Final Word: Captains, weather, super PODs, Rd 8

We’re now through a couple of pleasant single game rounds, although tough for scoring, and we enter a chaotic few weeks of Supercoach BBL.

There’s two sides on the double in round 8, followed by three the round after, so it’s time to get prepared!

Further, we have a stack of players, namely internationals, leaving for different T20 tournaments across the globe within the next week.

Check out Thommo Aitken’s yarn here which lays it all out.

After a rapid start to the season, The Stallions are going through a tough phase of scoring, but have somehow held rank relatively well to sit in 39^th overall, so still in striking distance of top spot.

Let’s take a look at Supercoach BBL round 8.

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Weather Watch

All weather is courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology as of Thursday, 4PM. All times are in AEDT. Forecasts are subject to change.

Thursday

7.15PM: Strikers v Hurricanes, Adelaide Oval

Forecast: Partly cloudy, 26 degrees, 0% chance of rain.

Verdict: All clear

Friday

6:30PM: Stars v Sixers, MCG, Melbourne

Forecast:  Mostly sunny, 26 degrees, 0% chance of rain.

Verdict: All clear

Saturday

6:05PM: Renegades v Hurricanes, Marvel Stadium, Melbourne

Forecast: Sunny, 29 degrees, 0% chance of rain.

Verdict: All clear

9:15PM: Scorchers v Heat Optus Stadium, Perth

Forecast: Sunny, 29 degrees, 0% chance of rain.

Verdict: All clear

Sunday

7:15PM: Thunder v Sixers, Sydney Showground

Forecast: Partly cloudy, 26 degrees, 20% chance of any rain.

Verdict: Looking fairly well clear, but monitor as we get closer to the game

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Looking Ahead

This week, our eyes are firmly on the Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes who have the double game in round 8.

We should already own two or three Sixers at a minimum from their double a few rounds back, so the Hurricanes will likely take priority.

The way I see it, you should have anywhere from a minimum of six players from these two teams, to a maximum of eight, maybe nine at a stretch.

Note that the Sixers have the bye coming up in round 9, so between that and a few non-active players in your squad such as Baxter Holt, Cam Green or Cooper Connolly, you may be left short.

For this reason, look ahead to your numbers next week, you’d want no more than four Sixers players this week max.

Also in round 9, we see the Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers on the double game, so avoid trading any of their players out this week unless you have good reason.

A player leaving to another tournament, such as Rashid Khan, would be a good reason…

If you find you have enough Sixers/’Canes in your squad, move early on a double game player from next week.

Super PODs

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.

As ownerships of double game week players will likely soar above 10% for most of those options closer to game time once trades are made, I’ll look towards single game week players.

Last week, Baxter Holt was my pick as a non-playing reserve to enable the opportunity to use the auto-emergency loop tactic at WKP-BAT.

Of course he didn’t play so he didn’t score, but he may have served his purpose for many with Josh Philippe not getting the opportunity to bat in the rained out Sixers v Heat clash.

Hopefully anyone who jumped on were able to take advantage of the loop in this scenario and avoid Philippe’s 20.

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The Colin de Grandhomme pick from the round prior came good with 54 points, and he only bowled one over! What could have been if he bowled the three or four he had been doing regularly, ah well…

This week, I’m going to go with Sixers quick bowler Chris Jordan.

Firstly, a word of warning that the Sixers are yet to confirm his exact departure date and whether or not he’ll play both games of the double, so monitor news.

I know I generally avoid double game week players for the reason listed above, however as teams are already loaded with Sixers, who have the bye next round, he’s likely to remain at very low-ownership.

He’s an international quality bowler, for the world champions, bowling at the death in the BBL.

He ticks plenty of boxes for a bloke who could get a bag of wickets in either game.

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Breakevens

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

The breakeven number is the score required in the upcoming round for a player to make or lose money.

Lowest breakeven (Money-makers)

Nathan McSweeney -54

David Moody -52

Ollie Davies -46

Brendan Doggett -34

Joel Davies -32

Chris Lynn -25

Josh Brown -25

Tom Rogers -18

Nick Larkin -13

Marcus Stoinis -10

Caleb Jewell -9

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Highest breakeven (Likely price drop)

Note that the substantially high Sixers and Hurricanes breakevens are the scores across both games of their double.

Shadab Khan 163

Hayden Kerr 160

Ben Dwarshuis 156

Sean Abbott 152

Matt Wade 148

Jhye Richardson 142

Matt Short 138

James Bazley 132

Riley Meredith 118

Xavier Bartlett 117

Josh Philippe 115

Jordan Silk 115

Paddy Dooley 112

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Skippers

Last week, I went with Marcus Stoinis as vice-captain who has absolutely killed me this season.

He failed with the bat, then after bowling four overs the game prior, wasn’t handed the ball at all!

It resulted in a grand total of 6 points, sorry about that one Supercoaches.

This led me to rely on my skipper, Mr. Reliable Jhye Richardson who put up a respectable 47 points.

Had the Scorchers had a few more runs on the board it could have been more, but Jhye’s brace essentially kept them in the game.

This week, your VC will realistically have to be a Hurricanes player as they have the double and play in game one.

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There are two ways you can attack this, taking a bowler such as Nathan Ellis or Riley Meredith who appear the safe options, or go the riskier option in a star batsmen knowing the Sixers have several great picks in game two.

I’m chasing the upside, and that comes down to Matt Wade or Ben McDermott who can both go very large on their day.

It’s essentially a flip of the coin between those two, however McDermott got a taste of runs last game after a slow start to the season, and he is simply elite when in touch.

If he gets a start he’s exceptional at capitalising on it and turning into 50+ scores, so I’m going with him.

If that fails, the skipper will have to come from the Sixers side afterwards.

Again, there’s plenty of good options, but it’s a battle in two between Hayden Kerr and Sean Abbott.

I’m going with Kerr who has the slightly better role, occasionally getting some death overs, although Chris Jordan will impact this, but also being a chance at a promotion up the batting order at any point.

The risk is rotation, and Abbott has already sat out a game, so does Kerr rest? That’s the risk we take…

Good luck to everyone in round 8.