Devil’s Advocate: Who is the right captain for Round 1?

Guess who’s back, back again. Devil’s Advocate is going around again for BBL13, and the best way to kick off the season is to nail the right captain, but with so few reliable Heat players playing, whose the best captain for Round 1, and will it be a Heat player? 

To kick things off let’s identify the best captaincy option from the Brisbane Heat, I’ve narrowed it down to 2 people I’m willing to captain from the Heat: Paul Walter and Colin Munro, but we could suddenly throw Michael Neser into the mix if he plays the opening game which does feel unlikely after his PM’s XI withdrawal due to soreness.

Now Munro is far and away my favourite option of the 2, just because he’s an all-round better cricketer and there’s certainty in his role. Walter has upside in his role however, as he could function as a bat-6-bowl-3 player for them. He’s a point of difference with ball in hand, 2 metres tall and a left-armer, so could be used a fair bit. But he’s never played down under before and to captain him straight away, is a ballsy move.

Now looking at guys on the double, there’s around 7 that I’d genuinely captain: Glenn Maxwell, Tom Curran, Jhye Richardson, Aaron Hardie, Will Sutherland, AJ Tye and Sean Abbott. 

Maxi is pretty self-explanatory, but the only thing holding me back is the size of his bowling load. Are we getting more than 2 overs a game from him? I hope so, but we don’t know that yet.

Tom Curran was one of my favourite options for the captaincy, and I still think he’s their all-round guy. He’ll bowl at the death, bowl 4 overs and bat 6-7. It’s as good as it can get for a role. The flip side is that he’s got tough fixtures to open the season, which could cap his scoring.

Jhye Richardson has just returned from injury, but is still taking regular wickets, after claiming 5 in his most recent Sheffield Shield performance. The price tag is high, but the double game round and the possibility of him batting 7-8 and leading the attack makes him a fantastic option, his body just has to hold out.

Aaron Hardie screams Mitch Marsh 2.0 when it comes to his SuperCoach stocks this year. Bowling 2-3 overs and batting at 3, Hardie shapes up to become an elite SuperCoach option this year. He is very captain-able round 1, and someone I’ve strongly considered as a captain.

Will Sutherland has been busy since the BBL finished last summer, after averaging 62.7 since Andre Russell left the BBL, he’s become Victoria’s captain in the Sheffield Shield, and has been maintains form for a while now. He finishes his double nice and early, which makes him a decent VC option (although I prefer VC’ing a Heat player).

AJ Tye is a year-in-year-out performer who’s been at the top of the SuperCoach BBL averages for a long time now. I don’t expect that to change this year, and he’s always been a reliable 55-75ppg. A bonafide wicket-taker who plays twice, sign me up. The exact same can be said about Sean Abbott, always cleaning up at the death, and on occasion, chipping in with the bat. It’s very rare for Sabba to go low, and that’s what makes him an excellent captaincy option

Overall, I personally have gone with Jhye Richardson, but I don’t begrudge anyone from captaining any of the guys I’ve mentioned above. I’ll also be vice-captaining Colin Munro, and hope that he starts the BBL in a big way.

Can’t wait for this season, it’s going to be a cracker and I’ll catch you next time where we have a deep dive into strategy ahead of the first game!

Cheers, SuperCoach Guns