Last season, Adam Voges’ Scorchers won the final against Heat by five wickets with four balls remaining, securing their fifth crown in front of a record crowd of 53,886 in Perth. This season, the team has a strong lineup, including English batsmen Zak Crawley, Laurie Evans, and Stephen Eskinazi, along with a formidable bowling attack featuring Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, and Ashton Agar. Voges has also added left-arm quick Liam Haskett to the squad, who impressed with 13 wickets at 29.15 in four Sheffield Shield appearances, including dismissing Test stars Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne.

“To finish the way we did (last season), in front of a crowd that loud and passionate, was incredible,” said Eskinazi, who plays English county cricket for Middlesex and with Welsh Fire in the Hundred.

“We’ve got an awesome squad, a great supporter base and we’re hungry, so I’m excited to be on board and keen to get stuck in.”

The tournament begins with Heat facing Melbourne Stars at the Gabba on Thursday. There will be a break from December 14-18 for Australia’s opening Test against Pakistan in Perth. The finals series, consisting of four games, will culminate in the final on January 24, a Wednesday, which is only the second time it will be played mid-week. Heat’s wicketkeeper-batter Jimmy Peirson is feeling confident as they aim for their first title since 2012-13.

“We’ve been in a final, we’ve played in front of 50,000 people, we know what to expect, and we did it with a group that wasn’t at its strongest either. So we know we can do it,” he said.

They get a boost for their first match from Khawaja and Labuschagne, who will then leave for Test duty. Their three overseas players are England’s Sam Billings, Paul Walter, and New Zealander Colin Munro.

The Stars have a significant advantage with big-hitting allrounder Glenn Maxwell returning after missing the entire last season due to a fractured leg. Sydney Sixers, three-time champions, will face Hobart Hurricanes in the opening match, with Steve Smith available before he departs for the Pakistan series.

However, some top players have pulled out of the event, including Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, the world’s number one ranked T20 bowler, who is a key player for the Adelaide Strikers. Khan has a back injury requiring minor surgery. England batter Harry Brook withdrew from the Stars due to workload concerns, and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock is expected to miss the Renegades’ first two games due to commitments in the Abu Dhabi T10 league.