Perth Scorchers captain Simon Katich and his squad will fly to Sydney on Monday morning ahead of Wednesday’s BBL03 semi-final against the Sydney Sixers at the SCG. The Perth skipper is confident but wary of the threat of Brett Lee.
The Scorchers and Sixers shared history this season when the teams battled out Australian domestic Twenty20’s first super over, with Perth taking a dramatic win courtesy of some brilliant bowling from Yasir Arafat.
The Scorchers could also be bolstered by the availability of paceman and handy lower-order bat Nathan Coulter-Nile, whose commitments with the Australian limited overs team ends with the final Twenty20 against England in Sydney on Sunday.
“It’s been a place we’ve played well, but the only thing with this game is that whatever happened in the past doesn’t really count for much come Wednesday night”, said Katich. “We’ll take that little bit of confidence into the game, but come ball one, it all changes again.
“They’ll be confident as well; they’ll have a home advantage and they do play well at home”, he admitted. “Unfortunately, history doesn’t count for much come Wednesday night”.
Brett Lee is possibly the man that stands between Katich’s side and a BBL03 Final
“I’ve played with him a lot and he’s a big-game player”, Katich suggested. “He’ll be primed for a big game Wednesday night and I think he’s shown that in the games he’s played us.
“He won them the final here two years ago when he got two wickets in the first over; he got two wickets in the first over in the game against us in Sydney (earlier this season).
“No doubt, he’ll be primed for a big night, so how we play him – and not only him, but the rest of their attack – will be crucial to setting the game up”, Katich added. “That’s one area we’ve addressed as a team and if we can get that right, that’ll go a long way to us winning the game, if we can get top-order runs.”
Coulter-Nile could be back
“He’s had a very good summer and, when he has been back in the team, it’s certainly given us a lot of balance, given that he handles the bat very well, he’s athletic in the field and he’s obviously someone who can bowl at a reasonable pace,” Katich said. “His best game was probably here against the Hurricanes, where he won us the game at the end, along with Yasir.
“It’ll be good to have him back and it’ll make for some tough selections, but that’s part of the job between Justin (Langer), myself and the rest of the selection panel.
“It’s a nice position to be in and we’d much rather be going into a semi-final having guys available than not.
“They’ve obviously had some injury troubles, guys in and out of their squad and guys going to South Africa (with the Test team) - so, everyone’s in the same situation in not having full-strength teams.”
James Buttler
As the editor of World Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
He is also the presenter of the Cricket Badger Radio Show on Radio Yorkshire every Tuesday evening between 7-9pm UK time.
James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
James is a published author, a writer/video contributor to many cricket publications and a complete cricket badger!
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