Voges on mission to lift his own game
Perth Scorchers captain Adam Voges has turned the blowtorch on himself, admitting he needs to lift if his side is to rebound from its disappointing loss to Sydney Thunder at the WACA Ground.
The Scorchers have a 2-2 record after Thursday night's 20-run defeat and Voges said the Big Bash League title holders would likely now need to win three of their next four matches to qualify for the finals for a fourth straight season.
Voges was at a loss to explain the team's poor performance against Sydney with both bat and ball after starting the season strongly.
"To put in such a flat performance was disappointing," he said.
"I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I just thought our performance right from the first ball and our energy levels weren't quite where they had been.
"But I think we've brushed that off now. We are 2-2, middle of the pack, halfway in our campaign.
"We know probably that five wins will get us in (the finals) so we're now looking at probably having to win three out of the next four games."
Voges said there were no excuses, despite missing first-choice players Shaun and Mitch Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Brad Hogg and Joel Paris.
"We understood that coming into this that we were going to give opportunities to some young guys and we need them to keep performing," he said.
Voges was dismissed for eight against the Thunder as the Scorchers' top order collapsed.
He is averaging just 9.67 for the tournament.
The 35-year-old is hoping he and the team can turn things around for their clash with the undefeated Strikers at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday night.
"I have missed out three games in a row now so I need to start putting some performances on the board and leading the way," Voges said.
"It was a bad performance (against Sydney), but that's Twenty20 cricket sometimes and we'll dust ourselves off.
"We have a big ask to go to Adelaide. They are playing pretty well at the moment, particularly at home, so we are going to have to find a way over the next few days to turn things around and make sure we're ready to go."
Voges said Hogg would be a certainty to travel to Adelaide if he safely negotiated a grade game today on his return from a hamstring injury.
Wicket-keeper Sam Whiteman would also be fine to play, despite playing through pain after a knock to his right hand in the nets. DID YOU KNOW? 9.67 Perth Scorchers captain Adam Voges' average after four games in the Big Bash League
