Hobart have finished 7th in both of the past two years
The Tasmanian minnows managed to reach the knockouts twice in the BBL’s first three seasons.
But over the last three, the Hurricanes have had the worst average finish in the table and have only narrowly missed out on the wooden spoon for the last two years.
Coach: Gary Kirsten, he began his coaching career in India in 2008. After a successful three years culminating in their 2011 World Cup win, Kirsten moved back to his native South Africa where he coached them to number one in the Test rankings.
The former opener never renewed his contract with South Africa though, citing family reasons. In 2014 he joined the IPL’s Delhi Daredevils as head coach, but after finishing in the bottom two in both his seasons there, he was let go.
At one stage Kirsten held the South African records for most runs and centuries in a Test career, and the record for the highest score in World Cup history until Chris Gayle and Martin Guptil surpassed it in the 2015 tournament.
Fans in Tasmania will be hoping that some of this class will rub off on the Hurricanes.
George Bailey will captain the Hurricanes. His career high was in 2013, when he smashed 478 runs against India in an ODI series in which he averaged 95.60. Bailey climbed to number two in the world rankings.
He has captained Hobart before, but relinquished the captaincy two seasons ago. He’s been promoted back to skipper after Tim Paine’s selection in the Ashes squad.
Bailey’s looking forward to giving leadership another go, "I'm really excited about this opportunity, it's been a couple of years since I've had the captaincy," he said.
"There's been a few changes - new coach, new CEO, so there'll be a different feel around the group. It's the one tournament Tasmania hasn't won yet so I'm looking forward to rectifying that."
The Hurricanes lack the star power boasted by some of the other teams in the Big Bash, but that’s not to say they’re not a talented side capable of upsetting the applecart.
Tim Paine: The aforementioned Aussie wicketkeeper will be unavailable until the end of the Ashes and it’ll be a big miss for Hobart.
Other than skipper Bailey, Paine was Hobart's best batsman last season with 227 runs including two fifties and an impressive 91.
The Tasmanian crowd will be hoping for more of the same when Paine returns from international duty.
Tymal Mills: The English fast bowler played two games for the Brisbane Heat in last years Big Bash, taking one wicket.
His extreme pace makes him an asset for any attack.
Mills is the second most expensive player in IPL history behind Ben Stokes (£1.7m). Royal Challengers Bangalore payed £1.4M for his services.
The left-armer nearly quit the game all together in 2015 after being diagnosed with a back condition, in the end he decided to give up first-class cricket and become a T20 specialist.
The Bellerive Oval (currently the Blundstone arena due to sponsorship) is the only venue in Tasmania that hosts international cricket.
In all but one BBL seasons, Hobart have had the lowest average attendance of any team, (narrowly beating out the mighty Perth Scorchers in the BBL|02).
Since the addition of the Ricky Ponting stand though, the Hurricanes have broken the attendance record at the ground.
The bookies have them bottom of the pile, it’s as simple as that.
Squad
George Bailey*, Jofra Archer, James Bazley, Cameron Boyce, Dan Christian, Hamish Kingston, Ben McDermott, Simon Milenko, Tymal Mills, David Moody, Tim Paine, Jake Reed, Sam Rainbird, Tom Rogers, Clive Rose, D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade.
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