Squad Breakdown: Melbourne Renegades team analysis

The Melbourne Renegades will look to overturn an underwhelming history in BBL12, having reached the finals on just three occasions.



They played in one decider, claiming the title in the 2018/19 edition of the tournament.



They enter the new tournament with a strong roster with some quality off-season recruitment, boasting a plethora of experience.



Martin Guptill, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Akeil Hosnein and Andre Russell enter as the international contingent.



Russell will play the first four games of the tournament, before being replaced by Guptill for the remainder of BBL12.



Guptill is the international replacement for Liam Livingstone who was a late withdrawal from the tournament.



Tom Rogers and Jono Wells are quality recruits, while Cameron Boyce and James Pattinson are off the roster this season.



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The Renegades are the only side in the competition without a SuperCoach bye round, while they have the double game week in round 5.



Coming off a poor season, there’s value littered across this squad who should be big improvers.



Our star SC Playbook contributor Max Bryden has done the hard yards to <a href="http://13.210.220.211/2022/11/13/bbl12-predicted-teams-best-xi-for-every-club/">predict the starting XI of each team</a>, I’ll be running my analysis off these forecasts.



Note that the starting XI’s will alter throughout the pre-season as new signings land, form alters and injuries strike, we’ll do our best to update as the news drops.



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AARON FINCH (BAT) // $139,600 // BBL11 SC Ave: 48.1



Finch has been a hard man to catch in recent seasons, producing far more rocks than diamonds.



He finished last year’s tournament in emphatic fashion, with knocks of 82, 75 and 45 with the willow.



He finished the tournament with 386 runs at 38.60, striking at 130.40.



The season prior he averaged a horrific 17.6 SC points across 13 games, however the tournament prior he was blistering with a SC average of 64.6 points across nine games.



Recent form for Australia in T20s is decent, with scores of 63, 31*, 13, 76, 0, 13, 12, 15, 58 and 7.



The Renegades have early games in Round 2 and 3, so he might be an auto-emergency loop opportunity that carries minimal risk.



While there’s some obvious temptation as a likely POD with huge upside and proven pedigree, I’m not keen.



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SHAUN MARSH (BAT) // $121,000 // BBL11 SC Ave: 41.7



Marsh is under an injury cloud but is expected to be fit for the start of the tournament.



He’s expected to return to play some grade cricket early in December, meaning he’ll be fairly underdone heading into the opening round.



That being said, he has a wealth of experience and may only need a couple of hit outs to dust off any cobwebs.



The veteran scored 202 runs at 28.85 last tournament, striking at 132.02.



SuperCoach-wise he has a strong pedigree, with past averages of 41.7, 33.9, 54.3 and 51.3.



He hasn’t played any top grade cricket since Marsh, so I think I’d prefer watch early on to see how he returns, but it won’t take much to gain my interest, he’s a class act.



Like Finch, he’s more of an early auto-emergency loop play for mine.



MACKENZIE HARVEY (BAT) // $92,600 // BBL11 SC Ave: 31.9



Mack Harvey is a very talented young cricketer and perhaps this will be his breakout season after a decent BBL11 campaign.



If he can jag the number three spot he’ll be somewhat tempting at $92,600, but without an early double I’m happy to wait and watch.



He scored 231 runs last tournament at 25.66, striking at just 112.68.



In four 50 over Marsh Cup games this season he has scores of just 3, 28, 15 and 25.



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NIC MADDINSON (BAT) // $138,000 // BBL11 SC Ave: 47.6



Remarkably Nic Maddinson did most of his SuperCoach damage last year with ball in hand.



He took six wickets with his left arm spin, while scoring just 128 runs at 16.00 with the willow. That was inflated by one knock of 67.



It still cuts deep that I invested in him after that score with a very low breakeven, with little return given.



Recent SC averages have been 47.6, 37, 27.3 and 21.3.



In two Marsh Cup games this season he has scores of 20 and 10, while Shield outings have returned scores of 4, 18, 16, 2, 4 and 30.



Prior to that he had some decent returns playing long-form County cricket for Durham.



Rarely has he bowled of late, which I think is the key to his SuperCoach credentials. Not for me.



JONO WELLS (BAT) // $125,200 // BBL11 SC Ave: 43.1



I’m a huge fan of Jono Wells as a reliable middle order bat, able to rescue an innings when drama ensues up top, but batting at five he isn’t overly SuperCoach relevant, especially at $125k.



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ANDRE RUSSELL (BAT-BWL) // $145,000 // BBL11 SC Ave: N/A



Big Dre Russ is a huge option to begin the tournament, as he’ll play the first four rounds before departing.



We know what the big boy is capable of, proving world class with both bat and ball.



