With the new decade fast approaching, we’ve selected our all-time Adelaide Strikers best XI
With the Big Bash League’s ninth season set to take us into the next decade, we’ve selected the Adelaide Strikers’ all-time best XI since the competition first started in 2011. Did we get it right?
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The Big Bash League is entering its ninth season this summer after captivating cricket audiences for best part of the decade.
Locally, fans have flocked to Adelaide Oval to watch the Adelaide Strikers compete against the competition’s best players, with the New Year’s Eve fixture becoming a staple for many spectators’ end of year celebrations.
The Oval has witnessed many unbelievable moments - Travis Head’s blistering New Year’s century, Ben Laughlin’s unbelievable boundary-hugging catch, and Jake Weatherald’s matchwinning hundred in the 2017/18 BBL final against Hobart Hurricanes.
To celebrate the turn of the decade, we’ve listed our best Strikers XI in BBL history to date.
Instead of taking the easy route and simply picking the team that took Adelaide to its BBL07 title win, we’ve selected a squad we think would be the most damaging, but balanced, should all players across all seasons be available.
Did we get it right? Let us know in the comments!
Team in batting order:
Tim Ludeman (wk)
37 matches
846 runs at 30.21 (best: 92 not out)
At the peak of his powers, Ludeman was among the best opening batsmen in the BBL.
Playing for Adelaide from 2012-2017, before making a move to the Melbourne Renegades, the keeper/batsman was savage on anything with width, and currently sits second on the Strikers’ all-time runs list.
His flaying cut shots quickly became his trademark, and he got Adelaide off to many flying starts during his time with the club.
He was also good value when mic’ed up for the television broadcast, with his impersonations of ex-players usually spot on.
Jake Weatherald
33 matches
828 runs at 25.09 (best: 115)
The dashing left-hander’s century in the 2017/18 BBL final will forever be immortalised in franchise history, and that performance alone would probably be enough to get him a spot in this team.
However, Weatherald’s BBL record shows that innings wasn’t a blip on the radar, as he’s plundered more than 800 runs already for the Strikers - the third highest for the club - and he’s only 25-years-old.
As a handy outfielder, he does his best work with bat in hand at the top of the order, so that’s where we’ve left him.
Alex Carey
24 matches
772 runs at 36.76 (best: 100)
You may say ‘you can’t have two wicketkeepers in the team’, but tell that to the Australian Test selectors (who currently have Tim Paine and Matthew Wade in the side).
If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for us - and Carey is far too damaging with the willow to leave out.
As another eye-catching left-hander, who has one of the competition’s most elegant-looking cover drives, Carey has been a revelation since arriving on the BBL scene in 2016.
He’s ultra consistent, and probably would have more runs to his name if he improved his running between wickets (he was run out four times in BBL08).
Michael Klinger
22 matches
663 runs at 34.86 (best: 86 not out)
While most people probably associate Klinger with the two BBL titles he won with Perth Scorchers, the former Redback shone during his time with Adelaide before moving west.
The right-hander, despite departing the Strikers in 2014, still sits fifth on their all-time runs list reflecting how prolific he was while at the club.
With his impressive average above 30 and as one of the country’s best cricketing brains - evident by his recent appointment as coach of Melbourne Renegades - Klinger is a lock in this team.
Travis Head (c)
38 matches
1051 runs at 32.84 (best: 101 not out)
13 wickets at 24.15 (best 3/16)
Already the boy from Adelaide’s north has a BBL resume most would envy.
He’s a championship-winning captain, the Strikers’ all-time leading run-getter and lays claim to one of the greatest knocks at any level of cricket - his 2015 New Year’s Eve century off 53 balls - and, like Weatherald, he’s only 25-years-old.
The current Test vice-captain, while dashing with the bat, also has a very handy record bowling spin, making him one of the most versatile players in Strikers history.
Brad Hodge
20 matches
593 runs at 42.35 (best: 56 not out)
Only seven players have hit more than 500 runs for Adelaide, and none of them have done so at a better average than former skipper Brad Hodge.
