Player Profile: Wade/Short value or trap?

• POSITIONAL ANALYSIS: Deep dive into allrounder options, strategies 
• BARGAIN BUYS: Updated, cheapies to target in BBL11

Hey Troops!

It’s getting closer to the summer of cricket and I tell you what, the gap between footy and the first ball has seemed far too long.

I say this mainly because the T20 World Cup was on at a ludicrous hour and I still kind of long for the days of seeing if the Mercantile Mutual Cup sign would get hit on a Sunday morning by one of the Aussie players lining up for their state (Looking at you RT Ponting 😉).

Alas, the BBL/Ashes summer combo is close, you absolute beauty, so it’s dual player profile time…

I’ve got two blokes I’m looking long and hard at and they just happen to be the opening pairing at Hobart. Actually, I’m not looking, they are in my side!

Let’s have a squizz.

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Matty Wade

I am very high on Wade. He crushes the BBL opening the batting for the Canes. Here’s a deeper dive into his BBL history.

Career average 33 @ strike-rate of 144. This is solid, but it’s recent seasons that have really seen him come on.

BBL10

Average 35 @ strike-rate of 187.5! Admittedly this was only in three matches due to other commitments, but it’s still good and he actually failed twice.

Looking at the two seasons before this is where we get our elite numbers.

BBL09

350 runs at an average of 50 and strike-rate of 171. Insane numbers and a great combo with D’Arcy Short.

BBL08

592 runs at an average of 42 and a strike-rate of 147.

SC-wise this has equated to averages over the last three seasons of 46, 63 and 65.

Basically you are getting Wade based on a 46 average when we can see what he did the two seasons previous.

Given he only played three games last year this is easily forgiven. Age may be a slight factor as we all go downhill at some stage, and he turns 34 on Boxing Day, but I’ll back Wade for one more quality season at least. I also love an opener also as we know he definitely gets a bat with maximal opportunity barring rain.

Verdict – Happy to start with him at the price and have him ready for the Hurricanes’ Round 6 double game week. A perfect replacement for Mitch Marsh.

🔥🔥🔥 D'ARCY SHORT! ❄️❄️❄️

One of the elite players of #SuperCoachBBL, coming off a down year, will D'Arcy Short bounce back in BBL11?

At $179,600 are you among the 36.2% of SuperCoaches starting with the Hurricanes opener?

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— SC Playbook (@scplaybook1) November 27, 2021

D’Arcy Short

My man D’Arcy! He produced some very mixed form last year and struggled with the bat compared to recent seasons, but he is due I tell ya!

As a bowler he loves a wicket and doesn’t mind the odd bag here and there either. Let’s run the same sample as Wade while also adding in the bowler numbers.

Career batting average 40 @ strike-rate of 139. This is super stuff and if we look at seasons before last it’s even better.

BBL10

Batting – Average 24 @ Strike Rate of 120! Yeah he basically had a shocker! Its cricket and it happens.

Bowling – 8 Wickets. Average 31 @ economy rate of 8. Again not great really but did strike at a wicket every 4 overs which is handy to add to a batting score.

Now for the juicy details…

BBL09

Batting – 357 runs at an average of 44 and strike-rate of 131. That average is outstanding along with a decent SR!

Bowling – 6 wickets. Average 28 @ an economy of 10. Strike-rate is unknown but he did take a 5-21 to show his capabilities.

BBL08

Batting – 637 runs at an average of 53 and a strike-rate of 140. What more do you want? Well, how about..

Bowling – 10 wickets at 30 with an economy of 8 and a strike-rate of 22 (balls per wicket).

BBL07

Batting – 572 runs at an average of 57.2 and a strike-rate of 148. That’s form!

He also bowled a bit that season but let’s get to what I know you care about. What did he average in Supercoach?

SC-wise this has equated to averages over the last 3 seasons of 57.5, 85.7 and 91.3.

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Verdict – Ah yes you read that right, if he recaptures his form he could be looking at a 80-90 type average and he is priced at an average of just 57.

I say start with him and watch his form closely. If he doesn’t look himself and isn’t bowling much move him along, but is he really going to average 24 with the bat again and strike at 120?

He averaged 26 runs at a strike-rate of 140 recently in England, so hopefully his Aussie form is back to 30 or 40 plus his bowling. Come back to us D’Arcy!

Worst case he surely goes at least the same which won’t hurt you too badly. Just hope it’s not a bad run at the start and he loses cash….

Side note – While looking at the T20 Blast stats which is the recent English T20 comp, Josh Inglis scored two tonnes and topped the run count, while Alex Hales averaged 44 runs at a strike-rate of 180, flying!

Inglis won’t be available to start, but Hales will. More on Hales closer to the first ball..

See you again soon legends.