The imminent departure of their out of sorts English imports will give winless BBL side Sydney Sixers the chance to inject new blood and address their batting woes
They have lost all five of their games so far, including Wednesday's fall to the Melbourne Renegades, and need to win all of their last five to keep alive any faint hope of making the finals.
Injuries and the unavailability of key players have hit them hard.
Spinner Steve O'Keefe will miss the remainder of the tournament with an ankle injury, while their leading 2016-17 run scorer Daniel Hughes has also missed matches.
Captain Moises Henriques has taken personal leave and it's unclear when, or even if, he will return before the end of their campaign.
A shortage of runs has been the Sixers problem, with Jordan Silk's 50 against the Strikers their only half century.
No other player has scored more than 33 in an innings and Silk is the only specialist batsman averaging over 25.
"Very simply we haven't scored enough runs," Sixers' general manger Dominic Remond told AAP.
"Other than last night's (Renegades) match we've been very competitive we've pretty much gone down to the last over.
"But our batters really haven't really delivered.
"I think the bowlers have done a pretty good job to keep us in the game."
England batsmen Jason Roy and Sam Billings, who will join the tourists one-day squad next week, are among those who have struggled.
Both have scored less than 100 in five innings, with Billings averaging 19 and Roy 10.
"I reckon if you asked them they would say they have not produced the runs they would have expected from the calibre of players they are," Remond said.
Remond hoped to have the replacement imports locked in by the weekend.
"Bringing some new blood and talent in halfway through the season is an important thing and then we're assessing what we do with SOK (O'Keefe's spot)," he said.
"Now that he's out we' are able to bring in a replacement player.
"We've got a big game against Hobart next Monday and from that period we'll then be able to bring players in.
"My belief is if if we win five games we can still get into the playoffs."
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