Spy Talk: Breaking down finals BBL tactics

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It’s finals time guys!

It’ll be good to watch the next few matches with a lot on the line for the teams involved which always adds extra interest.

This also means there is only a week or so left of BBL action before we turn our full attention to NRL. It’s all happening!

The BBL finals will give you a chance to push as high up the rankings as possible, and for those in the top 100 or so, the chance to make a run at the title!

Don’t be afraid to take some calculated chances if you are in the hunt… You never know what might happen!

It’s also a good chance to completely redo your side and look to finish strongly if you have had a tougher time.

Money will impact squads with some able to basically buy anyone they want and other teams being limited with regards to cash, but there will be plenty of upside players at a cheaper price who you can grab and hope they return to form.

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Loophole is a must

I have discussed this all year, but the major play is to pick one person in each position on the bench who plays game one of the finals and put the auto-emergency on them.

It’s been the play all season, but it is easier to do come finals because you will have unlimited trades meaning you can easily change a starter from game two to a non-player if you want to loop.

The same goes for the VC loophole. VC someone from game one and have a player from game two on standby should they fail.

Weather

Given the rain around this week, it will be even more vital to check weather because a rained out match could mean you lose over half you side (or more).

So make sure you wait as late as possible to do your trades and if it’s wet pick blokes who open the batting/bowling as you know they are likely to get a chance even in an eight over a side match.

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Pitches and Grounds

As we know some grounds are much better to bat and bowl on then others. With that being said, I’ll be picking my top line batsmen who have the best batting pitch in their schedule.

My favourite grounds for batsmen include Adelaide, Manuka and Perth.

The Sixers face the Scorchers at Manuka, nice…

Match-ups

Another thing to do is to check out matchs-ups. For example, I wouldn’t be as keen to have an opening batsmen playing against Jhye Richardson purely because of his wicket-taking ability.

That’s not to say don’t do it as they only need to get through two overs of him, but it’s a nice roll of the dice to maybe anti-pod someone like a Josh Philippe if you think Richardson may knock them over early.

It’s always a punt in cricket but it at least brings some tactics into an anti-pod play. It’s the opposite with bowlers.

You may avoid someone if you know they will bowl to Philippe, Alex Hales or Alex Carey as they are capable of hitting them for 15+ and blowing their economy bonus out the window.

It’s just a thought and not a must do, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on…

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Squad Balance

Speaking of match-ups, if you don’t want your own bowler knocking over your own batsmen maybe you look to go all batsmen from one match and all bowlers from the second match or vice versa.

This is only a brain storm idea, but it means you won’t get stuck with your own players causing your other players to fail.

Hypothetical scenario (fixtures confirmed since time of writing)

Instead of Alex Hales getting bowled by Adam Zampa and having both in your side, you could in theory pick three Scorchers batsmen and three Stars batsmen and hope it’s a high scoring affair.

Then in game two, say the Sixers play against the Strikers, you could then pick all bowlers like Abbott, Siddle and co.

This concept would give you maximum chance at huge scores as everyone is capable of going large, though it is not without risk if you happen to have all batsmen in a low scoring affair or all bowlers in a low wicket’s clash.

It’s something to consider once we know who plays who in the *first round of finals.

*(Game one, Heat v Strikers, game two, Sixers v Scorchers)

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All-rounders

Gee they provide some comfort because you know they have two cracks at it.

There’s nothing worse than a standalone batsmen getting an early duck and all you can rely on for more points is a catch.

I always try and get an all-rounder if I can, and it’s why I was happy to captain D’Arcy Short last round knowing he will generally bowl a few overs as well as being one of the best bats in the comp’s history.

I will look to load up as much as possible for finals while still striking a balance of high-upside guys like Chris Lynn and Peter Siddle who may go low given they won’t likely bat and bowl but can go 120+ with ease on their day…

The Round Up

That’s about all from me troops. Keep doing what you have been doing if you are having success and back your instincts.

Don’t be afraid to take a chance as long as it’s well thought out. If you have had a tough time of it which can easily happen in BBL SuperCoach, then why not change things up for the finals and see if you can turn it around? Good luck!