Former Australian all-rounder James Faulkner has launched an extraordinary broadside at Hobart Hurricanes coach Adam Griffith, after he was unable to agree to a new deal with the BBL club.
The 31-year-old has spent three seasons at the Hurricanes, but will have to look elsewhere to continue his career, after an ugly split with the Hobart-based team.
The Hurricanes offered what Faulkner described as a “disrespectful” offer for the 2021-22 summer.
“I’m obviously not on board (at the Hurricanes),” he told SEN Hobart.
“It is very disappointing. I wanted to be a part of the Hurricanes and represent Tasmania. I’m just shattered at how it’s all played out.
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“They brought an initial offer to my manager … he was embarrassed to bring it (to me). I found that pretty hard to take when I first heard it on the phone – I found it pretty disrespectful for what I’ve given to Tasmanian cricket. I’ve put my heart and soul into it.
“To hear the initial offer … it cut pretty deep.”
The all-rounder, who was man of the match in Australia’s 2015 World Cup final victory, doesn’t believe the club was serious about keeping him.
Making the situation even tougher for Faulkner, the fact that most clubs have all but finalised their roster for BBL|11 means he’s likely to be left without an option for this summer, forcing him to look to overseas competitions to continue his career.
“It’s all OK for them to say they want me, but when they offered what they did, it was very clear that they didn’t want me,” he explained.
“They just left me in the background after promising they were going to sort it. They actually called me in before I went to the Pakistan Super League to apologise, and it still never got sorted out.
“They did offer a couple of (more) times. It was the initial offer and not feeling wanted – I know what I’m worth. I didn’t want more, I just wanted what was fair and maybe a little less.
“It comes back to that first offer – I didn’t feel respected as a player or as a person or a Tasmanian.”
Faulkner only played five matches in BBL|10, but took a more than respectable eight wickets in those matches, despite battling a hamstring problem.
The Hurricanes finished sixth last summer, but the club’s seven wins from 14 matches was the same number as fourth placed Brisbane, and only one win less than second placed Perth.
Regardless, it was the first time since BBL|06 that Hobart failed to qualify for the finals.
“They used injury against me the whole time which is quite disappointing,” Faulkner said.
“Last season I had an eight-week hamstring (injury) and I tried to come back in three-and-a-half weeks and put my body on the line to come back so we had a shot at making finals. For the coach to use that against me I felt was wrong.
“People don’t really know the full story, but that cut me deep when I heard that on the news the other night.”
Faulkner is eighth all-time on the list of BBL wicket-takers, with 80 wickets from 70 matches.
He singled out Hurricanes coach Adam Griffith, who took over the job midway through 2018 as the reason for his departure.
“I’ve never had an issue with Cricket Tasmania, the board, the players and the supporters – I’ve loved every part of being a Tasmanian cricketer,” he said.
“Through this negotiation with certain people there’s been a breakdown in the relationship.
“It’s pretty clear where it’s at. When you watch the news, and you see who I thought was one of my mates as well as the head coach say the bowling group and the team have performed well without me and that we need to move on and that he didn’t really care – that’s like sticking a knife straight in my back.
“That’s not called for.”
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