Adelaide Strikers coach Jason Gillespie has declared his need to lure disgruntled star Rashid Khan to return subsequent season with the signature of star slugger Chris Lynn additionally a “work in progress”.
The departure of each stars on the backend of the BBL season contributed to the Strikers lacking the finals for the primary time in 4 seasons, which Gillespie labelled “heartbreaking”.
Khan, the main worldwide wicket taker within the BBL, has additionally questioned his return after Australia cancelled a one-day sequence in opposition to his Afghanistan, resulting in backlash from his cricket board and several other teammates.
Gillespie mentioned he was hopeful of re-signing the entire Strikers’ abroad gamers, together with Khan, Adam Hose and Colin de Grandhomme for subsequent season.
“I love continuity and would love to explore what they are doing, but there are a lot of unknowns,” he mentioned.
The potential for a shortened season subsequent yr, with the BBL set to lose 18 video games within the first yr of the following broadcast deal in 2025, might influence all signings.
“I do understand that it is a long season, but I’ve often said there’s no reason why we can’t play back-to-back days,” he mentioned.
“We contract 18 players, so you have strength in depth and when you have big enough gaps between games, like in the current system, players have enough time to recover and be fresh for the next day.
“By and large, players don’t want to be rested, I’ll give you the strong tip.
“But if you did condense it and kept the 14 (games per team), you probably wouldn’t have a choice – you’d have to rest and rotate players a little bit.”
The return of Lynn additionally stays a excessive precedence for the Strikers, regardless of his exit for the ultimate three video games enjoying its half in 5 straight losses to complete the season.
Lynn skilled a resurgence after shifting to Adelaide this summer season, earlier than reducing his stint quick to move to the UAE for the inaugural International League T20, the place he’s presently enjoying for the Gulf Giants.
Despite lacking the final three matches of the BBL season, Lynn continues to be ranked third within the competitors for runs (416).
“Obviously, we’ve got a few unknowns about the length of the season, other tournaments, the structure of attracting overseas players – is it going to be another draft or whatever? So there are a lot of things to unpack,” Gillespie mentioned.
“If we can find a way to make it (re-signing Lynn) work, we’d certainly look to explore it, but there’s so many of these leagues popping up every bloody day.
“He’s been in constant contact with us … he’s still checking in, wishing the boys all the best.
“He genuinely loved his time with us.”
The Strikers missed out on the finals after shedding their remaining sport to the Melbourne Renegades on Tuesday night time, which Gillespie described as a “bitter pill to swallow”.
“It’s heartbreaking … we’re so much better than we showed,” he mentioned.
“We just haven’t been able to find a way in critical moments in games throughout the season to get the job done, which is disappointing.”
