Red flags: Identifying potential SuperCoach traps

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

G’day BBL Supercoachers,

It is almost time for the BBL to start. There is not long until the tournament begins.

There are many things for us to consider this season including international call ups, injury, form, La Nina and even a new strain of COVID potentially emerging! We will continue to roll with the punches, be adaptable and tinker with our squads.

We want to make our squad full of good selections. However, there always seems to be a few guys in our side that don’t score well and they can be very hard to move out of our sides.

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The following contains a list of players that could be considered traps for the upcoming season.

The slightly worrying thing for me is that some of these players have been in my squad or may be in my final squad come round one!

This article will focus on the negatives of some players that fit the category of potential traps, even though there are undoubtedly positives about each player listed here.

Daniel Hughes

If we omit his one out of the box innings (it was a true match winning knock!) from last season, Hughes averaged closer to 19 Supercoach points per game. This needs to be considered double in round 1 or not. His role isn’t different this year either. He always bats in the top 3 or 4.

Ben Manenti

The Sixers have three spinners (four if you count Gary) and all can perform a role for their side on their day.

The Sixers then have the luxury to pick their spinners according to opposition match ups and this means that job security for Manenti could be an issue. This meant that he only played in around half of all matches last year.

Dan Christian

The role for Dan Christian may simply not be the same as last season. The signings of Curran and Jordan should mean that they rely less on Christian bowling the crucial overs.

As good as he was last year, Curran and Jordan are international guns who regularly bowl the pressure overs for their country as well as in franchise cricket.

Without the bowling component Christian may score a lot less points and his price may lower very quickly if the Sixers do not need him much in the early part of the season with either bat or bowl.

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Aaron Hardie

He looks like he could be the obvious replacement for Mitch Marsh in terms of role and price. The fact is that he is playing just as a batter at the moment and is not bowling as he recovers from injury which really detracts from his Supercoach prospects.

He can only really be considered if he is bowling overs, as this was how he scored most of his Supercoach points last season.

Ashton Turner

Even with Perth missing some key players during the early stages of the tournament, Turner is no guarantee to move up the order. He is suited to the middle order in the late power hitting role. He can bowl, but with his injury history, he seems to be used only in case of emergency when plying his trade for the Scorchers.

George Garton

The unknown factor of an international that has not played in the BBL before is not ideal. There are always question marks over whether they are able to adapt to Australian conditions.

There also can be a lack of clarity over exactly what role they will perform for their new franchise.

His recent from when playing away from home in the IPL is not spectacular. He scored 2 runs and took 3 wickets over five matches.

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Matthew Short

I feel like there is a case of déjà vu with Matthew Short. Consistently, he presents as a Supercoach option before each season, however, he has averaged under 30 Supercoach points over the last three seasons and has failed to play every game in those three seasons.

It is also still unknown at this stage where exactly he will bat in the order and if he will really be needed to contribute any overs with the ball.

Tom Cooper

It has been a long time since he has been Supercoach relevant (2016/2017). He started the season in the Heat side last year, but struggled with the bat both in terms of runs made (61 in five games) and strike rate (92.42).

Once he lost his place in the side, he did not feature again in the tournament. It is also interesting to note that he did not bowl a single over at all last year too.

Matt Kuhnemann

He has sparingly played over the last few seasons and the job security issue still remains. Mitch Swepson was missing (like he will for parts this year) and a spot in the starting 11 was not automatic. He has only taken 5 wickets in nine games so he is not exactly a consistent wicket-taker either.

James Bazley

Again, he is someone who was unable to gain a regular spot and there will be some job security question marks. Additionally, last year most of his runs came in one knock (49 out of 94) and most of his wickets came in one outing (two out of three). Wildermuth was also not selected in any Australian squad and he is the primary all-rounder for the Heat.

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Max Bryant

Bryant has been around for a few seasons now and has a knack of looking great to start his innings, but regularly gets himself out when he looks ready to launch. He also has been omitted from the side at different stages over the last couple of years as well.

Tim David

As great as he was last season, David did only average 36 Supercoach points per game. Just like Turner he is so good in the middle order role, they are unlikely to be promoted high up the batting order as a result.

There have been some whispers that he is working on his bowling, but on our predicted line-ups available on the SC Playbook website he looks like the seventh bowling option.

Who are you including in your side, but you think they may be possible traps?

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