Team Reveal: SC BBL09 champion Thommo Aitken

Well, the BBL is nearly back.

With the tournament only a week or so away it is time to have a look at my starting squad at this stage.

This year, unlike the previous couple of years I have only just selected my squad into the Supercoach app.

This, of course, does not mean I have only just started thinking about Supercoach.

Listening to podcasts, catching up on the news and reading social media posts have been going on for a few weeks now in order to gain valuable information about the players and teams that will be playing.

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This year, I have deliberately avoided plugging my side into the Supercoach App.

I have found personally that when I select a squad a long way out from the start, I seem to tinker and change players around when news comes to hand.

This can mean on occasion that your side can look a fair bit different to what you were originally planning.

So this year I’ve gone back to basics and created a team based upon my first thoughts or primary instincts.

Fingers crossed this proves to be successful because I’ve had a little bit of success in the past by not over analysing my decisions.

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Wicketkeeper

Matthew Gilkes $97,400

Gilkes scored the third most runs for the Thunder in BBL11.

He opened in the majority of games apart from a couple of matches at the start and then at the very, very end of the tournament went Usman came into the side.

There is some conjecture about what position he will bat, but I thought on the whole he did a reasonable job last year, so I presume he will open for the Thunder again.

The highlight was a game against the Strikers where he scored 93 runs. He seems like a row low risk pick to start the season off with considering he has the double double.

Reserve

Josh Inglis $87,000

Inglis is an international quality player who unfortunately was ruled out of the most recent T20 World Cup with a freak injury.

He is severely under priced after struggling when available for BBL duties last year.

He only had one great knock later on in the tournament when he scored 79 runs against the Sixers.

It would be preferable if he opened the batting, but it seems he might come in at number 4, considering that is where he has been batting for the Perth Scorchers in the practice matches.

He was impressive in their most recent internal trial when he scored 57 runs in quick time.

If I select both Gilkes and Inglis it does leave a slight conundrum about who to field in Round 2 when both players have a double game round.

This doesn’t phase me too much as you could potentially trade someone in or out if you needed to.

I also at this stage am not opposed to just leaving one on the bench and not gaining their points for the round.

It is a long season and leaving points on the bench early on whilst annoying, is not the end of the world.

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Batsman

Matthew Short $197,500

I was burnt by Short early last season during an early Strikers double where he top scored for the round, so I don’t want to make the same mistake this year, even though he is much more expensive.

If his role is the same or very similar to last year (opening the batting and bowling consistently) I think you’ll need him to start the season with him.

Checking the Adelaide Strikers team list will be important just to make sure he has this similar role.

There are some question marks for me. Does someone like Cameron Boyce take overs off him? What role will new recruit Colin play with the ball?

From a batting perspective, if he was opening with someone like Chris Lynn would that change the aggression and intent that he showed last season?

However, if things are the same, he could be the top scorer and a great captain choice for round one.

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Daniel Sams $179 300

Daniel Sams is well known around BBL circles because of the ultimate role he plays for the Thunder.

He is almost a lock to ball and bat every game he plays in. In fact, there was only one occasion that he did not ball more than two overs and this was actually the game that he made 98 runs with the bat against the Renegades.

There were a couple of sneaky games where he batted at number 4, but he is more likely too bat somewhere around the five or six mark.

He took a wicket in every game apart from three games last year and will be a captain option early on in the season.

The only slight concern is that he has missed some cricket recently with injury and we just need him to be fully fit to start the BBL season.

Alex Hales $130,300

A well known import to the BBL scene. He generally scores at a very quick rate which translates well to supercoach scoring.

He also seems to get on a roll and have a real purple patch in almost every T20 tournament that he plays in.

Last year if I recall correctly, he got on a roll during a Thunder double so owners will be hopeful that this happens again this year.

He can get rolled early and can seem to be slow and sluggish to move his feet early on, however, if he is  there after the powerplay he is probably already at the magical 20 run mark!

His price seems pretty reasonable considering he is someone who opens, can score big, knows the local conditions and has a double-double to start the year.

People would have seen some great knocks from him during the World Cup including a memorable semi-final performance against India.

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Rilee Rossouw $105,000

Rilee almost exclusively bats at number 3, so I presume he will bat in this position for the Thunder.

He is probably the ultimate rocks or diamonds batter. For example in a recent series against India he scored 0, 0 and 100 not out.

 I’m picking him because I’m thinking that in four matches he will produce one monster knock in order to make a good starting selection.

He’s one who I will look to move on after these matches. People may remember him from a cameo visit a couple of seasons back with the Renegades.

I feel like before this tournament starts he is well priced, considering the very high upside he could have. He starts with matches against the Stars, Strikers, Renegades and then the Strikers again and these seem like fairly good match ups from a batting perspective.  

