The BBL has seen some of the greatest international Cricketers of all time from Chris Gayle, Ab De Villers, David Warner and more but due to the amount of teams, the International Cricket going on at the same time and the things like injuries and more, Teams have a mixture of solid state cricketers, internationals and even club Crickets who are keen to impress in front of the biggest audience they’ve played in front of. We’ve looked at 8 players who have given all club cricketers hope they’ll be playing in front of a packed MCG. We’ve decided to keep to one per team.

Liam Bowe- Melbourne Stars

Given nicknames of Wizard and Harry Potter, Bowe isn’t as intimidating to face as say teammates like Marcus Stoinis or Dale Steyn however, the 22 year old leg spinner has caused some troubles in his 14 T20s for the Stars taking 11 wickets at an average of 30.72. Bowe plays for Essendon in Victorian Premier Cricket.

Trent Lawford- Melbourne Renegades

Another player with an interesting nickname, Trent Lawford or “Truck” played 10 T20s for the Renegades and the Sydney Sixers with the last coming in 2017. Becoming a cult figure due to his big statue, Lawford wasn’t the best allrounder averaging 49.5 with the ball and 7 with the bat from 10 games but certainly left an impression on fans especially when he collided with an opposition batsman mid pitch in 2016. Lawford currently plays for the Yarraville Cricket Club.

Jake Reed-Hobert Hurricanes

Unlike the other two, Reed is bowler with a lot of pace. The now Geelong bowler, has been clocked at over 140kph while playing for the Hurricanes. Reed took 16 wickets at an average of 17 from 10 T20s. The quick is mostly likely remembered for his first ball in the BBL where he slipped and fell in his bowling load up.

Craig Simmons-Adelaide Strikers

Although Simmons played seven first class games and 21 list A games, he was never able to score a hundred until his early 30s when he played for both the Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers scoring a ton for each team. Simmons now plays for Rockingham-Mandurah in Western Australia playing over 200 games for the club.

James Muirhead-Perth Scorchers

Muirhead appeared on the lists of four seperate BBL teams but his most T20s came at the Scorchers. His career is a fascinating one, going from second XI premier cricket games to BBL games, future tour games and back again. His career yo-yo’ed so much he even played 5 T20I for Australia debuting against England in 2014. Four years later he was dumped from the Victoria contract list and hasn’t return since. The 26 year old now plays for Footscray in Victorian Premier Cricket.

Carl Sandri-Sydney Thunder

Sandri is the ultimate journeyman. Having played for the Victorian second XI in the 2005/06 season, Sandri moved to England County Cricket to try his luck there however he was only able to play a single second XI match for Worcestershire leaving his career at a crossroads. Sandri (having Italian heritage) ended up qualifying for the Italian Cricket team in 2012 where he found great success. A year later he was on the Sydney Thunder’s list and played the 2013/14 season for the side.

Justin Avendando-Sydney Sixers

Avendando had the opportunity to kickstart his career at age 19 when he appeared on the one and only season of the Foxtel reality show “Cricket Superstar”. Unfortunately he was knocked out in the 8th week of the show finishing 6th. Fast forward almost 8 years to the day and Avendando was making his debut for the Sixers and has since played 9 T20s for the franchise. Years of hard work playing Sydney grade Cricket has paid off as he now looks to cement a spot in the Sixers middle order.