SuperCoach BBL 2019: No Marcus Short, D’Arcy Short or Chris Lynn in Tim Michell’s risky team reveal
How many big guns can you leave out of your starting SuperCoach BBL team? Tim Michell has taken some huge risks as he targets a flying start.
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Am I mad or a genius?
I’m leaning toward mad at this stage after picking a SuperCoach BBL team without Marcus Stoinis, D’Arcy Short and Round 1 double gamer Chris Lynn.
Melbourne Stars all-rounder Stoinis and Hobart Hurricanes dynamo Short were comfortably the best two SuperCoach players of BBL08, averaging 96.9 and 91.3 points respectively last season.
But the star pair has a combined price of $541,700, more than a quarter of your overall salary cap.
Sydney Sixers, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder play twice in Round 1 and the Sixers feature five times in the opening three rounds.
With so many SuperCoach teams loaded with players from these three sides, is there room for Short and Stoinis? Not in my side.
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It’s a huge risk, especially when there is no double game week in Round 2.
Short and Stoinis will be the obvious captaincy options and you risk being left behind without them.
There’s a good chance one of them ends up in my team by Round 1 and I favour Short over Stoinis due to his consistency.
Stoinis dropped significantly in price last summer and should be available for much cheaper than $278,900 in 3-4 rounds.
Leaving master blaster Lynn out when he plays twice might be my greatest risk, but there’s logic behind it.
Here’s my initial SuperCoach BBL team for BBL09:
BATSMEN
Tom Curran (Sydney Sixers) $210,000 BAT-BWL
Englishman Curran will be my Round 1 captain after averaging 73 points per game last season. Curran has 20 wickets in 14 BBL games and an economy rate of 7.66. He bowls at the death when most wickets fall and is handy with the bat, as he proved last summer. A must-have with a DGW (double game week).
Daniel Sams (Sydney Thunder) $170,200 BAT-BWL
A favourite of mine after his flying start last season when he started as a relative unknown. Sams had a topscore of 42 and a strike rate of 137.8 last season and captured 15 wickets. Hard to leave out a potential matchwinner who has a Round 1 double.
Max Bryant (Brisbane Heat) $129,500 BAT
Call me crazy for leaving out Chris Lynn, D’Arcy Short and Marcus Stoinis but I just can’t see the value. Bryant is more than $40,000 cheaper than Lynn and bats ahead of him for the Heat. Short plays in Alice Springs Round 1 on an unfamiliar pitch and Stoinis needs a monster score just to hold his price. With a strike rate of 150 Bryant only needs two starts to score well in Round 1.
Josh Philippe (Sydney Sixers) $123,000 WKP-BAT
One of the rising stars of Australian cricket and he should be one of the most popular players in Round 1 of SuperCoach BBL. He would almost certainly have held that mantle had English young gun Tom Banton not gained WKP status. Philippe will open and had a blistering strike rate of 158 in BBL08. Selecting him as a batsman gives me flexibility for Round 1 via his squad mate Peter Nevill. If he makes enough money to Round 4 he’d then be offloaded for a Striker.
Daniel Hughes (Sydney Thunder) $115,000 BAT
Hughes was somewhat of a quiet achiever in BBL08 with 399 runs and a strike rate of 129.5. He only needs one score to justify his selection at that price.
Bench
Caleb Jewell (Hobart Hurricanes) $67,300 BAT
Jewell has been earmarked as the man to take Matthew Wade’s top order spot and will be a bench money maker.
Marcus Harris (Melbourne Renegades) $62,500 BAT
Harris has a point to prove after being squeezed out of the Test side before regaining his place during the Ashes. He’ll be traded to Ollie Davies if he doesn’t open with Aaron Finch due to Shaun Marsh’s arrival or if he’s named to partner David Warner against New Zealand in the Test series.
WICKETKEEPERS
Peter Nevill $62,500 (Sydney Sixers) BAT-WKP
Stick with me here. Nevill’s Sixers play in the second game of Round 1 which will allow me to loophole Tom Banton. If he scores less than 10 in the BBL09 opener, I have the option of giving him a second chance or using either Caleb Jewell or Marcus Harris off the bat bench and swinging Josh Philippe to starting keeper. It’s likely I’d still back in Banton — but it’s good to have options. Ideally you’d use a $42,000 keeper to loophole but there aren’t any this season. Alex Carey is another option which would save you trading in the Aussie keeper for Round 2, but you’ll need a spare $139,800 to devote to a player with a bye.
Bench
Tom Banton (Brisbane Heat) $125,000 BAT-WKP
The young English cricketer of the year will need to buck the trend of Englishmen who have battled to turn their Vitality Blast form into BBL success. But he has the talent and is almost $50,000 cheaper than Lynn. I shifted my strategy as soon as he was made a dual-position player and swung Philippe to the batsmen. If he scores more than 15 in the first game of BBL09, I’ll loophole him via Nevill who is unlikely to play.
BOWLERS
Sean Abbott $195,300 (Sydney Sixers) BWL
Few bowlers have been as consistent as Abbott in recent summers in the BBL. 22 wickets at 20 in BBL08 were testament to his quality. I’ll start either him or Steve O’Keefe for their double.
Ben Cutting $182,900 (Brisbane Heat) BAT-BWL
Cutting could have to take on more bowling responsibility at the Heat and his big hitting guarantees big points if he gets going. It’s too risky not to have him when Brisbane has a double. He’s a perfect vice-captain if you’re playing the captaincy loophole.
Ben Dwarshuis $136,200 (Sydney Sixers) BWL
Dwarshuis doesn’t get the plaudits Abbott, O’Keefe and Curran do, but he’s a consistent performer for the Sixers. The left armer averaged a wicket every 21 balls in BBL08 which would equal a guaranteed 50 points in Round 1 should he bowl eight overs.
Ashton Agar $133,200 (Perth Scorchers) BAT-BWL
A strategy which worked for me last summer was being 2-3 steps ahead. Perth Scorchers have a Round 3 double and starting Agar would give me one extra player on those who have to trade after Round 1 and 2. I was impressed by his work in the Sri Lankan T20 series.
Chris Morris $125,000 (Sydney Thunder) BAT-BWL
Don’t know a lot about the South African but he’s an experienced T20 campaigner who can impact games with bat and ball. Too cheap to ignore ahead of a starting DGW.
FULL TEAM
Bench
Billy Stanlake $108,300 (Adelaide Strikers) BWL
See the Agar explanation. Adelaide has a Round 3 double and Aussie T20 seamer Stanlake starts cheap enough to be carried on the bench. Ben Laughlin would be another smart selection. I’m also considering Mark Steketee from the Heat at $81,600 who would be on field.
Will Sutherland $42,000 (Melbourne Renegades) BAT-BWL
Not certain he plays Round 1, but Sutherland appears ready to break into the Renegades team. If he doesn’t he can be used as a trade tool to open BAT-BWL swings. I’ll either start him or Cameron Green, another $42,000 option who should get plenty of opportunity due to a spate of injuries to Perth Scorchers’ quicks.
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Originally published as SuperCoach BBL 2019: No Marcus Short, D’Arcy Short or Chris Lynn in Tim Michell’s risky team reveal