Michael Fisher
SC expert, NRL best 9th overall, BBL 14th
Team reveal: 14th placed finisher Fish drops SC BBL14 squad
Former 14th placed Supercoach Big Bash finisher Michael Fisher reveals his early squad for the upcoming BBL14 campaign.
BBL
November 17, 2024
Howdy folks,
Excited to be back for another BBL season!
My team is starting to come together, and is of course heavily influenced by the early double game rounds.
I’m expecting plenty of changes prior to season start, as availability changes inevitably come through.
However, I’m happy with this as I start to build a structure for round one.
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Embed from Getty ImagesWicketkeepers
Joe Clarke – Melbourne Stars – WKP/BAT – $110,000 (estimated price at 37.2 SC points from 2023-24)
Clarke had somewhat of a down season in BBL13, only averaging 22 with the bat.
This is well down on his two prior season averages, when his batting averages were around 30.
He boasts an exceptional career T20 strike rate of 144, which always keeps him in the picture as a SC gun.
Jake Doran – Hobart Hurricanes – WKP/BAT – $39,500
Saving cash early looks a decent play to me in the keeper position. Doran is an excellent loop option at bottom dollar.
Embed from Getty ImagesBatters
Glenn Maxwell – Melbourne Stars – BAT/BWL – $247,400
I think Maxy could be a bit overpriced this season coming off an average of 83.8 SC points in BBL13.
His averages in season’s prior were closer to 60-65. Going without would be way too risky though given his huge ceiling. This also makes it hard to look elsewhere for the round one vice-captaincy.
Beau Webster – Melbourne Stars – BAT/BWL – $164,700
I really like the look of Beau this season. Coming off back-to-back 55 averages in BBL SC, he’s been excellent in domestic cricket with both bat and ball this season. Lock him in.
Tom Curran – Melbourne Stars – BAT/BWL – $152,000
Bowling allrounder Curran is another early lock. His role looks excellent – leading the Stars bowling attack and batting around 7, where he’ll be a chance of a quickfire 20 for the strike-rate bonus. He’s exactly the type of player I’m looking to slide into a batter slot.
Embed from Getty ImagesWill Sutherland – Melbourne Renegades – BAT/BWL – $132,600
Speaking of role, big chief Sutherland is another who I’m happy to start with early to maximise all round scoring opportunities.
After starting on fire last season, he regressed in the end from his 2022-23 season average.
Nonetheless, with the early double I think he’s worth a punt provided he’s fit and available.
Will Salzmann – Sydney Thunder – BAT/BWL – $39,500
Another loop option, Salzmann’s dual status could be very handy early.
His schedule gets worse for looping later in the tournament though. If I have the cash I might look to upgrade him to Fabian Allen from the Strikers ($117,500), who may miss round one pending an international call-up, so he could also fill the loop role.
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Josh Inglis – Perth Scorchers – WKP/BAT – $140,600
Inglis is the standout option at Wicketkeeper for round two, so I like him as a bench stash.
This position could also be Tim Seifert from the Renegades if Joe Clarke fails in the first game of the round.
Tom Rogers – Melbourne Stars – Bat – $87,700 (Emergency loop)
I like the idea of a high upside opening bat in this slot.
Josh Brown ($112.2k) at the Renegades is another option, but I’ve gone with the cheaper option in Rogers for now.
Bowlers
Jamie Overton – Adelaide Strikers – BAT/BWL – $207,700
Overton was a revelation last season. Now that he’s back bowling at international level, I’m happy to lock him in.
He’ll be a must-have come round two for the Strikers double and it would take too much manoeuvring to get both him and Matt Short into my opening team.
Jhye Richardson – Perth Scorchers – BWL – $130,000
This is the cheapest Jhye’s been in years and it sounds like he’s close to overcoming all his injury niggles. One of my first picked.
Tom Rogers – Melbourne Renegades – BWL – $117,500
I’ve made a few iterations without the Renegades’ Tom Rogers, and it just doesn’t feel right.
He regressed last season after averaging between 55-60 SC points in the two seasons prior.
He has a high ceiling as evidenced by his 170 in a double round last season. He could also be a captaincy option if Maxwell fails in the first game.
Embed from Getty ImagesKane Richardson – Melbourne Renegades – BWL – $97,900
Another player who’s underpriced based on historical averages. Age (33) and rotation risk are worth considering, but at sub $100k he looks a good early buy.
Adam Zampa – BWL – $80,100
Word is that Zamps struggled last season backing up from a big World Cup campaign.
This makes sense and the value he offers with an early double is too good to ignore.
Mark Steketee – BWL – $79,100
I’m looking at running one of the Stars bowlers in this slot as an emergency loop.
Steketee gets the nod based on Supercoach pedigree, including a monster season in 2021-22 when he averaged over 60 SC points.
Joel Paris and Hamish McKenzie are also options for this spot. Pre-season form will be key.
Jordan Buckingham – BWL – $39,500
Buckingham is a cheapie of the year candidate at bottom dollar and has an early double game.
Fingers crossed he recovers from a recent injury concern and can cement a spot in the Strikers XI.
James Bazley or Brendan Doggett could also be options for this slot, although I worry about job security as the Strikers work out their best XI in the early rounds.
Embed from Getty ImagesFlex
Henry Thornton – BWL – $98,100
Thornton had an incredible strike rate of claiming a wicket every 11.5 balls in both 2022-23 and 2021-22 tournaments.
He looks to be a key member of the Strikers bowling unit this season.
Given his wicket taking ability, he’s another who’s hard to ignore at the price.
Cash in the bank: $51,500
Assuming Joe Clarke comes in at my estimated price, this will leave me $50k in the bank, which could come in very handy!
There’s a fair chance I could need this for Buckingham to Doggett/Bazley, or any other number of options when pre-season inevitably throws us a multitude of spanners.
The good news is I’m happy to sit with this team for a while, so I can keep my thinking relatively clearly, I’ll probably limit myself to one or two more drafts before locking in for the season.
Enjoy the Test series everyone and I’ll be back with a watchlist article in the coming weeks!
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