As back-to-back SC BBL champion Andrew Langley told Honeyball 12 months ago, playing SuperCoach BBL is all about using the fixture. So take note!
This is simply because BBL involves doubles and byes, given the competition doesn’t follow the familiar AFL or NRL style weekend to weekend round of everyone playing once.
As a result, there’s significant advantages to be gained if you know what you’re planning ahead, by maximizing the number of players in your team who are playing twice in a game.
Doubles
The simplest thing you need to know prior to Round 1 is that the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades have Round 1 doubles (playing two games in a round). As a result, you’ll want plenty of players from those clubs.
The Stars also have another double in Round 3, meaning they play 5 games in the first 3 rounds, which makes the likes of Beau Webster ($164k BAT/BWL), Marcus Stoinis ($84k BAT/BWL) and Tom Curran ($152k BAT/BWL) and many more super attractive.
*Caution on Ben Duckett ($152k WKP/BAT), he’ll miss the Round 1 double on England duty!
There’s value at the Gades, headlined by all-rounder Will Sutherland ($132k BAT/BWL), plus Jake Fraser-McGurk ($128k BAT), Jacob Bethell ($117k BAT/BWL) and Adam Zampa ($80k BWL). But Bethell will miss Round 1 too.
The Scorchers and Strikers have doubles in Round 2, making them relevant in your starting squad, especially the latter who have another double in Round 4. That creates a bit of a dilemma around the uber expensive but uber awesome Matthew Short ($304k BAT/BWL) and how you fit him into your squad.
Perth’s early double shoots Jhye Richardson ($130k BWL) right into contention after a disappointing BBL|13, meaning he’s priced generously. The Sixers’ and Heat’s Round 3 doubles brings the under-priced Sean Abbott ($131k BWL), Spencer Johnson ($121k BWL) and Jack Edwards ($133k BAT/BWL) right into consideration too.
There’s only 2 doubles after Round 4, so things will get simpler later on, so you might want to get busy early especially with only 2 trade boosts.
Byes
There’s only three byes throughout the season, with the Renegades (Round 3), the Strikers (Round 6) and the Stars (Round 8).
Given the timing of the latter 2 byes, you don’t need to stress about that with your starting squad, but it is a consideration with the Renegades and how you’ll transition out players if you start them in Round 1.
Face-offs in doubles
This one is slightly complicated but worth flagging. We’re calling it face-offs in doubles, when teams who have the double meet each other during the double.
This is relevant because there’s only so many points available in each game, so you don’t want to overload in games like this. You’re also potentially betting against yourself, for example, if you pick an opening bowler from one side and an opening batsman from the other.
If you’re still following, these face-offs in doubles occur in Round 3 (Sixers v Heat) and Round 4 (Strikers v Renegades).
Loophole Analysis
If you want to loop in emergencies and take vice-captain scores, the old loophole analysis is important. This relates to the order of games in a round, whereby emergencies can be played early in a round, and potential non-playing captains can be used late in a round (see Will Salzmann $39k BAT/BWL!).
We’ve analysed the draw and it seems Salzmann will be a good loop early, but the Thunder have actually play the first game in Round 4 and the final 4 rounds, so you’ll need an alternate plan.
The Strikers and Hurricanes have the best draw for NPP captains (nuffs), so you could look to someone like Jake Doran ($39k WKP/BAT).
The Stars play the first game in the opening 3 rounds, so they’ll be perfect for speculative emergencies whom you can loop in, if they fire, such as Mark Steketee ($79k BWL) or Hamish McKenzie ($69k BWL) or even Marcus Stoinis ($84k BAT/BWL).
The Scorchers and Sixers also have good runs for emergencies early too, which makes someone like Cooper Connolly ($118k BAT/BWL) a bit more attractive, although he’s facing a fitness test for Round 1.
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I like this post. Now, are Em’s counted in the Best 11 when you loop. The Flex player seems too easy, there has to be a catch lol