Can you afford to start Max Bryant, Chris Lynn and Tom Banton in SuperCoach BBL?

Brisbane Heat’s ‘bash brothers’ have taken the BBL by storm in recent seasons. Can the top-order trio of Chris Lynn, Max Bryant and Tom Banton all deliver for your SuperCoach BBL team?

Loading up on SuperCoach BBL batsmen from one team is usually fraught with risk.

One top-order collapse, or a tricky batting wicket, has the potential to derail your season if you are reliant on too many players from one team.

Despite the obvious threat of danger, the temptation to start Brisbane Heat’s top-three batsmen in BBL09 is strong.

Englishman Tom Banton ($125,000) is the cheapest of the trio and can be selected as a wicketkeeper or batsman.

Then there’s his opening partner Max Bryant ($129,500) and master blaster Chris Lynn ($173,000), who needs three runs to overtake Michael Klinger as the greatest run scorer in BBL history.

Banton is effectively a direct replacement for Brendon McCullum at the top of the order after clubbing 549 runs at a strike rate of 161.5 in the Vitality Blast.

There is reason to be wary, as an analysis of McCullum, Lynn and Bryant’s form last season suggests.

In 14 games, the trio only passed 20 in the same game twice.

Tom Banton skies a ball during his T20 debut for England against New Zealand.

In three of those 14 matches, Bryant, Lynn and McCullum managed 10 runs or less.

By selecting the Heat openers and No. 3 for Round 1, you are banking on at least two of them firing in fixtures against Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars.

The beauty about this trio is the rate they score at which means they could all go big in the same game.

There were six matches last summer when Bryant (SR 150) and Lynn (SR 126) both passed 20.

Coaches should have no concern about Lynn’s time at the crease being limited.

In 10 BBL08 games he was in by the end of the fourth over and had ample opportunity to go big.

There were genuine question marks about his form before the T10 tournament in Abu Dhabi, where he monstered 371 runs with a ridiculous strike rate of 236.3.

Considering Brisbane plays in the first game of BBL09, Lynn is the perfect Round 1 vice-captaincy loophole candidate and the risk of leaving him out is too great.

It’s a genuine toss of the coin between Banton and Bryant if you only want to start two Heat batsmen.

Chris Lynn is a perfect vice-captaincy loophole candidate in Round 1.

Bryant has the advantage of exposed form in Australia, but Banton recently made his T20 international debut for England.

Both are talented young players capable of scoring rapidly, as Bryant proved last season.

The next stage of his development is turning his flying starts into scores above 50.

Bryant made between 22-44 in seven of his innings of BBL08, only raising his bat once when he blazed 71 off 30 balls against Melbourne Stars.

I’ve currently got Banton and Lynn, but am seriously weighing up taking a huge punt and starting Bryant as well.

KEY HEAT STATISTICS FROM BBL08

CHRIS LYNN AT CREASE FROM:

0.2 overs 33 (20)

1.1 29 (37)

2.5 84 (55)

1.5 33 (34)

7.4 54 (30)

5 14 (15)

6.4 66 (44)

0.3 4 (9)

0.4 2 (7)

4 0 (4)

2.5 10 (9)

3.5 56no (39)

0.5 0 (2)

DNB

Max Bryant slams a ball through the off side during last summer’s BBL.

WHEN THE HEAT WAS TWO DOWN:

2-50 (5.2 overs)

2-42 (4.3)

2-38 (3.4)

2-41 (5.1)

2-141 (13.2)

2-68 (9.4)

2-159 (16.5)

2-8 (2.4)

2-16 (4.1)

2-31 (4.4)

2-27 (4.5)

2-79 (10.1)

2-7 (1.2)

N/A

HOW LONG DID MANY BRYANT BAT?

9.3 overs (22 off 20)

4.3 (30 off 15)

3.4 (34 off 18)

1.5 (11 off 5)

7.4 (36 off 23)

5.0 (18 off 16)

6.4 (44 off 24)

3.0 (2no off 6)

0.4 (0 off 4)

3.6 (24 off 18)

2.5 (7 off 11)

10.1 (26 off 27)

2.4 (10 off 6)

10 (71no off 30)

Originally published as Can you afford to start Max Bryant, Chris Lynn and Tom Banton in SuperCoach BBL?