Between 2014 and ‘17, ‘Hodgey’ was a rock in the Strikers’ top six before joining the Melbourne Renegades for the latter part of his BBL career after being told he was no longer needed at Adelaide.
This past week the former cricketer turned commentator revealed his own Melbourne Renegades All-Time XI with himself perched at the top of the order alongside Aaron Finch, but we reckon he did his best work wearing the lightning blue.
Kieron Pollard
18 matches
311 runs at 22.21 (best: 65 not out)
12 wickets at 23.83 (best 3/30)
Never has there been a Strikers player with more swagger than this big West Indian, who backed it up with the bat and ball during his short stint with the team.
Pollard played a similar role to his fellow countryman and Melbourne Renegades/Stars gun Dwayne Bravo as someone who could pinch-hit down the order with the willow, but also restrict runs and take wickets with ball in hand.
Averaging just under 25 with both is very handy for a T20 all-rounder, which is why he finds his way into the XI.
Michael Neser
48 matches
48 wickets at 27.22 (best 3/24)
286 runs at 14.30 (best 40 not out)
Currently second on the games record-holder list for Adelaide, Neser only needs to play three matches in BBL09 to take the mantle from Ben Laughlin.
Since 2012, Neser has been a staple in the Strikers’ side and was part of the title-winning team of 2017/18.
Super-reliable with the ball, evident by his nearly 50 wickets - the second most for the franchise - Neser has also proven himself to be a useful lower-order batsman when needed.
He slots in nicely behind Pollard at number eight.
Rashid Khan
25 matches
37 wickets at 16.02 (best 3/19)
Should he stay at the Strikers for a couple more seasons, it’s almost inevitable the Afghani superstar will finish his BBL career as the franchise’s all-time leading wicket-taker.
After bursting onto the scene as a 19-year-old, Rashid’s energy, bowling ability and flamboyance with the bat - the blue-coloured blade he used last season was awesome - immediately endeared him to Adelaide fans.
He’s one of the best T20 bowlers in world cricket let alone the BBL, and his figures from just 25 games clearly reflects that.
Ben Laughlin
50 matches
60 wickets at 22.61 (best 4/26)
This man really needs no introduction.
As the BBL’s all-time leading wicket-taker with 96 - after taking 35 during his stint with Hobart Hurricances before moving to Adelaide - Laughlin was one of the first names picked for the Strikers’ Team of the Decade.
With 60 wickets across 50 games, the right-arm quick has been a staple in Adelaide’s XI since 2014 - proving to be one of the competition’s best death bowlers due to his variations in pace, line and length.
The Strikers will be without Laughlin this season after the 37-year-old signed with Brisbane Heat to be closer to family.
Shaun Tait
18 matches
28 wickets at 17.96 (best 3/22)
Because ‘The Wild Thing’ hasn’t played a BBL game for the Strikers since 2015, it’s easy to forget just how damaging he was during his time with the franchise.
Tait’s 17.96 average is second only to Rashid Khan for Adelaide bowlers who have taken more than 20 wickets - probably because many domestic-level batsmen found him too quick to hit.
When he was firing on all cylinders, Tait was terrifyingly fast and would strike fear into any opposition team’s top order.
He had X-factor, and would make a formidable bowling partner alongside Laughlin and Rashid.
Kane Richardson (12th man)
36 matches
37 wickets at 26.05 (best 3/9)
162 runs at 13.50 (best 45)
‘Richo’ was with the Strikers right throughout the early years of BBL before, like many of his former teammates, joining the Melbourne Renegades.
He proved himself to be a valuable, consistent short-form bowler who developed more variations as the seasons progressed, all the while regularly taking wickets.
He’s also no mug with the bat, and while the Strikers ideally didn’t want him spending much time at the crease - if the top order did its job - Richardson was more than capable of finding the boundary and adding some value lower order runs.
