THE addition of some international star power on draft night sees a different looking Brisbane Heat side heading into BBL|12 next month.

In the second article of our team preview series, we take a look at the Heat, who will be looking to return to their winning ways after securing just three victories in season 2021/22 to close out an extremely disappointing campaign.

With some eye-catching list changes and hopefully more availability from some of their big names, the Heat will be eager to push back up the standings in BBL|12.

Brisbane Heat

2021/22 record – 3 wins, 11 losses

The Heat were not even close to a finals appearance in BBL|11 by the time the fixture wrapped, losing their final six matches to put any hopes of the postseason out of the question. Their only three wins came against the Renegades, Strikers and Hurricanes, all of whom encountered their own struggles throughout the course of the season. Brisbane was often defeated by the competition’s best, perfectly displaying the side is due for some star power. Big hitting batsmen Chris Lynn looked to be in the twilight of his career, and could no longer be relied upon for match-winning knocks, while Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Swepson all spent time with the national squad, limiting their BBL appearances.

Lynn departed the team in the offseason, heading down south to join the Strikers after being not offered a new contract, but the Brisbane front office did some handy work in replacing him, largely due to the newly implemented draft. Despite having Jimmy Pierson on the books, the Heat added star English batsman-keeper Sam Billings, who has already built his reputation as one of the best T20 players in the draft pool. He is expected to be available for most of the tournament, with the same unable to be said of similar players of his calibre. The team also added Usman Khawaja, and while he and Labuschagne will miss much of the tournament due to test duties, the pair should return towards the end of the fixture. Khawaja will bring consistency and leadership at the top of the batting order, and will be a fine replacement for Lynn’s veteran presence.

The Heat do have plenty of star power on their roster, it is just a matter of holding on until they get some of their big guns back. If they can get some wins on the board in the early stages of the season, a return to the finals could very well be on the cards.

BBL|12 squad

Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Sam Billings, Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Munro, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Ross Whiteley, Jack Wildermuth