Hurricanes are favourites for the Big Bash League - Greg Blewett

The signing deadline for the second season of the Big Bash League, the Australian T-20 league has closed and while a few more player announcements are expected, the squads of all eight teams are beginning to take shape.
Former Australia batsman, now commentator, Greg Blewett, gives his view on  teams,  where their strengths lie and how they might fare in the 2012-13 edition of the BBL."My three standouts for the new season are Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Stars and Adelaide Strikers," Blewett said.

"Especially the Hurricanes, they're looking like a very strong outfit."hey’ve done really well getting their list together. George Bailey comes back and he’ll captain the side. Travis Birt is one of the best T20 domestic players going around and Owais Shah was one of the best players of the competition last year and really controlled things in the middle overs for the Hurricanes. Tim Paine and Ricky Ponting are also there and should get plenty of game time. They are the standout team at the moment.
Melbourne Renegades changed their side this year which should help. They’ve got a couple of the Adelaide boys, Tom Cooper and Daniel Harris, who are good players while Aaron Finch is their main batsman at this stage. They’re a bit thin on the bowling, obviously Muttiah Muralitharan’s four overs will be very valuable during the middle overs, but I think they might be struggling with their quicker bowlers.


2012-2013 KFC T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE SQUADS

Melbourne Renegades
Meyrick Buchanan, Tom Cooper, Aaron Finch, Daniel Harris, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, James Muirhead, Muttiah Muralitharan, Peter Nevill, Aaron O'Brien, Darren Pattinson, Nathan Rimmington, Ben Rohrer, Will Sheridan

Adelaide Strikers
Johan Botha, Theo Doropoulos, Callum Ferguson, Jon Holland, Phillip Hughes, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Andrew McDonald, Michael Neser, Kieron Pollard, Gary Putland, Nathan Reardon, Kane Richardson, James Smith, Shaun Tait


Brisbane Heat
Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Daniel Christian, Peter Forrest, Cameron Gannon, Ryan Harris, Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Luke Pomersbach, Kemar Roach, Shane Watson, Daniel Vettori


Hobart Hurricanes
George Bailey, Travis Birt, Aiden Blizzard, Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Ben Dunk, Michael Hogan, Jason Krejza, Ben Laughlin, Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting, Owais Shah, Timm van der Gugten, Jonathan Wells


Melbourne Stars
Jackson Bird, James Faulkner, Pete Handscomb, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Matthew Wade, Cameron White, Luke Wright


Perth Scorchers
Ashton Agar, Tim Armstrong, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Ben Edmondson, Herschelle Gibbs, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Albie Morkel, Marcus North, Tom Triffitt, Adam Voges


Sydney Sixers
Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Josh Lalor, Brett Lee, Nic Maddinson, Ian Moran, Sunil Narine, Stephen O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Smith, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely


Sydney Thunder
Sean Abbott, Cameron Borgas, Ryan Carters, Mark Cosgrove, Adam Coyte, Scott Coyte, Luke Doran, Jason Floros, Rhett Lockyear, Dirk Nannes, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Tremain