A last-minute guide to playing SuperCoach BBL
The Big Bash League is back for another summer and it’s not too late to start your SuperCoach BBL team! Here’s some last-minute tips to nail your selections for Round 1 and beyond.
SuperCoach BBL
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The Big Bash is finally here.
Master blaster Chris Lynn, English prodigy Tom Banton and fellow ‘Bash Brother’ Max Bryant will bring the fireworks in tonight’s season opener against Sydney Thunder.
In SuperCoach BBL, boundaries equal big points.
Clear the rope and you’ll get two points. Hit a boundary and you get one.
Then for every run a batsman scores above the number of balls they face, you get a strike rate bonus.
It’s why monster hitters such as Lynn, Banton and Bryant are SuperCoach BBL gold.
All-rounders are the best source of points, as two-time leading run scorer D’Arcy Short and Melbourne Stars dynamo Marcus Stoinis proved last season.
They were the only pairing to average above 90 points a game and start BBL09 as the most expensive players in SuperCoach.
MORE SUPERCOACH BBL NEWS:
Brisbane Heat captain Chris Lynn the No. 1 lock for the opening round of SuperCoach BBL
SuperCoach BBL 2019: 50 most popular players revealed
Stoinis will make a $278,900 dent in your $2 million budget, while Short is worth $262,800.
AB De Villiers and Steve Smith are next on the rich list at $225,000, an indication of Stoinis and Short’s dominance.
Brisbane Heat will carry the hopes of thousands of SuperCoaches tonight, but it would be foolish to underestimate the Thunder.
New skipper Callum Ferguson scored the most SuperCoach BBL points of any batsman last season, while Daniel Sams was prominent with the ball.
Should you miss out on tonight’s initial lockout, you can still enter a SuperCoach BBL team.
You won’t be able to pick players from the Thunder or Heat, but stars such as Short, Stoinis, Tom Curran, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh will be available.
You need seven batsmen, two wicketkeepers and seven bowlers in your 16-man squad.
There are more than $50,000 in prizes up for grabs, including a $25,000 grand prize for the winner.
How could the summer of cricket get more exciting? SuperCoach BBL is the answer.
THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS
— The fixture: Load your team with as many players as possible with a double game week. Players who feature twice accumulate points in both matches. Brisbane Heat, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder have a Round 1 double. Have an eye on the coming rounds as you don’t want to be stuck with players who have a bye.
— Captaincy: Every round, the player you choose as captain scores double. BBL08’s top scorer Marcus Stoinis amassed 752 points in one round last summer.
— Trading: At the end of each round, you get a brief window to make up to three trades. Move on players who are out of form or have a bye. Plan 2-3 rounds ahead to keep yourself ahead of the pack.
THREE STARS TO TARGET
— Chris Lynn (Brisbane Heat) $173,000 BAT: You can’t win SuperCoach BBL in Round 1, but you can leave yourself a long way behind the leaders if you risk the big guns. Play it safe and start the Heat captain.
— Josh Philippe (Sydney Sixers) $123,000 WKP-BAT: Shane Warne wants him in the Australian one-day team now. Philippe monstered bowling attacks in the middle-order before being elevated to open midway through BBL08.
— Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars) $278,900 BAT-BWL: The Stars have all but guaranteed Stoinis will open the batting again, which was the only real question mark. Start him to avoid the problem of finding enough money via trades.
THREE ROOKIES TO PICK
— Nathan Ellis (Hobart Hurricanes) $42,000 BWL: The breakout player of the Marsh Cup. Ellis should get plenty of opportunity in the absence of Jofra Archer.
— Cameron Green (Perth Scorchers) $42,000 BAT-BWL: The buzz all-rounder of Australian cricket, Green would arguably have been the most-popular player in SuperCoach had a back injury not flared up to limit his bowling.
— Marcus Harris (Melbourne Renegades) $62,500 BAT: Not technically a rookie, but the ex-Test opener is priced as such. He’s got a point to prove after losing his spot to Joe Burns and a below-par BBL08 campaign.
DON’T START THEM
— AB De Villiers: Will replace Tom Banton for the last six games of the regular season plus finals .
— Steve Smith: Currently on Test duties and will then head to India as part of the one-day team in mid-January.
— Mohammad Nabi: Renegades all-rounder is playing in the Bangladesh Premier League before joining BBL after eight games.
— Mujeeb Ur Rahman: Also playing in the BPL before replacing his compatriot Zahir Khan at the same point De Villiers arrives.
— Jofra Archer: Hobart has replaced him with South African batsman David Miller as he’ll be touring South Africa with England.
THE SCORING SYSTEM
THE FIXTURE
MORE SUPERCOACH BBL CONTENT
Star-studded squad lists / Top 10 young guns / Everything you need to know / Key dates to shape your season / Gun imports set to explode / New faces to target / How players earn points
Originally published as A last-minute guide to playing SuperCoach BBL