KFC SuperCoach BBL cheat sheet: How to pick a team for BBL11 in five minutes

The BBL season starts tonight and it’s not too late to join the KFC SuperCoach BBL action. Pick a team in five minutes with this free easy guide.

OK, so you haven’t spent the past two months stressing about your KFC SuperCoach team like me?

That’s probably a good thing.

The best part is, you still have time to enter your team ahead of BBL11.

All it takes is this handy guide and five minutes of your time to enter a KFC SuperCoach team and be in the running for some awesome prizes, including a limited-edition baggy green trackie.

Last season’s winner Chris Baker was only in his second season of KFC SuperCoach BBL, so being a newbie doesn’t rule you out of the running for the $25,000 major prize.

Perhaps even more importantly – at least if you ask some KFC SuperCoaches – one of the baggy green trackies made famous by Shane Warne will be up for grabs every round.

The round winner will get their own baggy green trackie, plus $500 — doubled to $1000 if they’re subscribed to SuperCoach Plus.

The best part is it’s free to play and gives you a chance to prove you know more about cricket than your mates.

What are you waiting for?

THE BASICS

● You have a $2 million salary cap to spend and need to pick 16 players in your KFC SuperCoach BBL team (seven bowlers, seven batters, two wicketkeepers).

● If players are listed as BAT-BWL or WKP-BAT, they are eligible to be selected in either position.

● Each player receives a round score based on their real-life performances. If they play twice in a round, their score is the accumulative total from both matches. This handy guide from our friends at Jock Reynolds Damo and Azza has all you need to know about the scoring system.

● You have three trades to use between each round to get your side ready for the next round. You are able to make trades once lockout lifts after the last game of each round.

Here's my team with 2 days to go!

How's yours looking?

If you haven't entered head to https://t.co/0yZboH8iPe and get on it pic.twitter.com/DrtBwfQVBr

— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) December 3, 2021

Chris Lynn plays twice in Round 1 of KFC SuperCoach.

PICK A FIVE-MINUTE TEAM

Short on time? You could do worse than start with this consensus team picked by nine of our KFC SuperCoach BBL experts. You can also see the starting teams of legends Shane Warne, Mike Hussey and Callum Ferguson here.

If you want to make some changes to those line-ups or pick your own from scratch, the best tip is to start with players from the Sixers and Heat. The key to KFC SuperCoach is having as many players in your team that play twice each round as you can. The Sixers take on the Stars and Hurricanes and Round 1, while the Heat face the Thunder and Scorchers. Then it’s the Strikers with the double in Round 2.

The 10 most-popular players from the Sixers and Heat are:

1. Josh Philippe (Sixers) – 61 per cent, $177,300 WKP-BAT

2. Chris Lynn (Heat) – 32 per cent, $172,500 BAT

3. Dan Christian (Sixers) – 28 per cent, $184,700 BAT-BWL

4. James Peirson (Heat) – 24 per cent, $89,800 WKP-BAT

5. Tom Curran (Sixers) – 20.9 per cent ,$201,000 BAT-BWL

6. Daniel Hughes (Sixers) – 20.3 per cent, $78,300 BAT

7. Matt Willans (Heat) – 19 per cent, $42,000 BWL

8. Carlos Brathwaite (Sixers) – 17.9 per cent, $117,300 BAT-BWL

9. Mujeeb ur Rahman (Heat) – 17.6 per cent, $208,200 BWL

10. Xavier Bartlett (Heat) – 16.6 per cent, $97,900 BWL

*Stats current as of November 30

Josh Philippe is the most-popular starting pick in KFC SuperCoach BBL.

Try to squeeze in a Striker or two to be ready for Round 2. The five most-popular Adelaide players are:

1. Rashid Khan – 45 per cent ($198,700 BWL)

2. Matthew Renshaw* – 41.5 per cent $67,400 (BAT-BWL)

3. Spencer Johnson – 14.2 per cent ($42,000 BWL )

4. Alex Carey* – 13.1 per cent ($163,400 WKP-BAT)

5. Matthew Short – 11 per cent ($62,500 BAT)

*Don’t pick Renshaw or Carey to start though, they’ll be with the Australia A squad until about Round 3.