Across his T20 international career he averages 19.50 with the bat, striking at 156.00.



With the ball he averages 34.97, with an economy of 9.18.



While maybe not the most brilliant of numbers, he’s a match-winner on his day and can be relentless when in touch.



His recent cricket has been in the T20 Caribbean Premier League, where he has produced returns with the bat of 12, 29, 23*, 18*, 3, 3, 17, 9 and 5.



With the ball he had figures of 1/29, 1/22, 0/12, 3/16, 0/9, 0/37, 1/33 and 0/20.



As tempting as he is, I think I’ll watch his exact role in the opening round while three other teams have the double, ideally bowling death, then perhaps jump on in Round 2 if he delivers.



SAM HARPER (WKP-BAT) // $100,000 // BBL11 SC Ave: 34.5



No interest in Harper early on while batting deep down the order, even if promoted I think he’s more of a double game week play only.



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AKEAL HOSEIN (BWL) // $105,000 // BBL11 SC Ave: N/A



The left-arm spinner from the West Indies presents a genuine value option early on in BBL12.



Hosein has played 32 T20 internationals for his country, taking 25 wickets at 29.56, with an exceptional economy of 7.03.



That economy is reflected in lower level T20s, at 6.49 across 89 matches.



Recent form in 50 over cricket for Trinidad &amp; Tobago is decent, with returns of 0/58, 2/37, 2/52, 0/44, 1/29, 0/62 and 4/38.



While he’s had limited opportunity with the willow batting at seven or eight, he’s coming off a quality knock of 42 off just 20 balls. Prior to that in few chances, 2* and 23*.



I’ll watch Round 1, but yet another auto-emergency loop option from Round 2 onwards.



TOM ROGERS (BWL) // $163,000 // BBL11 SC Ave: N/A



The official SuperCoach site has Rogers listed as playing just one game last season, so I don’t have his exact average. Feel free to pass on if you have it!



What we know though is that he was a revelation last season after a few years of being in and out of regular BBL starting XIs.



He was the equal fourth top wicket-taker with 13 scalps in 13 games at 19.30, with an economy of 7.87.



If he bowls at the death, which is a decent chance, he can again be among the leading wicket-takers.



That being said, priced on an exceptional season I do think he’s at top dollar meaning I’m happy to avoid at least in the early stages of the tournament.



Recent Marsh Cup outings have produced excellent returns of 3/55, 1/71, 3/44, 3/32 and 5/32.



While opportunities are limited down the order, he’s also more than capable with the bat, evidenced by recent Marsh Cup scores of 23* and 28 batting at eight for Tasmania.



One to monitor leading into the double game week.



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KANE RICHARDSON (BWL) // $189,200 // BBL11 SC Ave: 65.2



Ah Richo, one of my favourite BBL players, and SuperCoach BBL players of all-time.



He has past averages of 65.2, 48.6, 56 and 74.5, despite playing in a poor team for so long.



With a stronger bowling attack this season, and hopefully a few more runs to defend each week, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t at least match last season’s performance.



He’s expensive, and without the early double he’ll be hard to invest in, but his quality over many years hasn’t faltered.



Due to the price and no early double he’ll be in POD range, but he could honestly be a sneaky set-and-forget for the tournament due to having no byes.



Last season he was the tournament’s equal fifth top wicket-taker with 19 wickets in 11 games at 16.42, with an economy of 8.21.



His most recent outing at the time of writing was for Queensland in the Marsh Cup where he had figures of 1/12. No he wasn’t injured, nor was the match rain affected, he bowled eight overs!



Prior to that he had T20 returns for Australia of 1/48, 4/30 (v India) and 1/39.



In this year’s The Hundred tournament in the UK he took 13 wickets in seven games at an average of 13.15, with an economy of 7.89.



I’m very tempted…



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MUJEEB UR RAHMAN (BWL) // $111,800 // BBL11 SC Ave: 38.5



Mujeeb took BBL10 by storm, with a 66.6 SuperCoach average in eight games, before coming back to the pack with a 38.5 point average last season for the Heat.



Despite the lower SC average, he was all class but was a little less effective in the wicket-taking department with 8 scalps in 11 games, at an outstanding economy of 6.36!



He starts at a terrific price of $112k and is tempting as a result for the early stages of the tournament.



In three recent matches for Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup he had quality returns of 1/42, 2/24 and 1/22.



Certainly one worth strong consideration and one I believe to be starting significantly undervalued.



OTHERS



Martin Guptill (Game 5 onwards), Will Sutherland, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Zac Evans, Jack Prestwidge, Ruwana Kelapotha, Marcus Harris, Corey Rocchiccioli

Squad Breakdown: Melbourne Renegades team analysis

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