Seeing Double: SC prospects with two chances to shine

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What a start to the BBL season. Two teams on the double – one who shone, and one who really struggled.

Getting off to a great start isn’t everything in BBL SuperCoach – there’s still plenty of ways to make up ground, and this article is designed to help you navigate the double game weeks and byes coming up.

Before we dive into the candidates, a bit of context on my DGW theory. Choosing how many to have in your team comes down to a couple of things, namely their schedule after the DGW (Double Game Week) and how many of those players you’d be confident featuring on field in a SGW (Single Game Week).

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At a minimum you’d want at least three DGW players on field, while an ideal number – provided you’ve planned well and they meet the criteria above – can be six or seven.

At its most basic, look who is the best batter and best bowler from the team on the DGW and get them into your team

Round 2 DGW: Adelaide Strikers vs Renegades (AO), Scorchers (Sydney Showground)

BYE: Brisbane Heat

Adelaide Strikers

Background:

The team are light on batting experience, and bottled a very chaseable target against the Melbourne Renegades in their opening match.

This wasn’t helped by an injury to their number 5, Ryan Gibson, but it does make trusting their batsman difficult.

Despite this, they’ve got another favourable matchup against the Renegades at home before a trip to Sydney to play the Scorchers (yep, sounds wrong doesn’t it) on a ground which should again favour the bowlers.

Their bowlers on the other hand are quite a settled attack and make for some intriguing targets for the DGW.

Given they have the bye straight after Round 2, make sure you’ve got plans to trade the targets straight back out or can cover with your bench death if you’d like to hold.

As they’re the first game of the round, you’ll need to select your skipper straight away.

Best Bat: Jake Weatherald

Best Bowler: Rashid Khan

Top picks: Khan, Garton, Short, Siddle

POD: Worrall

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George Garton – BAT/BWL, $125k+

The English quick looks to have a good role. He opened the bowling and came back at the death in their opening match capturing two wickets and 68 SuperCoach points.

His role at number 7 is boosted by the Strikers weak middle order which increases his likelihood of facing a few deliveries.

He looks a good prospect and potentially playable each week in your side.

Rashid Khan – BWL, $198k-

He still managed to score 43 SC points in the opening round despite not being in the game as much as he would’ve liked.

He will enter the DGW as the best captaincy option given his potency, but as the number 1 bowling option for the team in blue, teams do sometimes opt to play negatively against him to avoid losing wickets.

He’s as close to a must-have for the round as you can get, and the number 1 skipper option.

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Matt Short – BAT/BWL, likely $82k

Well, well, well. I owe you an apology, Mr. Short. After a very ordinary career in the BBL to-date, that first round SuperCoach ton (107 all up) is just reward for those who planned out their reserves to perfection.

Opening the batting and being a 6th bowler is a very good SuperCoach role, and with his likely negative BE, he’s a perfect one round hold to generate cash.

Throw in the DDP flexibility and this one just makes sense. Will you play him on the field? Personally I still don’t trust him enough for that but he is a likely on-field loop option.

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Peter Siddle – BWL, $149k

Like a fine wine, Poita keeps on improving each year. He has a juicy role bowling death overs and again, I am favouring bowlers in this DGW given the opposition and grounds being used.

He took an expensive 3fa against the Renegades with some junk time wickets at the death. 

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Jake Weatherald – BAT, $130k

This man absolutely ticks the box of ‘best bat’ at the Strikers. His 28 SuperCoach points in Round 1 don’t tell the whole story – he was a fingernail away from turning what was THAT Jake Fraser-McGurk catch into a six which would’ve unlocked his SR bonus.

Batters that don’t bowl are tricky commodities in SC, but if you’re going to risk it on any batter in Blue, this guy should be your man.

Others to watch:

• Harry Nielsen, $76k BAT/WKT: a good role at number three but was dropped a handful of times. If you have him already, consider if he’s worth sitting or starting. At the price, I’ll prefer Short purely for his BE.
• Wes Agar, $142k BWL: again didn’t look horrible but may be called on to perform a different role this season without the death bowling. Siddle, Garton and the next man performed that role with aplomb. Could also miss selection too if Fawad Ahmed comes in.
• Daniel Worrall, $160k+ BWL: his starting price looked over inflated due to his antics with the bat last year, but he bowled fantastically well in the opening round. He looked a much improved death bowler to compliment what we know he does with the new ball. Job security could be an issue – Garton, Rashid and Siddle look to have three spots sewn up leaving Worrall, Agar, Fawad Ahmed and even potentially Harry Conway battling for spots. But he could be a massive POD.