SuperCoach BBL: Top 10 young guns in Big Bash
We lift the lid on 10 unknown youngsters set to dominate the Big Bash. Get the lowdown before they become household names.
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1 MATTHEW GILKES (Thunder)
The 20-year-old from Ulladulla is so highly rated he leapfrogged a number of veterans into a near Test-strength NSW XI in the Marsh one-day Cup. Taking the field alongside David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood, Gilkes bettered all of them with 43 off 41 balls. It came on the back of 82 off 51 the previous match.
The Thunder have lost massive batting power in Jos Buttler (England), Joe Root (England), Shane Watson (retired) and Kurtis Patterson (Scorchers), with Alex Hales (England) the only batting recruit.
Gilkes is therefore likely to bat in the top four. He may even open, as he did for his breakout 51 off 38 balls on debut last season. With the likely added bonus of wicketkeeping stats, Gilkes is a steal for SuperCoach at $96,700.
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2 CAMERON GREEN (Scorchers)
A strapping all-rounder standing over 200cm, capable of hitting 140km/h and with an outrageous first-class bowling average of 20.70. He’s also batted No.7 for Western Australia in List A cricket and hits the longest of long bombs.
That makes for great reading and the 20-year-old West Australian is as good as he sounds. While essentially unknown to the “average” cricket fan, particularly on this side of the Nullarbor, Green has admirers in very high places at Cricket Australia. Translation: Don’t be surprised if he plays for Australia very soon.
What’s more, BBL09 could be the tournament that launches Green into Australian living rooms and become a household name. He has huge opportunities at the Scorchers in the absence of Nathan Coulter-Nile (Stars) and Jason Behrendorff (stress fractures).
And at a rock-bottom $42,000, almost every SuperCoach will be cheering him on if named for the opening round.
3 NATHAN ELLIS (unsigned)
Not yet officially signed by a Big Bash team, but the 25-year-old is hot property after topping the wickets in the Marsh Cup, sitting with 11 scalps at a miserly 18.90 runs apiece. Ellis’s haul includes 5-38 on a notoriously flat North Sydney Oval against possibly the best domestic batting line-up he’ll ever bowl against — a NSW team featuring all Test stars.
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Capable of hitting 140km/h with a big “wind-up” reminiscent of Indian ace Jasprit Bumrah, the boy from Greenacre in Sydney’s west is now plying his trade in Tasmania and is on the radar of the Hobart Hurricanes. Ellis is a specialist death bowler, meaning he’ll take plenty of wickets, but can go the journey.
4 OLLIE DAVIES (Thunder)
The 19-year-old from Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches became a viral sensation last year when he hit 17 sixes in an innings at the Australian Under 19 championships. Davies finished with a brutal 207 off 115 balls and hit one hapless bowler for six sixes in an over.
Since his junior heroics, Davies has gone on to dominate against men, becoming the youngest Manly-Warringah player to score a first-grade century and forcing his way into the NSW second XI.
Also a handy off-spinner and brilliant fielder, Davies has signed with the Thunder and immediately scored a spot in the top squad. As mentioned above, the Thunder have batting slots open following the exits of Buttler, Root, Watson and Patterson, meaning Davies is huge chance to debut at some stage in BBL09.
5 CALEB JEWELL (Hurricanes)
When a youngster goes stroke-for-stroke with D’Arcy Short, the cricket world takes notice. The dashing left-hander did exactly that last year by notching 61 from 38 balls as Short stroked 68 from 41 at the other end, their partnership ending unbeaten in an emphatic victory within 14.2 overs.
Jewell scored just 62 runs in his other seven games, but the fact the Hurricanes stuck with him at No.3 shows how highly rated he is in the Apple Isle.
Jewell started this season’s Marsh Cup on fire averaging 48.6 over the first five games, including a century against South Australia.
With Matthew Wade on Test duty over the opening BBL rounds and Tim Paine confirmed to sit out the Big Bash, Jewell is a huge chance to open alongside Short and is therefore a SuperCoach bargain at $67,300.
6 WES AGAR (Strikers)
The in-form 22-year-old is the younger brother of current Australian T20 representative Ashton Agar. But that’s where the similarities end. While Ashton is a crafty spinner and free-wheeling batsman, Wes is an out-and-out quick.
The Victorian-come-South-Australian is in the midst of a breakout season, taking 5-69 in the recent Marsh Cup clash against Queensland, including the first four wickets. He also dominated the preceding Sheffield Shield clash with match figures of 6-91.
Agar starts just above bottom dollar ($84,200) after playing just two games last year and with Peter Siddle in the Test frame, he may even be called upon from the opening BBL game.
7 HARRY NIELSEN (Strikers)
The oldest son of former Australian coach Tim Nielsen will play an increased role at the Strikers this year, with Alex Carey to miss the middle of the tournament due to an ODI tour to India.
However, Nielson hopes to be far more than just Carey’s wicketkeeping understudy. “I’m looking to play every game for the Strikers and when Alex is playing I think I can offer something with the bat in the middle order,” he said after signing a new two-year deal.
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Nielsen played as a batsman in three of four games last year, including a matchwinning 44 not out of 29 balls. The 24-year-old certainly has credentials with the bat, averaging a hefty 40 in T20s, 32.60 in List A and scoring a stunning century on Sheffield Shield debut last year.
8 WILL SUTHERLAND (Renegades)
The son of former Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland was one of the buzz buys of the BBL08 pre-season, but a serious back injury limited the hulking all-rounder to just one game as a specialist batsman.
He therefore starts at cheapie price for BBL09 and is building back to form after troubling stress fractures. Sutherland has taken seven wickets from five games in the Marsh Cup and averaged a more-than-handy 30.5 with the bat, including two 50s.
Capable of huge hitting in the middle-to-lower order, Sutherland has hit more sixes than fours in List A cricket. That said, it’s hard to see where Sutherland fits in for the Renegades alongside proven all-rounders Dan Christian, Mohammad Nabi and Jack Wildermuth.
9 JACK PRESTWIDGE (Heat)
Bowls 140km/h and has big opportunity at the Heat — if he can stay fit. While Darren Lehmann’s Brisbane side have recruited well in batting (think South African superstar AB De Villiers and reigning England Young Cricketer of the Year Tom Banton) and spin (think boom Afghanistan tweakers Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Zahir Khan), their pace stocks remain remarkably thin.
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With Brendan Doggett having left and James Pattinson potentially on Test duty, largely unheralded quicks Josh Lalor, Mark Steketee and Cutting make up the rest.
10 NATHAN McANDREW (Thunder)
The all-rounder forced his way into the NSW Marsh Cup side on sheer weight of performance, without having a contract. Injury struck soon after, but look out for the 26-year-old later in the one-day tournament and into the Big Bash with the Thunder.
Originally published as SuperCoach BBL: Top 10 young guns in Big Bash