Brisbane Heat captain Chris Lynn the No. 1 lock for the opening round of SuperCoach BBL
Building your SuperCoach BBL team around teams with doubles each round is the quickest way to success. Tim Michell identifies five players you need to start the season in style in Round 1.
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SuperCoach BBL is almost here.
If you haven’t registered your team ahead of Tuesday’s first game, there’s still time to be in contention for $57,000 in prizes.
Double game weeks are the key to SuperCoach BBL and refer to the team/teams playing twice.
Round 1 provides a triple treat for coaches with Sydney Thunder, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers featuring twice.
The Sixers, Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers then share the double in Round 3.
Planning ahead is what sets the best coaches apart.
But if a flying start is your priority, these are the five players you must pick for Round 1.
1. Chris Lynn (Brisbane Heat) $173,000 BAT
Lynn has allayed any concerns about his form leading into BBL09 with a dazzling T10 League campaign and 79 from 33 balls in Queensland grade cricket on Saturday. Coaches would be taking a huge risk by leaving one of the BBL’s greatest power-hitters. You’re not only risking Lynn monstering the Thunder and Stars in his two Round 1 match ups, but also the possibility other coaches name the Heat captain as their SuperCoach skipper. There’s nothing wrong with overlooking a star for a point of difference, but Round 1 isn’t the time for punts which could be a huge setback to your campaign. Lock him in.
2. Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars) $278,900 BAT-BWL
Remove the opening three rounds of BBL08 where Stoinis was buried in the middle-order and he contributed 499 runs from 10 innings and snared 14 wickets for the Stars. No player dominated last summer’s tournament to that extent, including D’Arcy Short. The all-rounder is set to reprise his role as an opener in BBL09 and has been in form with the ball for Western Australia. Stoinis has taken a combined 24 wickets in the Marsh Cup and Sheffield Shield. Considering Stoinis skyrocketed to $346,500 after Round 12 last season, he might even be underpriced.
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3. Josh Philippe (Sydney Sixers) $123,100 WKP-BAT
The rising star of Australian white-ball wicketkeeping slashed 168 runs in six innings after being elevated to the top of the order for the Sixers last summer. Philippe’s strike rate of 162 during that stretch was impossible to ignore. It would be a huge shock if he doesn’t reprise that role early in BBL09 and Philippe has been tipped by many of his peers to be the No. 1 run scorer of the tournament. His selection comes with little risk and a huge potential upside as the Sixers play five times in the opening three rounds.
4. Daniel Sams (Sydney Thunder) $170,200 BAT-BWL
Sams is $45,200 more expensive than fellow Thunder all-rounder Chris Morris, who will miss game one against Brisbane. The pace pairing will be prominent with the ball for the Thunder and Sams’ mix of searing yorkers and slower balls make him a huge threat in the death overs. He’s also a more than capable middle-order batsman in the Ben Cutting mould. Sams is most likely to be used as a floater with the bat to give the Thunder momentum at the end of the innings and had a strike rate of 137.8. The only word of warning is he had most of his success in the early rounds of BBL08 then tailed off.
5. Tom Curran (Sydney Sixers) $210,000 BAT-BWL
Considering most coaches will opt for Chris Lynn as vice-captain, Curran looms as a popular Round 1 captaincy choice. The Sixers don’t have a designated all-rounder in the Morris-Sams mould, although Curran showed his capabilities with the bat in BBL08 with 185 runs and a best of 62. He only took five wickets in six games in the Mzansi Super League and was expensive, but his record last summer is a better form line.
ROUND 1 FIXTURE
Heat v Thunder, The Gabba – Tuesday, December 17, 7.10pm
Sixers v Scorchers, SCG – Wednesday December 18, 7.10pm
Renegades v Thunder, GMHBA Stadium, Geelong – Thursday, December 19, 7.10pm
Hurricanes v Sixers, Traeger Park, Alice Springs – Friday, December 20, 2.45pm
Heat v Stars, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast – Friday, December 20, 7.10pm
Originally published as Brisbane Heat captain Chris Lynn the No. 1 lock for the opening round of SuperCoach BBL