Updated Watchlist: Wicket-keepers to target in BBL12

Hi Folkes,

Great to be back to preview another BBL season. 

This season I’m drawing inspiration from a Fantasy Premier League content creator, the legendary FPL General.

One of the General’s simple and effective approaches is to meticulously maintain an up-to-date watch list.

I find this a great way to keep myself on track with our trades and planning, so that I don’t get too caught up in the hype for any one player. 

My plan is to make an initial watch list, with a few updates across the pre-season.  I’ll then aim to release an update prior to each round during the season.

Starting off with the wicket-keeper position, here are my initial Watchlist picks, in priority order.

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1. Matt Gilkes ($97.4k)

Assuming he bats in the top 4, I’ve got Gilkes as the round 1 standout in the keeper position. This is largely due to the Thunder’s back-to-back doubles to start the season. 

Gilkes was rock solid for most of last season, averaging 40 across the first 10 rounds. He’s an early value play, who you can start for the first two rounds, then move on prior to the Thunder’s Rd 3 bye. 

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2. Josh Inglis ($87k)

Starting with Scorchers on your bench could be an astute early play, given their round 1 bye, then round 2 double. This makes Inglis a prime candidate to start with in our reserves. 

We didn’t see his best last season, averaging just 24 SC points. However, his T20 career batting average of 30 and S/R of 150 suggest SC scores of 50+ would be more the norm. 

Will be hard to pass up.

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3. Joe Clarke ($153.8k)

Went on a tear in the backend of last season, resulting in a season average of 53 SC Points.

Schedule isn’t as good as Gilkes, but he still opens with a double. If you do start with him, he can be traded to any batsman (or bowler using duals) in week 2, provided you slot Josh Inglis or another keeper-batsman in a reserve batsman position. 

If he comes into form leading into the BBL, he could well be worth an early punt. One to keep an eye on. 

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4. Peter Handscomb (62.5k) 

Has been in decent form this season with 2 x 90s in the Marsh One Day Cup, along with a century and a 281 not out in the Shield.

If he happens to jag a spot in the Renegades top 4 I think he’s worth a look. If he misses entirely he’s a no for me, as I prefer Scorchers for looping purposes (see below).

5. Josh Philippe ($168.3k)

A perennial Supercoach star with averages of 58, 57 and 53 across from the last three seasons. He has no early byes and doubles in game weeks 5 & 8.

I think we’ll all want him at some point. If we end up short on options, it could be worth saving trades at the keeper position and locking Philippe in.

6. Baxter Holt ($81,200)

Looks like we’re not going to get a bottom dollar backup keeper, so Baxter could be the next best thing. The recent signing of Sam Whiteman by the Thunder probably puts Holt done the pecking order.  This could make him very handy for captaincy looping across the season. 

The Thunder’s schedule looks great for looping from round 7 onwards. I’m not sure that we’ll need him before then, with various teams on byes for 4 of the first 6 rounds. However, bringing him in round 2 for Gilkes could enable an Inglis loop if needed.

7. Sam Billings ($152,800)

Have added Billings with an eye to the Heat’s round 3 double. I think he’ll be a key player for the Heat and looked in decent nick vs Aus in the recent ODIs. I’m also considering bringing him in early when the Heat have their round 2 bye. This would be to emergency loop Inglis if needed.

So there you have it. As it stands, I’ll be running with the top 3 from this list in my side (with one in a batsman reserve slot). I’m not sure what I’ll do if we don’t get an NPR wicket-keeper!

Enjoy the World Cup and I’ll be back for another article on my batsman Watchlist soon!