Al Paton names his SuperCoach team for BBL|15
SuperCoach BBL is fun, unpredictable, and almost here. See the rule fantasy guru Al Paton uses to pick a team ... and the one player who breaks it.
In my junior cricket days, I had a fantastic role for SuperCoach.
I would have been a WKP-BAT who took the gloves and opened the batting. Unfortunately, my style at the crease for Heathmont under-13s was more Harry Nielsen than Josh Philippe – hard to get out, but zero chance of getting the strike rate bonus. So you definitely wouldn’t want me in your fantasy team.
However, there are plenty of great options this summer, and most don’t cost the earth.
>> PLAY NOW: PICK YOUR SUPERCOACH BBL TEAM HERE!
The Ashes has me pumped for another summer of the most unpredictable, but arguably most fun, format of our favourite fantasy game. Anything can happen in BBL; sometimes your most expensive player is out first ball or doesn’t even get to bat. Most of that is out of our control, which is actually a huge relief. We don’t have to get too invested in the outcome, just enjoy the crazy ride.
Having said that, there is some science to picking a team and that starts with the fixture.
The most important thing to know this year is the Hobart Hurricanes play five times in the first three rounds, with doubles in rounds 1 and 3. So I’m stacking my team with purple.
The Sixers also play twice in round 1, then it’s the Heat and Thunder in round 2, and so on.
So you can see a good sample from those teams in my squad, and a double in round 3 gives me an excuse to include Glenn Maxwell, who is scary to play without on a double or single week. I also had to find somewhere to spend my salary cap, with so many underpriced options, starting with Aaron Hardie at $75k and Hobart slugger Ben McDermott at $79k.
I even had enough left over to stash Xavier Bartlett on my bench ready to unleash him in round 2. He’s a long-time favourite after I picked him as a rookie many summers ago.
Michael Neser is another round 2 must-have ... at least before he cleaned up England at the Gabba. If he stays in the Test side, I might have to find $16k from somewhere to grab Mitch Marsh in an early play before the Scorchers’ double rolls around in round 4.
Originally published as Al Paton names his SuperCoach team for BBL|15
