Spy Talk: Big decisions + captaincy picks

The SC Spy reveals his trade strategy for coming weeks and assesses the best Round 5 captain and vice-captain options.

Captain's Challenge

Hey troops,

It’s good to see some of the big guns return to form over the last few days.

Maxy, D’Arcy Short and Rashid Khan all showing why they are stars of the competition. I had the latter two, but unfortunately went against Maxy.

It was a bit of a bold POD move by opting for Dawid Malan instead (number 1 T20 batsmen in the world mind you!) who looked quite comfortable before skying one.

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I’ll likely keep him until the end because if he goes off he will really go off. Not owning Maxy is worrying and I may look to get him back in, but that would leave me with minimum players for the DGW coming up for the Renegades and Sixers. Decisions to be made!

Speaking of, how good was my boy Nicholas Pooran!! I have spoken about him multiple times on here and the podcast, but I didn’t realise how good he actually was. Shades of B Lara dare I say 😉

I’d love him in my side, but as mentioned I opted for Malan as my premium batsmen last round and don’t have room for another right now with other priorities at hand.

Decision Time

Basically it’s all about balance again now. Do you target in form players who don’t have a DGW coming up next round or do you consolidate with players that do?

It will obviously depend who you have currently. If you already have a few DGW guys then no dramas.

However, if like me you don’t have any I think I really need to use a decent chunk of my next six trades on Sixers/Renegades to set myself up.

As good as Pooran looked he could easily get under 10 with the bat, whilst someone like Finch or Dwarshius who play twice in the coming weeks could go 150+ with ease.

Also, they are at least a good chance of scoring 50+ points even if they underperform across two matches.

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Maxy is the one I’m scared to leave out because he is batting and bowling with high ownership.

Hopefully he doesn’t bowl much and is due for a failure with the bat.

It’s Malan v Maxy for me over the next few weeks! One final point and one that is particularly relevant to me is money.

I am in a position where I need to generate some cash as there is still a long way to go.

As I have outlined in my trades below I have balanced cash generation with some in form guys who play twice either in Round 6 or Round 8.

This way I can grow my bank for future trades whilst also accruing points. If however you are flush with cash and expensive guys then you don’t need to worry.

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Round 6 (DGW) Targets

While we still have Round 5 to play, Round 6 is six trades away and this is who I personally have an early eye on.

Kane Richardson – Just a gun wicket-taker!

Aaron Finch – Down $40K from his opening price of $190K. Now I think may be the time to pick him up. He is surely due!

Ben Dwarshius – Has wickets in him and in a double game week in Round 6 could be super handy! Though he has a high breakeven so you could wait a week and see how he looks.

Mohammed Nabi – Star performer who has been out of form his first two matches. Again, he has a high breakeven so he is worth a look once we see how he performs this week, unless you want to go early.

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Dan Christian – He is an in-form man! I am again keen to wait a round and see if he continues to bowl decent overs. He is batting unbelievably though and is a classic bloke who can score 25 off 9 balls and pick up 50 easy SC points with the bat before bowling a ball. Big watch this round.

Shaun Marsh – Hasn’t been able to get going since Round 1’s class display, but again is due and would be great to own for the DGW.

Jake Ball – A new addition who is a wicket-taker. In good recent form and not overly expensive.

Daniel Hughes – Coming off a stunning knock he is in-form but hasn’t been overly consistent in recent years. Worth a punt? With upside, cash to make and batting at four I’d say yes due to his cheap price. I suggest you buy him this week though if you want him as he may rise $30k+.

Will Sutherland / Jack Edwards – Both have roles within their respective teams and are cheap. If you need a DGW player but don’t have a heap of cash these are your boys.

Peter Hatzoglou – If named for the DGW is a nice cheap option based on early form if you think he can continue it.

Noor Ahmad – A 15-year-old future superstar it seems and at just $68K. He has one decent score from one match and hopefully will be back in the side soon now that they have lost one of their internationals in Imran Tahir. A super cheapie at low ownership. Hard to leave out if he plays but hasn’t been named for Round 5 so hold fire for now as he may not actually play the DGW….

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Consensus

From a personal standpoint I brought in three genuine guns last week and really need some cash generation.

As a result at the time of writing I am eyeing off Daniel Hughes (likely for Alex Carey reluctantly). I’m going to take him as he bats at four, is in good form with a DGW coming up and will make money. 

I really want Finch this week as I have a feeling he is about to explode. The thinking part of my mind however says that if Finch scores around 30 SC points and so does Hughes I will have scored the same amount of points but also lost around $30-40 thousand dollars and it could end up more!

This money could come in handy and on current form Hughes may outscore Finch. I may decide late to play Finch.

If I don’t however please pray that he only scores 10-30 runs before exploding next round when I bring him in. I am due some luck on these tricky calls.

Regardless of who I trade in, I will put them as my auto-emergency and wait to see what they score before deciding whether or not to take their score or play someone else in my starting lineup.

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If they score well I will put in my non-player in Holt or Pfeffer so I get the AE score added. If they don’t score well I will play Ollie Davies (see below).

My second trade will see me sell Matt Renshaw before he bleeds too much cash. His role is also less defined with Carey back and Briggs taking overs off him.

I will straight swap him for Tanveer Sangha who is looking really good, is cheap and because of his haul last match will make cash up until his DGW (and act as a double player) in Round 8 before moving him on (or keeping him if he stays red hot!).

For trade number three it is likely to be Lawrence my bench player who is leaving the country for Davies who I missed last round, but is still cheap and surely keeps his spot doesn’t he?

Plus he has a DGW coming up soon and will at the least make some money barring a pair of ducks!

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Additionally he plays early in the next four or so rounds so if your squad allows you can sit him on your bench, put the auto-emergency on him and then utilise his score if he goes well, and leave him benched if not. The old double shot 😉

The way he bats he can easily score 22 off 10 balls which gets you 47 points in no time with potential for more.

It’s a very tricky week and the above trades will leave me with around $50k to target some gun DGW guys for next round.

In terms of captaincy I’m going to vice-captain Sangha as I have limited options and put the C on D’Arcy Short who I think will score runs and may well take a few wickets again!

I do have an eye on the weather in Brisbane though for the Hobart v Heat match. If it’s wet I will flip my skipper to Rashid Khan. Good luck everyone.

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