Tim Williams
SC Playbook founder, 2nd NRL 2020, 43rd BBL 21/22'
Squad Breakdown: Sydney Sixers team analysis
Last year's 43rd placed finisher Tim Williams takes an in-depth look at the Sydney Sixers predicted XI for the upcoming BBL season.
BBL
November 2, 2022
The Sydney Sixers enter the 2022/23 edition of the tournament looking to continue on with an era of dominance, consisting of two titles and a runner-up finish in the past three years.
Kurtis Patterson is a key signing after a strong season with the Scorchers, while former Sixers Chris Jordan and James Vincent were retained at the draft, along with 18-year-old Afghanistan leg-spinner Naveed.
Jordan and Vince are available for the first 10 rounds of the tournament prior to leaving for the ILT20 tournament in the UAE.
The Sixers have the double game week in Round 5 and Round 8, along with a bye in Round 9.
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They play in game two of the opening round, so the opportunity presents to potentially loop any higher risk options.
Our star SC Playbook contributor Max Bryden has done the hard yards to predict the starting XI of each team, I’ll be running my analysis off these forecasts.
Note that the starting XI’s will alter throughout the pre-season as new signings land, form alters and injuries strike, we’ll do our best to update as the news drops.
JOSH PHILIPPE (WKP/BAT) // $168,300 // BBL11 SC Ave: 58.00
Philippe will again be hot property to begin the tournament at an affordable rate.
He had a very mixed BBL11, averaging 33 runs at a strike-rate of 143.47.
A sense of timing surrounds Philippe, when he goes big he is a player to make-or-break a round, but he has the lows to go with it.
Last season he began his campaign with three SC tonnes, which was followed up by six consecutive SuperCoach scores under 50.
In a recent T20 for WA XI he hit 8, prior to that he had scores of 6 and 17 for Essex in the T20 Vitality Blast in the UK.
His long form scoring as been better for WA in the Sheffield Shield, with recent scores of 81 (Marsh Cup), 5, 24, 10, 37* and 100 (all Sheffield Shield).
With no early double for the Sixers, he’s likely to be a huge early POD play for anyone looking for a high-upside risk early on.
He may be a nice loop play in Round 1 to alleviate some risk of a low score.
KURTIS PATTERSON (BAT) // $127,200 // BBL11 SC Ave: 43.8
More noted as a longer format player in the past, Patterson starred for champions Perth in last year’s BBL tournament.
He scored 391 runs at a very healthy average of 30.07, at an impressive strike-rate of 142.18.
He had four SC tonnes last season, but does come at fairly high risk as a sole batter.
He’s likely to open alongside the ultra-aggressive Philippe, which may see him play a slightly more conservative role atop the order which should benefit his scoring, particularly when looking at initiating the 20+ run bonus.
Recent form hasn’t been crash hot, scoring just 30 and 4 in two Marsh Cup hits this season, while a 72* is his only score of note in Shield this season.
Probably one to monitor for the double game rounds.
Embed from Getty ImagesJAMES VINCE (BAT) // $99,900 // BBL11 SC Ave: 26.1
English import Vince may open ahead of Patterson, but is more likely to bat at three.
A star of tournament’s past, including a stunning finish to the side’s BBL10 triumph, Vince struggled last campaign with 149 runs at just 18.62.
The benefit of course is that he starts at under $100k to begin BBL12.
Look back to BBL10 though for some inspiration where he averaged a solid 49.2 SC points, finishing with scores of 145 and 133.
In the recent The Hundred tournament in the UK, Vince struggled with 136 runs at 22.66, with the average inflated by a knock of 71*. That knock also came early in the tournament.
He did however top score in this year’s Vitality Blast competition with 678 runs at 48.42, striking at 146.12 and boasting a top score of 129*, so you don’t need to look far to find some form.
He also had a last start 98 for Hampshire in the long-form County Championships.
Another to monitor for the double game week.
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MOISES HENRIQUES (BAT) // $149,200 // BBL11 SC Ave: 51.4
Henriques has upside, evidenced by a solid SC average of 51.4 last tournament.
Coming in at four is somewhat of an issue though and one that makes him a tentative pass for me outside of a double game week.
He hasn’t rolled the arm over for some time for the Sixers, but has bowled the occasional over for NSW, so it’s not out of question that he gets a trundle, but I wouldn’t be banking on it.
He’s had a few starts in recent Marsh Cup outings without passing 50, and has a 99* in his last Sheffield Shield clash.
Not for me during the early stages, but I’m sure he’ll feature in sides at some stage.
JORDAN SILK (BAT) // $84,700 // BBL11 SC Ave: 24.2
Batting at five, as a sole batsmen, not for me.
DAN CHRISTIAN (BAT-BWL) // $142,200 // BBL11 SC Ave: 49.00
Christian is somewhat of a SuperCoach enigma due to the unpredictability of his role.