Marcus Stoinis $83,400

Stoinis will probably be the most selected player in supercoach and rightfully so. He had a tournament to forget last season and you can guarantee that won’t be repeated this season.

The talk of a middle order role is not as enticing as an opening role, but this is not a foreign position for Stoinis as he has regularly performed this role for Australia and was even doing it for the stars last season to try and reverse his form slump.

The most recent practise game for the Stars against the Renegades was most encouraging with 62 off 26 balls.

However, the most exciting was that Stoinis bowled three overs in the match demonstrating he might be back to being a genuine all rounder during the BBL.

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Reserves

Ashton Agar $160,900

He is not nearly as cheap as he was this time last year, but at this stage I have selected Ashton Agar on my bench, ready for the Scorchers round two double.

He regularly bowled 4 overs last year and is the primary spinner for Perth. Whilst he didn’t capture a huge bag of wickets in a particular game last season, he regularly chipped in for one or two wickets.

He is more than capable with the bat and could get more chances with the willow this year with the scorchers batting lineup perhaps not as strong as it was a few weeks ago when we though that Evans, Marsh and Salt would be appearing for them.

Aaron Hardie $99,600

Someone who I am more keen on with the disappointing injury to Mitch Marsh.

Injuries in sports can open up opportunities and role changes and this is something I hope will happen with Aaron Hardie this year.

He didn’t bowl that much last tournament, in fact he only bowled in three matches!  

But if you go another year back to BBL10, he bowled in 16 innings and took 10 wickets.

If I recall correctly, he bowled more when Marsh was injured or playing as a more of a pure batter.

We know that in Supercoach all rounders generally are a good selection and I am hoping that Hardie will have a breakout tournament this year.

He has batted at number 3 in the Scorchers internal trials which is a huge positive. The major negative is that he has not rolled in arm over yet. I think I would need to see him bowling to be ultra confident with selecting him in my side.

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Bowlers

Rashid Khan $193,600

 An absolute gun and a legend of BBL supercoach. He played eleven matches for 20 wickets last year with best figures of six for 17.

He is only playing the first six or seven games which is disappointing, but you need him for the Strikers opening round double. He can produce a cameo with the bat, but we did not see that for him last year.

Peter Siddle $151,300

Siddle started slowly last year but worked his way into the tournament with a blistering second half and finished clearly as the leading wicket taker.

He has only been confirmed by the strikers fairly recently, but one would assume that his role will be the same as it has been the last few years.

He can pick up bulk wickets at the death and this makes him an attractive option to start with.

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Fazal Farooqi $105,000

He is a left arm death bowler who is a very reasonable price. He will also be a little bit of an unknown quantity for most of the BBL players which is an advantage.

The Thunder have the double-double to open the season so he looks like a shrewd selection.

However, I am a little bit wary on Farooqi and will be very interested in what side the Thunder select for their first game.

They have 4 internationals signed on and only 3 can play in each game. One of their international players will have to miss out. There are some injury and other availability concerns for the Thunder which without a doubt ,will have a bearing on not only who they select in their side, but also what internationals they select early on in the season.

He is in my side for now and I will hope he plays games early and takes wickets.

Adam Zampa $103,600

The captain for the Melbourne Stars this season, who will be eager to produce a bounce back season for the Stars this year.

He only took 10 wickets in 10 games last year which was well down on the lofty standards he had set in previous years.

In BBL10 he took 19 wickets in 12 games and in BBL09 he captured 20 wickets in 12 matches.

He is far too good and an international quality player who should get back to his wicket taking best this year.

Harry Conway $70,600

Conway was not on my radar to start with but the more he was discussed by my mates on the SC Playbook crew, the more I became interested in him as a starting pick.

After initially not starting in the Strikers side last year, once he was selected he became a permanent fixture in their team.

He regularly bowled his full alloment of overs and managed to pick up 9 wickets in 10 games, getting better with wicket taking as the tournament progressed.

He will open the bowling, but any type of regular death bowling along side Peter Siddle exictes me.

There is no denying he is a schedule pick only, but there are times in a supercoach season where the scheulde pick is a good play.

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Reserves

Andrew Tye 156,700

A death bowler, ready for Round 2 when Perth have their double game round. Tye is a regular wicket taker who has taken an impressive 118 wickets in 84 BBL matches.

He is also not the worst with the bat, as evidenced by a high score of 44 last year. With the injury unknown around Jhye Richardson as well as the strength of their pace bowling attack, at this stage I think Tye is the most likely to be selected for all matches for the Scorchers.

Cooper Connelly 42,000

The most popular bargain basement player. BWL BAT flexibility. Will be a valued person do to your loops with and take some advantages of some bench scores and/or vice captain scores.

The Perth Scorchers schedule is very nice to take advantage of this (excluding round 2 early on).