SuperCoach BBL: What you need to know ahead of Round 3

It was an eventful second Round, with a ‘smoke out’ making a game akin to a ‘wash out’, with player’s points significantly down as a result...but that didn’t stop Lynnsanity at the SCG!

Heat's Chris Lynn smashes a boundary - he was airbourne when he hit it!

Just like last year’s ‘light out’ match, the ‘smoke out’ in Canberra saw the clash between the Thunder and the Strikers cut short. Just like that match – or any washed-out match – the important thing is consistency, which means that all scores made up to that point in the match count towards SuperCoach BBL totals.

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Of course, when things like the extraordinary bushfires happening all around Australia are underway then our thoughts lie with the people who are battling the fires, whether it be the homeowners, the firefighters, or anyone else – SuperCoach BBL is just a game, whereas the fires are a life-threatening and extraordinary event. Many thanks to all for understanding.

Here we look back at what were the other big talking points out of the previous round and cast our gaze ahead at what is to come next – there’s no time to waste, so make your trades now!

BOOM OF THE ROUND: CHRIS LYNN | BRISBANE HEAT | BAT | 189 points

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don’t trade Chris Lynn out after one round! Sure, his double performance in the opening two matches that constituted Round 1 left a lot to be desired...but oh boy did he make up for it in Round 2! Falling just one clean hit with a record-breaking century, Lynnsanity ensued up at the SCG, with the master blaster in fine form. Now, the big question is what do you do with him – do you keep in during the Heat’s Round 3 bye or do you trade him in in the forlorn hope that you can bring him in later?

BUST OF THE ROUND: JHYE RICHARDSON | PERTH SCORCHERS | BWL | 4 points

It’s unfair to isolate anyone from the Thunder or Strikers, so instead unfortunately the dunce of the round is the Perth spearhead who was simply carved all around the park by the reigning champions, bowling his full allotment of four overs but conceding 41 runs and failing to take a wicket. He only earned five points for dot balls, but lost a point when he contributed a wide to the Renegades’ total.

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UNIQUE OF THE ROUND: HARIS RAUF | MELBOURNE STARS | BWL | 156 points | 8.4% ownership

He wasn’t even meant to play! The Pakistani import was the latest of late ‘ins’ for the Melbourne Stars, replacing the hampered Dale Steyn in Round 1 at the last minute. Now, after an incredible performance against the Hurricanes in Round 2, the question will be how do the Stars keep him around, rather than him going back to Tasmania to ply his trade with the Glenorchy Magpies? The Stars may have unearthed a serious pace weapon that may pose a problem for them in terms of keeping on their list, at least until Steyn leaves for South Africa. Also worth highlighting the performance of Matt Renshaw from the Heat, who earned 137 points with some exquisite hitting and a couple of key wickets.

Extraordinary conditions in Canberra make the Strikers in particular even better buys in SuperCoach BBL

PLAYERS TO TARGET NEXT ROUND

After the unfortunate circumstances in Canberra, it remains all about the Strikers this week, with the Adelaide side set to have their first full matches in BBL|09 in Round 3 of SuperCoach BBL – they’ve got the double this round and next, which makes them extremely valuable targets indeed.

RASHID KHAN | BWL | 70.6 avg. in BBL|08 | $186,600 in BBL|09

After Khan’s 0 points in Round 2, he’s come down slightly in price, which makes him an even bigger buy. Some considered Khan’s BBL|09 season last a bit of a let-down – he didn’t command quite the same number of headline inches as he did the first time around, when the Strikers ended the competition as the winners. With his side struggling last year, Khan was nevertheless a reasonably strong performer and it’s reasonable to expect that he’ll be another wicket-taking weapon third time around.

MICHAEL NESER | BAT / BWL | 45.9 avg. | $131,900

Neser’s price remained stable as he didn’t play in Round 2 – if he is named in the Strikers’ squad rather than in Test team this could easily go one of two ways – either Neser becomes one of the breakout players in the Big Bash or alternatively he could continue to average sub-50 point output in SuperCoach in BBL|09, thus costing a pretty penny but not really worth his price point. He’s a tricky one to judge.

WES AGAR | BWL | 32.5 avg. | $77,500

Agar only got the solitary over in the national capital, earning 1 point after bowling one dot ball and was smacked around a bit otherwise, conceding 14 runs in his solitary over. It makes him a slightly cheaper buy ahead of Round 3, and you would think that the tall quick who extracts great bounce out of the pitch, will only improve from there. Last season his two outings indicated that he could be the sort of player who could emerge as one of the finds of the upcoming Big Bash season – his best figures of 2/33 in Adelaide’s 41-run victory over the Stars last summer included a team-high 11 dot balls.

PLAYERS TO AVOID NEXT ROUND

If you’ve got any Brisbane Heat players, it’s definitely worth considering trading them out if you can, particularly if you target the likes of the Sixers and Scorchers, both of who have a double in Round 3, or the Strikers, who double up in the next two rounds. But are there players from the teams on the double that you should jettison from your thoughts?

JOSH PHILIPPE | SYDNEY SIXERS | WKP / BAT | 73.3 avg. | $163,500

Talk about a fall from grace – just one round ago, Philippe looked to be one of the hottest players in the Big Bash...just a few nights later and he could barely lay bat on ball, looking entirely uncomfortable against the spin of Zahir Khan from the Heat. It was a strange innings, with Philippe unable to rotate the in-form James Vince on strike, and lucky to make his 31 points that he eked out.

It’s always going to be hard for a BAT / BWL to contribute coming in in the middle order and not able to bowl due to injury

CAMERON GREEN | PERTH SCORCHERS | BAT / BWL | 23.0 avg. | $51,700

Unable to contribute with the ball currently, Green is still relatively cheap but is coming in too late in the order to have a significant impact with the willow. Round 2 only saw him earn a meagre three points, following on from a reasonably okay 43 points. Inconsistency will no doubt be the hallmark of Green’s BBL|09 season – you just don’t know what you’re going to get from him, with the blaster coming in late in the season.

JAKE LEHMANN | ADELAIDE STRIKERS | BAT | $62,500

The Son of Boof had a season to forget in BBL|08 – he failed to make a score of 50 and rolled his arm for two overs and got smacked for 26 runs without claiming a wicket. Batting lower in the order than expected, he only suited up nine times. His low, low price point makes him a serious POD though – if he performs to his undoubted talent, then the owners who back him in to rebound quickly in BBL|09 will be laughing.

Sean Abbott is congratulated and well he should be – he’s in excellent form with the ball

CAPTAIN’S CHOICE

With three teams on the double, the first decision you need to make is who you select as your vice-captain – the Strikers and Scorchers will kick off proceedings on Monday evening, which means that the likes of Rashid Khan, Jake Weatherald from the Strikers or Mitch Marsh, Chris Jordan from the Scorchers are easy loophole decisions – whack the VC on them, wait to see if they go large in the first match, and then work out a way to switch them into captaincy option by having your C on a player who isn’t playing. If you want to play it safe, it’s hard to go past Sean Abbott from the Sixers as an easy C choice. He would seem to be in great form with the ball in hand following his selection in the Australian ODI squad touring India in January, and also had a cameo with the bat late in the forgone conclusion against the Heat in the last game of the round.

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Originally published as SuperCoach BBL: What you need to know ahead of Round 3