His bowling role can be anything from bowling at the death, to not at all, so he’s extremely hard to predict and for that reason I’ll be keeping a very close eye on him early on to see how the Sixers utilise him.
If he’s not bowling frequently, and he gets limited opportunity with the willow, he can dish out some very low scores.
On the flip side, if bowling key overs and given a decent crack he can be one of the best scorers in SuperCoach.
He scored 264 runs last season at an average of 20.30, striking at 126.31. His career strike-rate in T20s is 138.55 which I’d expect his mark to be closer to in his late order cameo roles.
In his past 10 scores, all in the Vitality Blast, he had top scores of 56*, 33 and 30, with all other scores under 14.
Embed from Getty ImagesHAYDEN KERR (BAT-BWL) // $157,600 // BBL11 SC Ave: 54.3
Kerr burst onto the scene last season with a quality SC average of 54.3 as a bowling allrounder.
He played 17 games, scoring 152 runs at 38, with a strike-rate of 144.76.
With the ball, he was the tournament’s second top wicket-taker with 25 scalps at 15, and an economy of 7.50.
Featuring in the Vitality Blast, in 13 games he took 15 wickets at 24.06, with an economy of 9.13.
With the bat his opportunities were limited early on, before being promoted to number three in the order for the final few games, scoring 17, 24 and 29 in very promising signs.
While I’m unlikely to gamble on him off the back off a big campaign, there’s serious upside in Kerr and there’s no reason why he can’t improve on last season.
If he is promoted up the order for the Sixers he’ll be a key player from as soon as round 1.
Embed from Getty ImagesSEAN ABBOTT (BWL) // $205,400 // BBL11 SC Ave: 70.8
A SuperCoach superstar of recent tournaments, Abbott will again be hard to go past despite the high price tag.
He bowls key overs for the Sixers late on in the innings, and he’s a prolific wicket-taker which he’s shown year-after-year.
SuperCoach wise, his record speaks for itself.
BBL11: 70.8
BBL10: 54.3 (four games)
BBL09: 85.3 (seven games)
BBL08: 67.9
BBL07: 79.5
In recent one-dayers for Australia he had returns of 0/11 and 2/31 v India, and 2/1 v NZ.
He notched 62 for NSW in a recent Shield outing to show he’s in some touch with the willow.
In this year’s The Hundred tournament , he took six wickets in five games at 24.50.
He’s a proven SC gun, and with no early double and a high price tag he’s likely to be at low-ownership, so he may be worth a gamble.
Last year in the BBL he took 19 wickets at 19.89, with an economy of 8.18.
At the price, I’m likely to wait it out early on though.
BEN DWARSHUIS (BWL) // $160,400 // BBL11 SC Ave: 55.3
Another proven SC performer in recent seasons with averages of 55.3, 58.2, 53.3, 47.3 and 52.3.
Another who bowls key overs late on for the Sixers, but is fairly reliant on wicket-taking as a lower order bat.
He can go large as evidenced by two tonnes last campaign, along with scores of 1 and 13.
His consistency saw him picked for Australia against Pakistan in a T20 in Lahore mid-year, where he finished with 0/42.
In his last eight short-form games, he has taken just one wicket.
As solid as he is, I prefer Dwarshuis on double game weeks only.
Embed from Getty ImagesCHRIS JORDAN (BWL) // $125,000 // BBL11 SC Ave: 28.8
Despite the poor average in five games last season, Jordan starts at $125k which isn’t ideal, whilst also not out of hand price-wise for the veteran England international.
Back in BBL10 he averaged a far healthier 52.8 SC points, and 38.4 in BBL09.
His starring BBL cameo came in BBL08 where he played just the five games for an average of 75.4 SC points.
In a show of his class, Jordan is among the English squad at the T20 World Cup, despite not featuring outside of the warm-up games.
In five mid-year English internationals against Pakistan and India, he took eight wickets, including a best of 4/27 against India.
In 293 career T20s he’s averaged 27.40 with the ball at an economy of 8.47.
One for the exotics, but I’m keen to see who gets the key late overs for the Sixers early on.
STEVE O’KEEFE (BWL) // $167,400 // BBL11 SC Ave: N/A
O’Keefe has been a solid scorer over the years in SuperCoach, but the veteran is more noted as an economical spinner rather than a wicket-taker, despite the occasional bag.
Across his T20 career he has 98 wickets in 111 matches at 24.25, at an economy of 6.79.
He was very impressive last BBL campaign, taking 15 wickets in 11 games with an economy of 6.57.
For that reason he starts at a fairly high price, so I’ll be avoiding.
OTHERS
Todd Murphy, Jackson Bird, Jack Edwards, Dan Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Naveed
Thanks Tim, really appreciate the inclusion of the fixtures so it is easy to refer to the draw while reading your breakdown!
No worries Lesley, glad you enjoyed!