitch Swepson all flew out to India today for the four-Test Border Gavaskar series.
Xavier Bartlett's lively return of 3-18 on Sunday night against the Renegades as the first replacement of that quartet – coming in for Swepson who was in Sydney for Australia's Test-player camp – ticked the first of those boxes for the Heat.
But it will be the injection of the three top-order batters to fill in for their golden trio who helped them march towards finals that will likely be the deciding factor against the Sixers.
McSweeney, Bryant and Heazlett are all tipped to win their place in the XI on Thursday night, with Heat coach Wade Seccombe confident in their ability to fill the void, while lamenting the loss of his international big guns.
"It is a really tough situation. Ideally you want your best players playing throughout the course of the tournament but the way the international schedule is so hectic, I understand the challenges they have," he said.
"We have lost some of our Australian players but the guys we are bringing in have played the format before so I don't have a problem with it. They have performed when they came in.
"We want our players. Every other team wants our players."
Heazlett, who has 48 career games to his name dating back to the fifth edition of the Big Bash, hasn't played a game all season due to both his side's batting riches of late and a battle with back soreness earlier in the campaign.
But, with Jimmy Peirson now the only other senior batter in the side, the 27-year-old's versatility in the top-order and experience under pressure will be crucial for the visitors after the loss Khawaja and co.
The younger McSweeney and Bryant however, both 23-year-olds who came through the Queensland pathway program together, will both be in their maiden Big Bash finals match.
The former has been impressive in his three matches in BBL|12, the first of which seeing him produce a stunning 84 off 51 balls against the Sixers no less.
That was in the same game where crowd favourite Josh Brown first wowed Brisbane fans with his clean ball striking, while McSweeney cracked an unbeaten 28 in the two sides' return fixture just three days later.
"His (McSweeney) growth is continuing. He is ready to take this opportunity," Seccombe said.
Bryant has had a comparatively tougher campaign, being out of the side since January 11 and only reaching 40 once in his seven matches.
Seccombe acknowledged the up and down nature of Bryant's tournament but said the power hitter had a clear role to play for the Heat.
"Max has had good performances so I would not say it is a totally disappointing season but obviously there are parts of his game we have spoken about," the coach told News Corp.
"He has been left out for various reasons and we have been very specific in our communications as to why he is left out. We will be really clear with what his role is going forward."
The Challenger kicks off at 7.15pm AEDT on Thursday evening, with the winner set to face the Scorchers at Perth Stadium on Saturday for the chance to be crowned BBL|12 champions.
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