The Brisbane Heat are set to call in all of Nathan McSweeney, Max Bryant and Sam Heazlett for their BBL do-or-die clash against the Sydney Sixers.
The clash, to be held on Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground, will be without all of Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Swepson and Matt Renshaw, who propelled the Heat into the finals during a strong second half of the season.
Xavier Bartlett, who replaced Swepson on Sunday against the Renegades, will also likely retain his place in the side.
Swepson missed the game against the Renegades to attend Australia's training camp in Sydney ahead of their departure for India, which occurred yesterday after the 2023 Australian Cricket Awards.
The trio of batsmen - Khawaja, Labuschagne and Renshaw - were allowed to play for the Heat on both Friday and Sunday, with the men in teal knocking over the Sydney Thunder on Duckworth-Lewis at the Sydney Showgrounds, before beating the Renegades under the roof at Marvel Stadium.
It means they have set up a Challenger clash with the Sydney Sixers, who will also be without Steve Smith for the grand final qualifier, after the men in magenta lost to the Perth Scorchers on Saturday.
The Heat lose an enormous amount of talent and experience at the top of the order with the departures of Khawaja, Labuschagne and Renshaw, and it will be up to Bryant, Heazlett and McSweeney to fill the shoes.
"It is a really tough situation. Ideally you want your best players playing throughout the course of the tournament but the way the international schedule is so hectic, I understand the challenges they have," Heat coach Wade Secombe said.
"We have lost some of our Australian players but the guys we are bringing in have played the format before so I don't have a problem with it. They have performed when they came in.
"We want our players. Every other team wants our players."
Heazlett, who has battled injury throughout this year's tournament, but has 48 games to his name in the BBL, hasn't taken to the field in the shortest form this summer.
McSweeney and Bryant both had promising performances earlier in the summer, with McSweeney's 84 off 51 balls against the Sixers a standout, while Bryant had one innings over 40.
The challenger, to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, will be played at 7:15pm (AEDT) on Thursday.
