BBL Supercoach | Andrew Langley’s Team Reveal

G’day Supercoaches

Like most of you, I am still in the chopping and changing phase of selecting my team, but the time has come to share where my thinking is currently at.

Those who know me well will not be surprised to see that I will head into the first game of the season with a team that has a chance of achieving the maximum scoring involvement for the season.

However, there is every chance that my team will start diverging from the maximum once the first game is played.

Therefore, whilst this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I will be looking to start eleven players on the double in Round 1 and have just one player on the field who has a single game.

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Another consideration I will have is that we have been handed the unfortunate injury to Will Salzmann, which presents us with a cheap player with a good draw to help with looping. 

I am unlikely to start him as I will prefer to try and generate cash early, but I will set up my bench emergencies so that he is an option if I choose to “sell” a score involvement to take advantage of a high emergency score. 

Given Salzmann plays the second game of the season, I will therefore look for two Scorchers players to make emergencies in the first game (I don’t like making players on a double an emergency).

I will also look to have at least one Star in my squad – the exact number will depend on how many Hurricanes I have, as I will also be looking at trying to get to 11 double players in Round 3. Rounds 1 & 3 have an appeal to look at going higher on double numbers because the two teams don’t play each other in those rounds.

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That will mean that my final 3-4 positions will be taken up by players from the other teams who only have one double for the season.

This is likely to be Heat and Thunder players because this is not just a game about who we target to bring in, but I also need to be thinking about being able to trade out players in Rounds 3 & 4 who have already had their double.

In Round 2, we will all be forced to trade players with doubles to come, so I see that as more of a correction opportunity.

So with all of that in mind, this is where my team is currently sitting.

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Wicketkeepers

I am looking for value in the keeper spot because of the volatility of scoring in this position.

Fortunately, there are a couple of value options from teams with early doubles.

I will be hoping that both McDermott and Bancroft bat in the top four, and they will also give me a keeper on the double in the first three rounds.

Clarke is another consideration, but I am not including him for now due to him sharing his Round 3 double with McDermott, but certainly an option if looking for an extra value player from the Stars.

This will buy me some time to watch how wicketkeepers are settling and assess who to bring in from Round 3 or 4 onwards.

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Batters

I want batters on the double who both bat and bowl. 

Owen, Edwards, and Kerr fit that mould, but Kerr’s inclusion may depend on Abbott’s fitness. 

Philippe is also not locked in, but in there at the moment as a backup keeper option with a likely opening role, and David feels too risky to leave out on his double due to his explosive scoring power – also, he is now batting higher up the order for Australia, which I hope that he replicates at the Hurricanes and he could even sneak an over or two depending on the conditions.

On the bench, I have Sams as a value allrounder in preparation for Round 2 and Marsh, another explosive batter like David, who fits the Scorcher emergency requirement that I am seeking.

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Bowlers

I currently have the Hurricane trio of Ellis, Meredith, and Jordan, who I am hoping will share some wickets across both of their games.

At the moment, I prefer their bowling attack to Sixers, but I will keep an eye on form leading into the first match before locking them in.

With Abbott currently injured, Dwarshuis is my only Sixer in my bowling line, and Neser is my only single-game player in the hope that he will continue the trend of bowlers doing well in Geelong.

On the bench, I have Hardie as my other Perth emergency and Curran as my current Stars selection. 

Both players appear to offer good value for middle-order batters who should get at least 3 overs.

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Flex

The final spot in my team goes to Chaudhary, who I am hoping will continue on with his form from last year.

I will be keeping an eye on the Australian squad, though, and Webster will certainly come in if he becomes available.

This team will hopefully launch my season to a fast start with the ability to field 28 double players and 8 single players over the first three rounds, but for those who can pick the right ones, there will be a number of single-game players who will start better than some of my doubles.

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Possible changes

One of the things that I have been switching between is a 6/5 and 7/4 balance between Hurricanes/Sixers players.

I currently have seven Hurricanes, and the last time I started with seven players from a team was the Thunder in BBL|12.

That was the year that they were bowled out for 15 in their second match, so I still carry some scars even though that ended up being a successful season.

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The reason for the heavier weighting to Hurricanes is in case either of my Scorcher players goes well, meaning I will need to change things up and bring in Salzmann at the expense of a Hurricane, and I don’t want to leave myself with too few.

If I do end up needing to bring in Salzmann, I will make that decision knowing that I will lose a score involvement, so I will have a high mark for the score to take from my emergency.

There is also a good chance that I will balance out that decision by also bringing in the likes of Short or Maxwell in place of one of my Thunder or Heat players, making my team weaker for Round 2 but stronger longer term.

Like most of us, my team is made up of many moving parts, but planning will become more settled as the first ball approaches!