Final Word: Round 2 skippers, tactics, weather

• SPY TALK: Strategies to implement, trade plans
• STAT BREAKDOWN: Key numbers shaping Round 2

Round 1 is done and dusted, with plenty of guns failing to make a mark, and a stack of cash-cows emerging with strong opening round performances.

We now look ahead to Round 2 which begins on Thursday night in Adelaide.

The Strikers are the talk of the round with two games, followed by next week’s bye.

The weather looks good for the week ahead which is very reassuring for all.

Let’s take a look at the Round 2 action.

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WEATHER WATCH

All weather is courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology as of Thursday, 2PM. All times are in AEDT. Forecasts are subject to change.

THURSDAY

7:15PM: Strikers v Renegades, Adelaide Oval

Forecast: Partly cloudy, 22 degrees, 10% chance of rain.

Verdict: Rain unlikely to factor.

FRIDAY

7:15PM: Stars v Thunder, MCG, Melbourne

Forecast: Partly cloudy, 20 degrees, 20% chance of rain.

Verdict: Rain unlikely to factor.

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SATURDAY

6:35PM: Sixers v Hurricanes, SCG, Sydney

Forecast: Partly cloudy, 23 degrees, 30% of 0-0.2mm of rain.

Verdict: Rain unlikely to factor.

9:30PM: Scorchers v Strikers, Sydney Showground

Forecast: Partly cloudy, 25 degrees, 10% chance of rain.

Verdict: Rain unlikely to factor.

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Adelaide Strikers have the double in Round 2, so they’ll be hot property.

But it’s important to plan ahead with our squads, and to do that we need to take a close look at the fixture planner below.

The Strikers also have the bye next round, so you probably wouldn’t want to be carrying any more than five from the side, unless you aren’t carrying any non-active players on your bench, e.g. Cooper Connelly.

Further, do your numbers and work out how many players you’ll have active next round after your three trades, it’s not hard to get caught short in this game.

Sides carrying two or three non-active players next week will want to be very wary and probably don’t want any more than four Strikers this week.

The Melbourne Stars have the double in Round 3, they’re loaded with SuperCoach guns, so it may be worth going early on a player of theirs.

However, most have high breakevens, so also be cash conscious. Provided Marcus Stoinis plays in Round 2 as expected, he might be the play.

The Scorchers have the Round 4 double and are also worth a look.

SUPER PODS

Each week one of our contributors will provide a full analysis on the point of difference (POD) players to consider.

In the Final Word, we’ll look at the super POD options, the players at under 5% ownership (or around about) that could send you soaring (or falling) up the overall ranks.

They come with big risk, but the reward is immense if it comes off.

Last week, both came off big time, with Mack Harvey and Matt Kelly owned by under 2% at the time of writing, scoring 81 points and 121 points respectively! Both remain great super POD options.

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Nathan Coulter-Nile – 1.5% ownership

NCN missed the first round of the competition, it was a bit odd though as he played grade cricket in WA around the time of the game.

It’s reassuring as it means he should be fit and firing for his expected return this round.

I’d argue he’s over-priced, but he’s also a proven SuperCoach gun who can go very large as evidenced by his 169 point single game effort to start last season.

The Stars have the Round 3 double, so either he struggles this week and remains relatively low-ownership for the double, or he goes large and every man and his dog get him next week.

With injury history and his high price there’s risk associated, but that’s why he’s in super POD range…

Caleb Jewell – 3.2%

Like Harvey last week, Jewell isn’t necessarily a huge point scoring POD, but he’s in a decent role and could make some great cash for anyone willing to jump on.

He’s had glimmers of serious Big Bash form in the past, and will bat three or four for the Hurricanes.

Ben McDermott is out for a while meaning Jewell’s role is fairly safe going forward.

He can be used as an auto-emergency loop on plenty of weeks, and will hopefully punch out solid scores and price rises in the process while others overlook him.

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BREAKEVENS

Each week we’ll list the top 10 players with both the highest and lowest breakevens, plus a few additional players worth noting, to help track your cash movement.

LOWEST BREAKEVEN (Money-makers)

Kurtis Patterson (-43)

Alex Ross (-41)

Hayden Kerr (-41)

Matthew Kelly (-35)

Xavier Bartlett (-33)

Tom Rogers (-28)

Steve O’Keefe (-24)

Liam Guthrie (-24)

Matthew Short (-22)

Gurinder Sandhu (-17)

Zahir Khan (-16)

HIGHEST BREAKEVEN (Likely money fallers)

Rashid Khan (151)

Dan Christian (130)

Mujeeb Ur Rahman (126)

Chris Lynn (117)

Alex Hales (116)

Wes Agar (112)

Glenn Maxwell (102)

Jake Weatherald (102)

Jack Wildermuth (94)

Jordan Silk (94)

D’Arcy Short (93)

Adam Zampa (93)

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SKIPPERS

It’ll be all eyes on Rashid Khan this week for obvious reasons.

He’s the standout pick and I struggle to overlook him as the obvious choice for the Strikers on the double.

It’s vital to note that despite there only being one team on the double this week, and the fact they’re playing in game one, you can still implement the vice-captaincy loophole!

Let’s say you VC Khan, if he goes poorly in the opening game, say sub 20, it presents the opportunity to stick the captaincy on a gun such as Daniel Sams or Glenn Maxwell.

While it’s unlikely, it may eventuate and present a huge opportunity.

At this stage I’ll VC Khan and C Sams, with full expectations that I vice-captain loophole and take Khan’s score x2.

I’m going to pinch a section from my POD article earlier in the week, regarding an anti-POD captaincy option.

The Strikers don’t have many standout SuperCoaches players as such, meaning the masses will flock to Rashid Khan as captain for the double game week.

Now there’s no knock on this, but it does present an outstanding anti-POD opportunity. An anti-POD is meant to be controversial, otherwise it wouldn’t be an anti-POD.

Even prior to Round 1 lockout ending he’s owned by over half of all SuperCoaches, that number will increase to 75%+ by the opening of Round 2, and I’d say 100% of all serious SuperCoaches will own him.

Make sure he’s in your team, but finding another skipper from the Strikers could pay off big time.

While Khan is a star, opposition batsmen often treat him with the greatest of respect and are happy to pick off ones and two, avoid the big shots and see him off.

This generally results in an outstanding economy rate, but there are occasions where wickets can be harder to come by as a result.

If you do opt to employ this anti-POD tactic, George Garton is my top pick with a great all-round role for the Strikers, Peter Siddle bowling at the death is another option.