SuperCoach BBL Bible: Survive round five

SuperCoach BBL has entered round five and for the first time ALL teams are available. That means no double games or byes.

Kane Richardson of the Renegades.

SuperCoach BBL has entered round five and for the first time ALL teams are available.

That means no double games or byes, creating a genuine battle of best v best.

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM LAST ROUND

1 All-rounders rule

The top three players in SuperCoach BBL are all-rounders — Tom Curran, Daniel Sams and D’Arcy Short.

Curran sits second on the wickets list with nine, while also scoring 92 runs at a strike rate of 146.03. Sams has taken the equal third most wickets, while also notching 93 runs at a crazy strike rate of 172.22. Short has scored the second most runs of any player (193) and has also pitched in with four wickets.

The lesson? Back players who produce with both bat and ball.

Tom Curran has scored the most points of any SuperCoach player.

URGENT: Why SuperCoaches need more Renegades

2 Stoinis is back bowling

Speaking of all-rounders, Marcus Stoinis is an undoubted gun of SuperCoach, but started the season slowly after playing almost solely as batsman over the first three rounds. However, he returned to the bowling crease last round and promptly notched two wickets to compliment his 78 runs.

3 Target the double

The Thunder had the double game last round and produced on cue. Six of the top 12 players for the round came from the Thunder - Fawad Ahmed (128), Chris Green (124), Callum Ferguson (122), Daniel Sams (114), Jono Cook (114) and Jos Buttler (96).

SCHEDULE ANALYSIS

For the first time this year, all teams are playing. In other words, no doubles and no byes.

However, SuperCoaches still have plenty to plan for, with Renegades the hottest commodity in SuperCoach followed closely by Heat.

Renegades have two doubles in the next four weeks. Or to put it another way, they have six games in four rounds. Heat also have a strong schedule with doubles in round six and 11 and no byes for the rest of the year.

However, Big Bash availability is further complicated by the looming ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting January 12. This could rule Chris Lynn out of the last game of his round six double on January 10, pending selection, while SuperCoaches should have a plan for ODI incumbent D’Arcy Short.

And to throw another spanner in the works, English internationals will leave the country after round six.

STUDS

Kane Richardson

Kane Richardson of the Renegades is a serious target.

The in-swing specialist has scored the most SuperCoach points of any Renegade this year (330). He sits equal third on the wickets list with eight, benefitting from a Marvel Stadium pitch where a wicket has fallen every 14 runs. He also has the second best economy rate in the competition (4.86), bettered only by the world’s best T20 bowler Rashid Khan. However, it’s important to note that while the Renegades have “home” games in three of their next four, two of those clashes are in Geelong, meaning Richardson will barely benefit from the suspect Docklands pitch in upcoming games.

Dan Christian

As mentioned, all-rounders are gold for SuperCoach and Christian has notched important points with both bat and ball this year without standing out at either. Still, he has scored the second most points of any Renegade and 13th most points of any player. Christian currently sits 13th for runs and equal 23rd for wickets.

Mohammed Nabi

Another example of the value of all-rounders. The Afghani international has scored the same amount of runs as Christian (97) and also notched two wickets.

Pending … Chris Lynn will be a serious target if he misses ODI selection as the Heat have a double next round.

CHEAPIE WATCH

Max Bryant (left) and Sam Heazlett (right) are the new openers for the Heat.

Max Bryant

The “Baby Bash Brother” opened the batting last match and notched 34 off 18 balls at an incredible strike rate of 189. Bryant recently scored the fastest ever half century by a Queenslander in domestic one-day cricket (71 from 31 balls).

Sam Heazlett

The young gun and JLT Cup star was promoted to open in Heat’s last game ahead of Lynn, who batted No. 3, and McCullum, who batted No. 4. He only managed two runs but now has far more opportunity the top of the order.

Avoid … 18-year-old Mackenzie Harvey is a popular option after scoring 30 and 21 as an opener in the last two games. However, the potential return of Aaron Finch from Test duty could see him drop down the order or out of the side.

CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

With no team on the double, there are plenty of options. Go best of the best: Daniel Sams, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Jos Buttler, Rashid Khan, Dwayne Bravo, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Lynn etc.