Sussex Winter Watch: Salt's Strikers soar - and Sharks get Indian Premier League calls

Phil Salt continued his Big Bash League campaign with Adelaide Strikers as they looked to climb up the table after dropping out of the top four spots for finals.

Salt was joined by captain and 2021 Sussex overseas signing Travis Head, who had returned from Test duty with Australia. Taking on Brisbane Heat in their first game of the week, Salt and Head helped the Strikers to a superb total of 197/5 as they made 31 off 14 balls and 25 off 19 balls respectively.

The total was boosted by the first BBL century of the season, with former Shark Alex Carey making the milestone with 101 off 62 balls. The Strikers were able to romp home as they won by 82 runs to start the week well for Jason Gillespie’s side.

Their second game of the week saw them take on Sydney Thunder, with a win needed to send them back into the top four. Both batsmen scored 31 runs apiece to help the Strikers set a total of 159/6 before Head chipped in with the ball, having Oliver Davies caught by Carey for four as the off-spinner finished with figures of 1-15 from two overs.

The Strikers were able to pull off another win, defeating the Thunder by six runs to move up to third in the table.

There was more good news for Salt in the week as he was re-signed by the Manchester Originals for the 2021 edition of The Hundred. Salt previously signed for the outfit in the £100,000 bracket of the draft for the 2020 competition but was unable to play a game for his new side as Covid-19 led to it being postponed for a year.

Elsewhere, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan and Rashid Khan were retained by their IPL sides for the 2021 edition of the IPL.

Archer, the IPL 2020 MVP was retained by Rajasthan Royals, who finished bottom in last year’s tournament, alongside England teammates Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.

Jordan was retained by Kings XI Punjab, one of three overseas players retained by the franchise including West Indian pair Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran. Rashid was one of seven overseas players retained by his side Sunrisers Hyderabad, who finished third in last years competition.

Archer will be back in India in just a few weeks’ time as he was named in England’s Test squad for their first two Tests versus India. After being rested for England’s ongoing series versus Sri Lanka, the fast bowler will return to the squad for the first two Tests. Sussex teammate Ollie Robinson is one of six reserves for the tour after being a reserve for the tour of Sri Lanka.

After news that four Sharks had been selected in the Abu Dhabi T10 league, this week saw another join the tournament with George Garton joining the Bangla Tigers for the tournament that starts in two days time, joining up with teammate David Wiese.