Hobart Hurricanes star Matt Wade declares he is fit for grand final rematch

Hobart Hurricanes wicketkeeper Matt Wade has declared himself confident of being fit for the BBL15 opener against Sydney Thunder despite suffering a strain in Abu Dhabi.

Hurricanes star Matthew Wade has declared himself fit for the opening BBL clash with the Sydney Thunder. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

Veteran Hobart Hurricanes wicketkeeper Matt Wade is confident he will be fit for the grand final rematch against the Sydney Thunder in the club’s opening match of the BBL15.

Wade suffered a minor strain while playing in the T10 competition in Abu Dhabi which saw him return to Hobart early to ensure he was right to go for the December 16 matchup.

“I had a hit last week, I had a couple of hits last week and just focused on getting strong again but everything’s leading towards I’ll be fine to go,” Wade said.

“I’ve done a couple of them now and it feels pretty standard, usually two weeks, so coming up to three weeks now, so I should be good to go by the time of the first game.

“I tore it in a game just before the 21 World Cup final, that was the first one I’ve done and then I did one in the winter when I was coaching.

Hurricanes star Matthew Wade has declared himself fit for the opening BBL clash with the Sydney Thunder. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

“They’re starting to become a little bit more frequent with batters now, it’s just the power hitting side of the game.”

The reigning champions have added Beau Webster, Jake Weatherald and Jackson Bird to an already powerful squad during the off-season.

Despite not expecting to see much of Webster and Weatherald, Wade is confident the Hurricanes can have more success this summer.

“Excited to get the group back together, it’s been a long time between seeing all the boys in the one change room,” Wade said.

“It’s always scary when you’ve got a good squad on paper and we’ve had those for a long time but last year we kind of found a few pieces that we’re missing.

“Hopefully Mitch (Owen) has the year that he had last year but if he doesn’t we’re certainly got areas in the batting line-up that we can cover.

“We’ve got plenty of options and it’s about trying to find some winners on the night and I feel like through our seven or eight batters we’ve got two or three match winners every night if we need them.”

Hurricanes coach backs side for historic home final

Despite an almost two-week wait for a chance to bat ahead of the WBBL final, Hobart Hurricanes coach Jude Coleman remains confident in her side’s form.

The last time the Hurricanes players batted was on December 1 in their win over Melbourne Stars at Ninja Stadium.

They were due to bat against the Adelaide Strikers last week before the game was abandoned at the halfway mark after a stray ball was caught under the roller in the innings break and left a heavy dent in the pitch.

Despite the wait, Coleman was looking forward to the challenge.

Hurricanes head coach Jude Coleman is confident her side can bring back its first ever WBBL title. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

“We’re really pumped, it’s been a good season so far, it was an interesting finish to it in Adelaide on Friday night but we’re stoked to have a home final,” Coleman said.

“We had that little bit of a bump in the middle of the season but I think you kind of need that at some point throughout the season.

“So we’re really confident with the line-up that we’ve got that all our players are in really good form, now it’s just managing the week off and keeping that form.

“So we’ll be looking to do everything we can to make sure we’re ready and raring to go on Saturday night, the girls are in a good place, so we’ll give them a couple of days rest and then hit the training park on Wednesday.”

It will be the first time in the Hurricanes history they host a WBBL final on Saturday night after finishing top of the table.

The finals kick off with Perth Scorchers hosting Melbourne Stars on Tuesday with the winner then heading to Sydney to take on the Sixers on Thursday.

Hobart awaits the winner of the second final.

Coleman said they will be ready to face any side.

“All three teams will be very tough, they’ve got matchwinners but I’m confident that our team can handle whoever is put up against us, I don’t have a preference, be happy to beat any of them,” Coleman said.

“I’d love to get a few thousand, three to four thousand I think would be great, it was just over a thousand I think at our Saturday night game against the Scorchers and the atmosphere was awesome.”