English Cricket Reporters reveal how good/bad the BBL’s new Poms actually are
A handful of English imports may have pulled out of BBL|10 but there’s still a dozen Poms who’ll play, including a bunch that Australian audiences would know very little about.
One of the biggest selection headache for SuperCoaches is putting your confidence in an unknown import who’s never played BBL before. We’ve seen some hits and some big misses.
Plenty of eagle-eyed SuperCoaches have poured over the stats from the 2020 t20 Blast where most featured, but there’s nothing like the opinion of someone who’s seen it all first hand.
With that in mind Honeyball sought opinion from the England Cricket Board’s reporters network – a team of journos who cover every domestic game – to offer some insights on the English first-timers or those little-known to Australians.
The chat was for Honeyball’s 2020-21 SuperCoach BBL magazine, which is out now for only $5.95 via this link, and here’s a snippet of it.
Dawid Malan $175k BAT – Hobart Hurricanes
Malan provides an educated approach at the top of the order which is perhaps a symptom of a player who has spent too long looking for ways into an England line-up. A 48-ball ton against New Zealand late last year – when his last 50 runs came off just 17 balls – has bought him a fair crack at international level and signposted the start of a late-career bloom. The 33-year-old has since risen to be the top-ranked T20 international batsman but, in keeping with his career, even then he’s still not assured his England place. His consistency for England is remarkable – in 16 innings he’s returned a single-digit score just once – which owes to a deliberately structured style where he will give himself time to get in, safe in the knowledge he has a full bag of tricks to hit the accelerator hard when he sense the time is right.
Lewis Gregory $175k BAT/BWL – Brisbane Heat
Somerset’s Twenty20 captain is a genuine all-rounder with the power to clear the ropes and reliable medium pace that has been a cornerstone of his county’s renowned attack. Gregory is one of those under-the-radar players whose consistent performances can be overlooked in favour of more flashy players. But for real-life coaches – and fantasy coaches alike – he is a dream player, providing balance to the squad and reliability with bat and ball. But for injuries at the wrong time he would likely be a more renowned name across the world but, at the age of 28, there’s still plenty of time yet in his career.
Sam Billings $160k WKP/BAT – Sydney Thunder
Another ex-Sixer Billings makes the move across Sydney to the Thunder to provide his expertise as a middle-order batsman. The 29-year-old has had a curious career having never quite nailed his England place – he’s made 21 ODI appearances since his debut in 2015 – but is nonetheless a regular in T20 tournaments across the world due to his ability to float in the middle order with a full 360-degree range of shots. Billings made his first white-ball century for England against Australia during the winter to suggest he’s ready to make the next step in his career ahead of the World T20 next year
To read the full article, including insights on Will Jacks ($148k BAT/BWL), Dan Lawrence ($125k BAT), Jason Roy ($160k BAT), Danny Briggs ($138k BWL) and Joe Clarke ($125k BAT), get your copy of the Honeyball digital magazine now for only $5.95 via this link today.
