Scorchers pair to miss clash
Perth Scorchers will have to overcome the loss of two key players to register their first win of the Big Bash League campaign against Melbourne Renegades at the WACA Ground tonight.
State captain Adam Voges could miss the rest of the tournament after sustaining a shoulder injury during the opening-round loss to Brisbane Heat on Sunday, and paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile is with the national squad for the fourth Test.
Fremantle all-rounder Tim Armstrong and Pakistani recruit Yasir Arafat have been named in the 13-man Scorchers squad for tonight's game.
Right-arm fast bowler Arafat signed with the Scorchers as a replacement overseas player for West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith, who withdrew for personal reasons.
Arafat, 31, played three Tests and 11 one-day internationals for Pakistan and has spent time in the English county system.
The Twenty20 specialist joins veteran South African bowler Alfonso Thomas as the two overseas players in the squad.
Arafat arrived after a stint with English county side Somerset this year, where he played alongside Thomas.
Scorchers captain Simon Katich admitted Smith's withdrawal had affected the balance of the side but expects Arafat to be a handy addition.
"We obviously got dealt a disappointing blow last week with Dwayne Smith," Katich said.
"We felt he was going to balance our team beautifully, given his form in the last 12 months.
"We looked at all the possibilities and we think Yasir's the best possible candidate at this point in time, even though he's a fast bowler, to help our squad.
"We're looking forward to having him involved because he's very experienced and Alfonso was a huge rap on him from his time at Somerset this year."
Katich said the return of Mitch Marsh against Brisbane last week had been a massive plus for the Scorchers.
Marsh scored 57 not out from 35 balls to guide the Scorchers to a respectable total and Katich expected him to continue to perform well.
"We didn't have him at all last summer and I think he showed really good maturity the other night, given that we never strung any partnerships together," Katich said.
"He sort of bided his time and picked the right moment to attack them late in the innings and that in the end got us to what I thought was a really good total.
"Having him around has been outstanding because he gives us such good options with bat and ball.
"He didn't bowl much the other night (one over for 17) but there will no doubt be more opportunities there for him."
Tonight's clash features the competition's most experienced spinners, Brad Hogg and Muttiah Muralitharan.
The Scorchers dealt the Renegades their only home-and-away loss last season on the back of Shaun Marsh's 85 off 52 balls.
Scorchers squad: Simon Katich (c), Ashton Agar, Yasir Arafat, Tim Armstrong, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Ryan Duffield, Brad Hogg, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, Alfonso Thomas, Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman (wk).
