SuperCoach BBL team reveals: Tim Michell locks in his side for round 1 of BBL13

With the clock ticking down until the start of BBL13, Tim Michell has locked in his SuperCoach BBL team. See the big changes he made throughout pre-season here.

After weeks of tinkering, here’s where I have landed ahead of the first ball of BBL13 this week.

The naysayers will tell you there isn’t enough talent in the BBL, but I couldn’t find a way to fit in all the stars I wanted for the KFC SuperCoach BBL super round.

I would have loved Will Sutherland, Jason Behrendorff, Haris Rauf, Jhye Richardson and Sam Harper, but ultimately our $2m budget only stretches so far.

I was pretty set on all bar two spots in my team.

In the end it came down to Behrendorff and Tanveer Sangha or Marcus Stoinis and David Payne.

I’ve taken a bit of a risk by going with Stoinis knowing he has the higher ceiling but could just as easily score 20 points in the Stars’ round 1 double.

Behrendorff is a banker who will just about guarantee you a minimum of 80 points across two games.

Sangha is a great starting selection, but I like squeezing in two Strikers as it means I’ll have more flexibility with my trades for round 2.

If it turns out I have missed a couple of key cash cows, then I can jump on before it’s too late.

There have been a few curve balls in recent weeks – the PM’s XI, Test squad and Quinton de Kock being ruled out of round 1.

But good SuperCoaches know the importance of being agile and with unlimited trades until the start of round 1, you can continue to adjust your team this week.

I’ve got every intention of carrying this side into the opening round — but who knows what the squads will bring when they are announced for round 1.

That could completely shift my thinking.

But for now, this is the team I’m rolling with to try and take down our back-to-back winner Andrew Langley.

WICKETKEEPERS

Sam Billings (Heat) $116,900

BENCH: Sam Whiteman (Scorchers) $62,500

Banking on Whiteman to make some early cash and then be a potential loophole when Perth has byes in rounds 4 and 5 of SuperCoach. Billings hasn’t left my side since the game opened. He’ll play three times in round 1 and will take the gloves for the first two matches while Jimmy Peirson is with the PM’s XI. His form this year has been pretty ordinary, but he’s got the quality to score 100+ and get my side off to a flyer.

Aaron Hardie was the leading runscorer in BBL12. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

BATTERS

Tom Curran (Sixers) $180,000

Aaron Hardie (Scorchers) $178,300 – captain

Colin Munro (Heat) $156,100

Joe Clarke (Renegades) $139,600

Glenn Maxwell (Stars) $118,300

BENCH: Cooper Connolly (Scorchers) $70,500, Nikhil Chaudhary (Hurricanes) $42,000

There’s been a bit of a reshuffle in my batters in the past week. I was set on starting Quinton de Kock but will have to plan to getting him for the Renegades’ round 3 double instead. Aaron Hardie is the player who replaced him. The Scorchers losing Lance Morris to the Test squad effectively means they are down to five bowlers – Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly and Hardie. Unless Ashton Turner bowls a few overs in round 1. Either way, Hardie is a big chance to bat at No. 3 and bowl eight overs in round 1. I even think he might be a better captaincy choice than any Heat player. I’m not willing to risk going without Colin Munro who has been in great form in the T10 league and Joe Clarke is an easy selection – especially when he’ll be keeping due to de Kock being unavailable. Glenn Maxwell should be your first picked. Connolly looks like he will have a great role until Ashton Agar is back but I’m tempted to start the in-form Jake Fraser-McGurk instead. Chaudhary is the perfect captaincy loophole pick, although I have a feeling he’s going to play for the Hurricanes a lot earlier than most would suspect.

Hobart Hurricanes recruit Nikhil Chaudhary. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

BOWLERS

Andrew Tye (Scorchers) $185,400

Kane Richardson (Renegades) $143,300

Xavier Bartlett (Heat) $133,300 – vice-captain

Adam Zampa (Renegades) $131,900

Marcus Stoinis (Stars) $116,700

BENCH: David Payne (Scorchers) $139,300, Ben Manenti (Strikers) $75,900

Why would stash a player with $139k you ask? If you want to be successful in SuperCoach BBL you’ve got to plan ahead and by already having two Strikers, I’ll have more flexibility with my trades come round 2. I’m confident Payne will fill the death-over role vacated by Peter Siddle and think Manenti should get first crack the spin void left by Rashid Khan’s injury. The beauty here is I have $10k in the bank, so if Cameron Boyce is named, I can flip Manenti to Tanveer Sangha. Bartlett is the only one of the Heat quicks I am confident will play three matches. I’d love to pick Spencer Johnson but he hasn’t featured at any level since late September so I highly doubt he plays three games in six days to start BBL13.

Xavier Bartlett is a captaincy candidate for round 1. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Richardson suffered a glute injury during the T20 series in India but from all reports will be right to go for the Renegades’ first match on December 8. I’m a bit concerned Peter Siddle’s arrival might mean the Gades quicks are rotated, but the prospect of five games in the opening three rounds is too hard to go past. Zampa was my second picked after Maxwell. I’m not completely sold on Stoinis, but if Haris Rauf is unavailable for round 1 as expected, he surely picks up a few overs. Beau Webster is in the PM’s XI and Mark Steketee is unavailable, which doesn’t leave many options for Glenn Maxwell to call on. You’d think Usama Mir, Liam Dawson and Maxwell will feature heavily, then maybe Nathan Coulter-Nile or Brody Couch. But I’ll be surprised if Stoinis doesn’t bowl at least four overs in the round 1 double.

Good luck locking in your SuperCoach teams in coming days for BBL13. Make sure you rally your friends and family, get those leagues filled and are ready for a huge summer of SuperCoach.

Tim Michell’s SuperCoach BBL team.

Originally published as SuperCoach BBL team reveals: Tim Michell locks in his side for round 1 of BBL13