POD Hunter: Round 7/8, unique players to find an edge

• SC PLAYBOOK PODCAST: Round 7/8, Stars analysis, Canes to sell
• SPY TALK: Bottomed out guns, Star recruits, trade talk

If you’re off to a slow start, or perhaps like to live on the edge with your SuperCoach selections, you’ll be sure to want to hunt point of difference (POD) players for your side.

Each week we’ll run through a list of potential candidates that fit the bill, owned by under 10% of SuperCoaches at the time of writing that can help us claw up the rankings at a rapid rate.

We are analysing some new options in this article, but there are some other players who we have previously mentioned that still could be viable trade in options. 

Names such as Abbott, Richardson and Sangha (Tanveer) should be considered for your side. 

Check out some of the other players mentioned in articles on the SC Playbook website! Just head to ‘articles’ in the menu, then hit ‘POD Hunter’.

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UPCOMING DOUBLE ROUND POD (ROUND 8)

Joe Clarke – 7.5% ownership

What a turnaround in form for Clarke recently! The first four matches saw Clarke scored 14 runs combined, however, he is now firing with scores of 52 and 85 runs in his last two knocks. 

I expect lots of people will be selecting him shortly in their side, including myself! We have seen countless examples (including some current!) of English batters struggling to adapt to Australian conditions, however, Clarke seems to have found the formula to be successful recently. 

He is an aggressive opener, so if he reaches the magical 20 run mark, he will gain a decent strike-rate bonus. 

It is worth noting that a hamstring injury meant that he did not take the gloves during the Heat’s innings and this needs to be monitored before the Stars play their next game. 

Hilton Cartwright – 5.9% ownership

Middle order batters can be rocks or diamonds from a SC perspective, however, after Cartwright’s recent performance against the Heat (144 points) and other round scores this year (30, 58, 71 and 61), he will come under consideration, especially considering the upcoming double round for the Stars. 

He can roll the arm over, but has bowled only one over the entire tournament, so don’t expect him to gain any bowling points if trading him into your side. 

He’s a gun fielder and he is always a good chance to pick up some fielding points to help his scoring potential. 

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Nathan Coulter-Nile – 2.1% ownership

Coulter-Nile is certainly an intriguing option to consider when factoring in the Stars upcoming draw. 

Points will be accumulated via bowling with only one run being scored so far in the tournament. 

It has been mentioned he could be used as a pinch-hitter if a wicket falls during a power surge, however, if trading him in, I wouldn’t be expecting any major batting points. 

Coulter-Nile has been given rests in previous BBLs, but during the recent double game week for the Stars, he played both games in a promising sign for prospective owners. 

The fact that the Stars might be scrapping for a finals berth bodes well, as they will need to field a strong XI each game to secure a finals position. 

Even with these facts, some caution is needed when trading in Coulter-Nile over a double game week because you would hate for him to only play one of the two games. 

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Qais Ahmad – 1.1% ownership

He was mentioned in a previous POD article in the lead up to a Stars double game round. Let’s have a look and see what eventuated that round. 

‘After only scoring a modest 30 Supercoach points, potential owners will be hoping to see improvement as he plays more games in the BBL. 

He scored a mammoth 180Ssupercoach points in Round One of the 2019/2020 season but it has been a while since he put up a mega score like that. 

Adam Zampa is undoubtedly the best Melbourne Stars spinner, but that could work in Ahmad’s favour. Teams may respect Zampa and just see him off and look to be more aggressive and take more risks against Ahmad. 

This could lead to more wicket taking opportunities for Ahmad. We have seen in BBL before that the second spinning option can piggyback and take the wickets whist the main weapon does the heavy lifting and tie down an end.’

We were mostly right I guess as Zampa only took one wicket over the double game week. 

We were looking like geniuses after Ahmad took 2/17 in the first match against the Thunder, but got smacked around the park by the Sixers in the second match and finished with figures of 0/40. 

The last game against the Heat showed why he could be a shrewd selection over the Stars double game round. 

If the Stars post a large total, opposition teams will be forced to be ultra-aggressive against a bowler like Ahmad and there could be plenty of wicket taking opportunities for him. 

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SINGLE ROUND POD

Tymal Mills – 5.5% ownership

When looking at the figures, I was slightly surprised at the ownership levels for Mills. 

Although a late starter, Mills began with a bang (101 points) and still is averaging a very decent 50.8 points for the season. 

It was also interesting to note that he bowled all four overs in the last two Scorchers matches (before the game against the Thunder), whilst Tye and Behrendorff have not always bowled their full allotment of overs in those two games. 

For those who like to plan ahead, the Scorchers have a double game in Round 9 too and Mills is likely to be a player that you want in your side. He missed last night’s game and I am presuming it was nothing more than a genuine rest. 

Ben Dwarshuis – 1.2% ownership

A delayed start to the tournament due to injury and taking his time to get into the swing of things in the BBL (only 1 point against the Strikers), means that Dwarshuis is the forgotten man of BBL Supercoach. 

He is much cheaper than his original starting price and could prove a handy addition to your squad. 

The Sixers bowler has many scores over 100 over his career and has averaged well over 50 (58.2 and 53.3) in the previous two editions. 

He is playing in a gun team and will get better as the tournament progresses. He is a genuine wicket-taker, grabbing 88 scalps in 71 games and he is not the worst with the willow, as evidenced by a high score of 42 not out.