SuperCoach Plus article: Pre-season power rankings
How do you rank the BBL’s biggest stars in terms of KFC SuperCoach importance? We’ve done the job for you. Check out our pre-season rankings in this week’s SuperCoach Plus article.
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The first power rankings of the KFC SuperCoach BBL pre-season are in.
We’ve crunched the numbers, analysed the form and looked at the KFC SuperCoach prices to determine the 20 players you should look at first when choosing your team.
Of course, these will change in coming days and weeks as we get closer to BBL11, which starts on December 5.
But for now, exclusively available to SuperCoach Plus subscribers, here are the 20 players to try and squeeze into your $2 million salary cap.
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1. Josh Philippe (Sydney Sixers)
The most-popular player in KFC SuperCoach and there’s no doubt the 60 per cent of teams with Philippe have got this one right. The gun wicketkeeper-batter plays twice in Round 1 and is one of the leading run scorers in the Sheffield Shield with 434 runs at an average of 54. If anything, 60 per cent of teams isn’t enough. He should be in 100 per cent.
2. Aaron Finch (Melbourne Renegades)
Knee injury concern aside, Finch is one of the greatest bargains in KFC SuperCoach history. OK, his form at the T20 World Cup was a bit scratchy and his BBL10 was a disaster. Anyone who paid more than $180k last season for him knows that. But if he can get anywhere near the form which has made him one of the BBL’s top batters for the past decade, you simply can’t afford to miss out.
3. Tom Curran (Sydney Sixers)
Likely to bat about No. 7 due to Carlos Brathwaite’s injury worries, Curran is one of the best captaincy options for Round 1. There’s no doubting his quality at the death, when the bulk of KFC SuperCoach points are scored with the ball. In BBL08 and BBL09, he took a combined 42 wickets. Batting only accounted for a small percentage of his points two summers ago, but every point counts and the likely absence of Brathwaite has boosted Curran ahead of some of his teammates in the power rankings.
4. Dan Christian (Sydney Sixers)
Christian’s role at the Sixers is perfect for KFC SuperCoach. He bowls 2-3 overs most games (you need three to be eligible for the economy rate bonus) and then launches at the end of the innings to pick up the strike rate bonus with the bat. Christian had the highest batting strike rate of any player who scored more than 200 runs in BBL10, going at 182.5 runs per 100 balls. Oh, and there’s the small factor of a Round 1 double. Just lock him in.
5. Chris Lynn (Brisbane Heat)
Still one of the most destructive batsmen in the world, Lynn’s Round 1 double makes him a must-have in KFC SuperCoach. The Heat slugger is capable of massive scores regardless of the double and although his form in The Hundred wasn’t great (150 runs at 21.4) your KFC SuperCoach season could be over before it started if you fade him and he fires in Round 1.
6. Mujeeb ur Rahman (Brisbane Heat)
One of the leading wicket-takers at the recent T20 World Cup, Mujeeb will arrive in Australia brimming with confidence. The Afghani star has relied largely on the economy rate bonus for KFC SuperCoach points in recent seasons but has added a clear wicket threat to his arsenal of bowling weaponry. He’s a huge price for a player who rarely scores batting or fielding points, but he’s capable of justifying the $208k spend.
7. Jack Wildermuth (Brisbane Heat)
Remember last season when he was all set to be one of the best Round 1 picks before being called up by Australia A? Pray to the KFC SuperCoach gods that doesn’t eventuate again. Wildermuth has been playing regularly in Queensland grade cricket, a factor which should give him an advantage over many other Aussie players. Wildermuth started the summer with successive hundreds for Valley District and took three wickets in as many 50-over games.
8. Rashid Khan (Adelaide Strikers)
While you will have to wait until Round 2 for the Strikers’ double, Rashid comes up against last summer’s woodenspooner Melbourne Renegades twice in his opening three games. When you consider Shaun Marsh is injured and Aaron Finch is in doubt, Rashid could have a field day against an inexperienced Renegades’ batting line-up. His last three games against the Renegades are 45, 65 and 84 points which would all be decent returns in the opening round.
9. Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars)
I know, Maxwell at No. 9 just doesn’t look right. But when three teams have the double before the Stars in Round 3, this is as high as I could justify placing him. He’s one of the rare players in KFC SuperCoach that can score points from his bowling, batting and in the field. Spin signing Qais Ahmad won’t play until Round 3-4, so expect Maxwell to do plenty of bowling early. Your season could be toast after a few rounds if you don’t start with him.
10. Ben Dwarshuis (Sydney Sixers)
Reports out of the NSW camp of a side strain are concerning, but Dwarshuis still needs to be in the top-10 based on his BBL record and Round 1 double – pending fitness. The left-armer is shaping as one of the best point of difference selections to start with if he’s good to go for the Sixers in Round 1. Partnering Tom Curran at the death is only going to make him an even greater threat. Dwarshuis has 85 wickets in 69 BBL games, one of the best records in the tournament’s history.
11. Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars)
Based on price and his role as an opening batsman, Stoinis would be a top-five ranked player if he was guaranteed to bowl more. But only eight overs in the past two seasons for the Stars have given KFC SuperCoaches serious headaches. As soon as there’s any indication he’s going to be bowling regularly, jump on. Even then, Stoinis is one of the best batsmen in the BBL and worth consideration on his power at the top of the order alone.
12. D’Arcy Short (Hobart Hurricanes)
Short had one of his worst BBL campaigns with the bat last summer yet still ranked sixth for total KFC SuperCoach points and 13th for average (57.5 points). His increased bowling role certainly helped, but if Short returns to anywhere near the sort of form which earned him a reputation as one of the BBL’s most dangerous batters, his starting price will be a bargain. The great stats man Brice Mitchell pointed out Short hasn’t been in this cheap for years!
13. Daniel Sams (Sydney Thunder)
The Thunder all-rounder added power hitting to his death-bowling prowess last summer to further enhance his reputation as one of the top KFC SuperCoach scorers of recent seasons. The only reason he isn’t top-five in this list is the Thunder doesn’t have a double until Round 10. He’s still one of the most-popular picks in the game though – with good reason. Last season, he hammered 200 runs at a strike rate of 188.7 and took 11 wickets from 10 games, averaging 65.2 points (ranked fourth overall).
14. Adam Zampa (Melbourne Stars)
Coming off a dominant T20 World Cup, Zampa is primed to dominate BBL11. The Stars leggie took 13 wickets to help the Aussies claim a historic World T20 title, conceding only 5.81 runs an over from 27 overs. But wait, there’s more. Zampa snared 19 wickets in 12 games last summer for the Stars and 20 wickets from 12 matches in BBL09, eclipsing even Rashid Khan over the same period. You can make a strong case for starting both Khan and Zampa this summer.
15. Daniel Hughes (Sydney Sixers)
There’s always a threat in KFC SuperCoach of starting a cheap batsman and being stuck with them for most of the season. This selection feels risky, but with every passing day KFC SuperCoaches are being left with little choice as more cheapies succumb to injury. Hughes has the Round 1 double, which adds to his appeal, and certainly the class to make a fast start for the Sixers. He has a point to prove as well after not being at his best in the BBL in the past few seasons.
16. Matthew Gilkes (Sydney Thunder)
Opportunity knocks for Gilkes at the top of the order this summer, with Usman Khawaja to be involved in the Ashes squad, Ollie Davies injured and Callum Ferguson retired — to play KFC SuperCoach with us. The keeper-batter is a highly-rated talent in New South Wales and although Englishman Sam Billings might take the gloves, most of Gilkes’ points will come from runs anyway. If you’re not planning to use your second wicketkeeping spot for a captaincy loophole, Gilkes looks like the player to start with.
17. Harry Nielsen (Adelaide Strikers)
Alex Carey’s understudy is one of South Australia’s leading run scorers in the Marsh Cup this summer with 197 runs and an average of 39. Nielsen will become one of the top cheapies available if Carey plays himself into the Ashes squad. Carey has long been touted as the likely successor to under-pressure gloveman Tim Paine, although Josh Inglis has also been included in the Australia A squad. If Carey is going to be away for the Round 2 double, Nielsen could start with a real bullet. Reigning champion Chris Baker has picked Nielsen.
18. Matthew Short (Adelaide Strikers)
KFC SuperCoaches have been here before, we understand that. But Short is looming as one of the real beneficiaries of the Australia A squad. Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw going out of the Strikers’ top-order means someone will need to step up and Short seems the obvious option. He’s been bowling well for Victoria and if he picks up a few overs for the Strikers, $62k could be a bargain.
19. Connor Sully (Brisbane Heat)
The young quick has burst onto the scene with a four-wicket haul in the Marsh Cup to put himself in the frame to debut for the Heat early in BBL11. Sully is one of the few players available this season at the basement price of $42k, although there is a risk he plays 1-2 games early and is then pushed out when Mark Steketee, Michael Neser and co. return. Still, with so few $42k players available, he needs to be looked at.
20. James Pattinson (Melbourne Renegades)
No bowler in Australia is in the form Pattinson has shown during the Sheffield Shield, snaring 10 wickets in two games for Victoria. He’s expensive at $157k for a player who doesn’t have a double until late in the season. But it’s a huge boost for the Renegades that he’s going to be much more available than he has been in recent summers. In his last outing against Round 1 opponent Adelaide Strikers, he scored 144 points, which underlines his enormous ceiling.
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