Nick Hobson will be in new colours for BBL|16, signing a two-year deal with the Hobart Hurricanes in a bid to spend more time at the crease with the bat.
The left-hander started batting in the higher order with the Perth Scorchers when he debuted in 2019 but has recently batted in seven and eight.
Scorchers fans will remember Hobson fondly for hitting the winning runs in the Scorchers’ fifth BBL title with a boundary to cap off the season and bring home the trophy.
A huge selling point for the move is to work alongside one of the BBL’s leading finishers, Tim David, who’s averaged 29.67 runs across 80 matches in the league.
Following Matthew Wade’s retirement, Hobson is Hobart’s newest left-hander to take advantage of Ninja Stadium’s short, square boundaries.
He joined Sports Breakfast this morning.
“I’ve had some amazing times with Perth, but ultimately it was a cricket decision—hopefully to get a bit more game time,” he said.
“They don’t have any left-handers outside of their top order players… It’s helpful to have a left and right combination so they were open to how I might be used in the order, but it’s ultimately down to the 11 you’ve got.
PERTH, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 13: Nick Hobson of the Scorchers plays his shot during the BBL match between Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat at Optus Stadium, on January 13, 2024, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by James Worsfold – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
“It is to face more balls in general because last year I was kind of a backup number seven for Perth, which it’s hard to get a lot of cricket in.”
Hobson has spent his grade cricket years with Claremont-Nedlands, playing a T20 match on the weekend against Joondalup as he prepares for the upcoming Big Bash season.
He hit 130 off 52 balls in a rapid innings with 12 fours and 11 sixes to steer his side to a 21-run victory.
“I grew up wanting to play red ball cricket and Test cricket for Australia—like a lot of young cricketers do—and I couldn’t be further from it at the moment playing these ultra short format tournaments, but equally it’s given me a bit of a second wind the last few years. I actually just love it.”
“It’s weird how the world works and how your career takes different twists and turns and yeah, if you told me five years ago I’d be a backend hitter in a T20 team or playing T10 tournaments, it would be hard for me to imagine.”
Hobson has spent time in the Canadian Super60 league in the past few months, batting for the Whiterock Warriors in a change of scenery before he heads to Hobart for the upcoming T20 season.
With Finn Allen departing Perth in September for the Melbourne Stars and Hobson leaving, the Scorchers will be looking for some batting firepower to add to their squad coming into the sixteenth instalment of the BBL.