Spy Talk: Biting back from a rough round

• EPISODE 85: SC Playbook podcast, Round 5/6
• FINAL WORD: Round 5 skippers, tactics, weather

Well… I am absolutely reeling after this round. 690 total.

Inglis over Agar 5 minutes before game 1. 130 odd points lost.

Mills over Marsh as captain with one minute left before lockout. 150 points lost.

It was a drop catch (whilst tough) when Mitch was on 5 and an absolute sitter dropped off Mills away from paying dividends. That’s cricket! I’m moving on immediately!! Or at least I’m telling myself that…

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Round 5 is good because there are no doubles which means you can work on your squad a bit if needed or target the Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes who have the double games in Round 5.

I would want approximately six players from those sides at a minimum. Maybe you go with seven or eight across the two sides if you can do it.

I already own D Short and Bartlett, so I’ll probably use four of the six trades to get myself to six total double game guys for Round 5 and use my other two trades on Hales and Finch who came back in absolute vintage touch and will only cost around $80k.

You can buy Finch and Hales for $190k total and lock them in.

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Trade plans – who to cull?

Decision time will centre around who needs to go in order to free up $$ for the guys you want next.

I think Matty Wade is close to a must, though it’s possible he fails twice. Surely not? Shudder. Inglis, Munro short-term flashback…

Wade could wait a round however with a high BE, but he could score well making the breakeven largely irrelevant.

It’s the classic tricky decision on which way to go. Do you wait for a potential huge price drop or buy now and hope he pumps out a big score to offset the high breakeven and score points at the same time?

After my disastrous round I’m tempted to buy now and hopefully cash in before a heap of others own him for the double.

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Does this leave Daniel Sams on the chopping block? Personally I feel like he simply has to come good. He hasn’t got going with the bat yet, but he is genuinely very good if he can get 10-20 balls.

With the ball he has looked out of sorts. This could easily change. After the money he has lost already I am inclined to hold unless I simply can’t fund my trades any other way. Plus his match has the chance of being rained out! Unsure what I will do…

Colin Munro batting at four is okay, but not great. Inglis struggled so Munro may open next match again, we shall see, but he hasn’t really fired outside of his ton. With that upside though maybe he is a hold? Big decisions.

Trades would also centre around breakevens and selling before too much cash is bled and holding those guys likely to rise in price.

If in doubt, sell the guy with a high breakeven and hold the guy with a low BE. But be aware there may be minimal point selling a good player if they have lost a heap of value already because a couple of good scores could turns things around quickly.

Roles are also important. I really like Kerr from the Sixers, but with rain forecast for his match and only getting a couple of overs I think he is gone for me before he loses all value!

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Rain Watch

I want Hales and I want him badly at that price. BUT there is rain forecast for the Sydney Derby on Boxing Day so I’ll either wait a round OR hold that trade until game time and if it looks like not being on I can use on a trade on someone from the next game involving the Scorchers v Renegades.

The issue is that outside of Finch I’m not overly keen on the Gades (Richardson maybe but he is expensive) and I already have enough Scorchers. Nic Maddinson maybe? Cash to be made and he looks rejuvenated. Perhaps Hales can wait a round. Beware the rain!! Plan accordingly…

Whilst it may seem a little general this article, I think it’s just such an open round that you could choose almost any direction to go in when it comes to who to sell and buy.

Note that Perth and Hobart have good weather forecasts for the next two rounds, so if in doubt it may be wise to hold their players. The Sixers weather is grim, while the Heat are also facing rain for their both of their games in the double. As such, I’ll likely be focussing on Hurricanes over Heat players.

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Good luck, trust yourself and remember it’s cricket. Someone can easily go 1, 5, 123 with the bat or 0/40, 1/34 then 4/22 with the ball! It’s a crazy game.

Oh and Mitch Marsh is in absolutely ridiculous form and bowled three overs last night…

Cheers legends!