The BBL did their best AFL impression this week with the announcement of some weird new rules, while the Adelaide Strikers’ plans were thrown into chaos and five BBL-contracted players were in the Pakistani Super League play-offs.

Kane Richardson ($160k BWL) also made a significant announcement which may impact his start to the season with the Renegades, while there’s important national team tour news from Afghanistan, England and New Zealand.

There’s a lot to digest, so here we’ve tried to break it all down in a SuperCoach BBL relevant manner and explain what matters. Hopefully it helps!

NEW RULES

The BBL announced three new rules earlier this week which may impact SuperCoach BBL in a raft of ways.

Firstly there’s the Power Surge, which essentially means the initial six-over power play is now only four overs, with the batting side to determine when to use the remaining two overs after the 10^th over.

This will impact opening batsmen’s ability to score and probably death overs bowlers’ ability to take wickets, with many expecting sides to typically take the Power Surge in the 19^th and 20^th overs. In saying that, a few coaches have mentioned they’ll likely take it when their batting innings has momentum or if there’s two set batsmen at the crease.

Secondly there’s the X-Factor, which is essentially a substitute player who can be deployed at the 10-over mark of the first innings. It remains to be seen if this will be used much, but it will impact loophole options, as 12^th-13^th men may end up playing. Be careful.

Thirdly there’s the Bash Boost which relates to points on the BBL ladder and won’t really impact SuperCoach BBL.

CALL-UPS

The most significant news was the withdrawal of Kane Richardson ($160k BWL) from the Australian ODI and T20I squad for the India matches, with the Renegades quick preferring to stay with his wife and newborn in Adelaide amid the lockdown in SA.

Whether that leads to Richardson needing to miss BBL games remains unclear, but the Tasmanian government have imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine period for anyone arriving from SA, so the Renegades will be sweating. Their first game is on December 12 in Hobart.

Richardson’s withdrawal meant Andrew Tye ($134K BWL) got a call-up but don’t expect him to miss any Perth Scorchers games as the white ball series wraps up well before their BBL|10 opener.

All the Strikers players and any SA-based BBL players were flown up to a training camp in Coffs Harbour, so they’ll avoid any quarantine issues for now. Now we just need the Strikers to start announcing some signings/re-signings.

New Zealand named their squad for the T20I series against the West Indies, with Scorchers recruit Colin Munro ($160k BAT) left out, so he’ll be available for the entire BBL.

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed they’ll play Ireland in three ODIs in mid-January, which may impact Rashid Khan ($192k BWL), Mohammad Nabi ($191k BAT/BWL), Mujeeb Ur Rahman ($115k BWL) and Zahir Khan ($129 BWL)

England’s white ball tour of Pakistan mooted for January was officially postponed until October while there’s been talk their November-December series against South Africa may not go ahead due to a Cricket South Africa dispute, but the English team have made the trip and arrived on Monday.

Long story short, as a result, expect all those English players among the party to still only be available for BBL after Christmas.

UPDATES

Expect Alex Carey to be announced as an Adelaide Strikers player any day. He spoke to the media this week and said: “I’ll definitely be playing the BBL. Keep your eye out for some news, hopefully should be coming down the line soon.”

Australia quick Pat Cummins hasn’t put a line through playing in BBL despite his raft of commitments. Cummins said: “I never say never to the BBL. I haven’t made up my mind 100% either way yet.”

Scorchers coach Adam Voges gave an update on his side’s players coming back from injury; in Mitch Marsh ($164K BAT/BWL) who injured his ankle at the start of the IPL.

Voges said: “It’s been a bit of a slow process. Mitch will be doing everything in his power to get up for that (Australia) A series. If not, we’ll hopefully get him for the Scorchers at some point during Big Bash.” He also hinted Marsh wouldn’t be returning to bowling immediately.

Bowlers Jhye Richardson ($166k BWL) and Jason Behrendorff ($120k BWL) are both coming back from long-term shoulder and back injuries respectively and have been playing WA Premier Cricket in recent weeks.

Voges said: “I would say both of them are somewhere between 80-90% full fitness. They’re building really nicely. There’s still a month to go before our first Big Bash game. They’re both looking likely to be right for that.”

SIGNINGS

There’s another long list from this week, led by Sandeep Lamichhane ($138k BWL), Carlos Brathwaite ($160k BAT/BWL), Zahir Khan ($129k BWL), Keemo Paul ($125k BWL/BAT), Danny Briggs ($138k BWL) and Tim Paine ($90k WKP/BAT). We’ve got the full lowdown on their likely roles and recent form in our weekly Friday yarn here.

FORM GUIDE

The only relevant cricket played this week came in the Pakistani Super League (PSL) play-offs, which was won by Sydney Thunder’s Alex Hales‘s ($162k BAT) Karachi Kings. Hales managed 53 BBL SC points from two games.

Stars wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Dunk ($62k WKP/BAT) top scored among the five BBL-contracted players in the PSL this week, with 94 BBL SC points overall and an average of 31.33, although most came from his six catches as gloveman.

Gades signing Rilee Rossouw ($160k BAT) battled for runs, totaling 5 and 28 BBL SC points from his two games.

Another new Gades recruit Imran Tahir ($175k BWL) managed 64 BBL SC points from two games, with 13 dot balls from his eight overs. He scored 50 BBL SC points in one game, taking 1-22 from four overs.

New Sixers import Carlos Brathwaite ($160k BAT/BWL) battled in his one game, scoring 10 from 8 balls and bowling two overs for 0-20 with one dot, totaling 11 BBL SC points.

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