MR CRICKET: MIKE HUSSEY’S KFC SUPERCOACH TEAM

Rashid Khan has long been one of the best KFC SuperCoach scorers.

If you’ve still got cash left over (how?) then pick a few premiums who can score well regardless of a double. The most-popular premium scorers are:

Glenn Maxwell (Stars) – 55.6 per cent, $195,500 BAT-BWL

Marcus Stoinis (Stars) – 46.5 per cent, $163,200 BAT-BWL

Mitch Marsh* (Scorchers) – 39 per cent, $132,700 BAT-BWL

D’Arcy Short (Hurricanes) – 36.7 per cent $179,600 BAT-BWL

Daniel Sams (Thunder) – 28.6 per cent $203,700 BAT-BWL

*Again, don’t pick Mitch Marsh. He’ll be away with Australia A for the start of the BBL season.

Glenn Maxwell is one of the top starting selections.

Aaron Finch is available at a huge KFC SuperCoach discount.

Ok, now you’re really running out of money. That’s where the cheapies come in. These players will fill your bench and maybe a few spots on field.

These are the most-popular cash cows of BBL11:

Aaron Finch (Renegades) – 52.6 per cent, $62,500 BAT

Josh Kann (Hurricanes) – 43.6 per cent, $42,000 BAT-BWL

Matthew Renshaw*(Strikers) – 41.5 per cent, $67,400 BAT-BWL

Seb Gotch (Stars) – 26.9 per cent, $62,500 WKP-BAT

Daniel Hughes (Strikers) – 20.3 per cent, $78,300 BAT

Matt Willans (Heat) – 19 per cent, $42,000 BWL

Matthew Gilkes (Thunder) – 16.6 per cent, $62,500 WKP-BAT

Joel Paris (Hurricanes) – 14.8 per cent, $62,500 BWL

Spencer Johnson (Strikers) – 14.2 per cent, $42,000 BWL

Baxter Holt (Thunder) – 11.2 per cent, $62,500 WKP-BAT

*In case you missed it the first time, please don’t start Renshaw. He won’t feature until Round 3-4.

ROOKIE BIBLE: TOP 20 CASH COWS OF KFC SUPERCOACH BBL

NOW YOU HAVE A SQUAD OF 16 PLAYERS, READY TO CHALLENGE FOR KFC SUPERCOACH BBL GLORY, RIGHT? NOT QUITE …

– Check this summer calendar guide and Ashes/Australia story from The Phantom. If any of your players won’t feature in Round 1, remove them.

– Pick your captain. You want a player with a double game round (when a team plays twice). Josh Philippe, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Lynn and Dan Christian are options in Round 1. Don’t forget to name a vice-captain as well, whose score is doubled if your captain doesn’t play.

– Name your emergencies. Unless you plan on watching the team news for every game of BBL11, you don’t want to risk missing out on KFC SuperCoach points because a player is a late withdrawal. Remember, teams aren’t named until 45 minutes to an hour before games. You can choose three, but if you choose two in the same position you get the lowest score of the two – unless you have two non-playing players in that position.

Player availability is crucial. Mitch Marsh is one of the stars missing early.

– Choose your team for Round 1. If you need help locking in the best side and have

subscribed to SuperCoach Plus, you can use the optimiser button to help guide you.

– Enter a league. KFC SuperCoach is already a great way to spend the summer, but the fun really starts when you banter with your mates. You can make a league of six or 10 people or start an unlimited group if you have too many friends and can’t choose.

– Read our advice articles — including from Shane Warne, Mike Hussey, Callum Ferguson and Isa Guha — then make as many changes as you need to until Round 1. You have unlimited trades until the BBL starts on December 5.

THE PRIZES

●Major prize: $25,000

●Round prizes: The winner of each of the 13 rounds receives $500, which is doubled to $1000 if they are a SuperCoach Plus subscriber. For the first time, each round winner will win a baggy green tracksuit too, just like Shane Warne’s.

NEED MORE HELP?

Then visit our new KFC SuperCoach YouTube page and subscribe.

There’s a stack of SuperCoach BBL 101 videos available to run you through all the basics of picking a KFC SuperCoach BBL team, plus advice from Warney such as this:

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach BBL cheat sheet: How to pick a team for BBL11 in five minutes