Watchlist: Ranking every club’s trade targets, Rd 2

Each round this season, I’ll share a list of my trade targets, ranked in order of priority and value.

This season I’ve separated them out by team, to assist with trade planning for double game and bye rounds. 

Adelaide Strikers

(note BE is for a player’s total score from 2 games)

1. Matt Short (244.1k bat/bowl BE 144)
2. Ben Manenti (75.9k bowl BE 45)
3. D’Arcy Short (67.5k bat BE 40)
4. David Payne (139.3k bowl BE 83)
5. Wes Agar (149.4K bowl BE 88)
6. Henry Thornton (161.4K bowl)
7. Jamie Overton (125k bat/bowl BE 74)
8. Chris Lynn (167.9k bat BE 99)
9. James Bazley (165.9k bat/bowl BE 98)

There’s a long list from the Strikers due to their upcoming double gameweek. 

I have Matt Short at number one despite his big price tag. His value will come from captaincy / vice captaincy.

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He would be a huge anti-POD play, but the risk is too high for me to even consider it, especially at this stage of the season. 

I’m still high on Ben Manenti, as long as he plays. He’s been great for South Australia this season with both bat and ball, although most of his performances have come in the four-day format. 

I also find it hard to turn down D’Arcy Short at the price as he’s confirmed to open the batting. I’ll play him on field this week in favour of emergency looping a single game batter. 

Having looked into the Strikers bowling unit, I’m having a hard time prioritising them.

My current thinking is that David Payne is the pick of the bowlers. He comes into this season at a discount due to having only played 4 games for the Scorcher in 2022/23, averaging 64.3 SC points. 

Payne’s bowling strike rate is excellent, claiming a wicket every 16.4 balls. However, Agar (S/R 15.5) and Thornton (S/R 12.4) have even better wicket-taking stats, albeit over shorter career spans. I think Payne is most likely to bowl death, so that might be the clincher. 

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Brisbane Heat 

1. Mitchell Swepson (103.4K bowl BE -70)

Magnificent round 1 performance from Sweppo, who comes into round 2 with the lowest BE of any player. The only trouble is the Heat don’t have their next DGW until round 7 (when Hurricanes and Scorchers also have the double), so can you hold him until then? If not, you’ll be foregoing a double game opportunity from the trade and spending two trades to get him in and out. 

Hobart Hurricanes

1. Corey Anderson (123.6k bat BE -26)
2. Ben McDermott ($88k BE 29)

Anderson’s role looks mint, bowling 4 overs and batting at 6 for the Canes. He was very tidy with the ball, too, claiming 2 for 10 from 3.3 overs. His batting will pick up if his career record is anything to go by (ave 25.33 striking at 137).

McDermott is still cheap and he plays the second game for the next 4 rounds, for anyone looking for a wicketkeeper loop. 

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Melbourne Renegades

1. Will Sutherland (181.5k bat/bowl BE -16)
2. Jake Fraser-McGurk (72.4K bat BE -9)
3. Adam Zampa ($139.8k bowl BE 17)

Big Chief Sutherland looked like prime Freddie Flintoff in round one!

It looks like he’ll regularly bowl his four overs, and there’s been mention of him moving up the batting order at times to increase the strike rate when needed.

I think he’ll be the best captain option if a Stars VC doesn’t work out in round 3. With a -16 BE at over 180k, it could be now or never to get the Big Chief in. 

JFM showed why he now holds the record for the fastest Australian domestic limited-overs century. He looks like a fun player to own, especially with the double coming up. 

Zampa is still cheap due to missing the abandoned game. He looked great in his first outing and should be secure having had his break now. 

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Melbourne Stars

1. Glenn Maxwell (130k bat/bowl BE 0)
2. Mark Steketee (118.5k bowl BE 35)
3. Haris Rauf (120.2k bowl BE 56)
4. Marcus Stoinis (106.8k bat/bowl BE 67)

Maxy came out of the first game with an injury but will be back in time for the round 3 double with any luck. 

Steketee and Rauf both come in at reasonable prices, but can the Stars put up decent enough totals for them to defend? 

Stoinis continues to frustrate SC owners. If his role looks good in the opening game of round 3, he could be a trade-in, but I’d approach with caution. 

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Perth Scorchers 

1. Sam Whiteman (62.5k wkp/bat BE 18)
2. Cooper Connolly (82.9k bat/bowl BE -13)
3. Hamish McKenzie (56.1k bowl BE -27) 

Whiteman’s value now lies in his looping ability. As back-to-back winner Andrew Langley has pointed out during pre-season podcasts, wicketkeeper can be a volatile position in SC, so having a loop can be extremely handy. Just be cautious of how many non-players you have with teams on byes coming up, etc.

Cooper Connolly had an excellent role in round 1, opening the batting and also rolling the arm over for a few overs. However, he’s expected to drop down the order with Zak Crawley coming in. Frontline spinner Ashton Agar is also due back, which could impact Cooper’s bowling potential. If you need him for looping during the Scorchers round 4 and 5 byes he could be a trade in, there’s probably other priorities though. Ditto fellow spinner Hamish McKenzie. 

Sydney Sixers

N/A

Nothing interests me here, mostly due the Sixers draw with no remaining double games. Jack Edwards will have piqued some coach’s interest with 4 overs and batting 7 in the second game of the round. However, this will likely be impacted by Abbott’s return. 

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Sydney Thunder 

1. Tanveer Sangha (103.3k bowl BE -35)

Potentially the buy of the round, Sangha is set to skyrocket in price before his round 4 double. I think it’s worth a boost to get him in if needed.

I also had an interest in Thunder death bowler Zaman Khan. However, he’s due to leave halfway through the Thunder’s round 4 double (thanks to Matthew Broome for pointing this out on Twitter).

This should be good news for Daniel Sams, who only bowled 2 overs in round 1, and could come in at a nice discount in time for round 4.

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