The sixth season of the Big Bash League isn’t far from beginning but before it does there is still time to look at some of the many outright markets which have been priced up. Heading into any established tournament one of the best markets to go at is the tournament top batsman and we’ll do that here.
Recent Winners
2015/16 – Chris Lynn (378)
2014/15 – Michael Klinger (326)
2013/14 – Ben Dunk (395)
2012/13 – Shaun Marsh (412)
2011/12 – Travis Birt (309)
Favourites
Chris Lynn is the favourite to lead the run chart again this season. He is the 9/1 favourite and with no international commitments expected he should run well. Playing four matches at The Gabba, the highest scoring ground in the competition, is never a bad thing.
You don’t go into too many T20 tournaments that Kevin Pietersen takes part in where he isn’t one of the favourites to top score. He is a 10/1 shot to lead the run scoring this season and that looks fair based on the innings he had in the CSA T20 Challenge recently.
Cameron White is as experienced as they come in this format of the game and he goes into the tournament in excellent form having top scored in the Matador BBQs One Day Cup even though his state side Victoria didn’t make the final. Melbourne Renegades have a top notch player who is 12/1 to be top batsman.
Luke Wright carries a big reputation with him and he’ll be looking to enhance that this season. Wright is 14/1 to top score but his runs have been reducing season on season in this tournament. He is capable of blistering big knocks but he’ll need a couple in what looks a red hot season if he is to top score.
Michael Klinger is an absolute run machine in all forms of the game and at the top of the order for the Perth Scorchers he gets the role of batting through while the bigger hitters bat around him. He’ll be popular at 14/1.
Brendon McCullum is one of the star attractions in the league this season and he is 16/1 to be the top batsman. He captains the Heat so it will be interesting to see how he goes based on that. He hasn’t played competitively since the CPL in August so rust could be an issue.
Kumar Sangakkara is as classy as they come and if Hobart Hurricanes are to have a big season the legendary Sri Lankan will need to provide plenty of runs. He is 20/1 to be the top batsman and at his best that is an extremely fair price.
Profile
There are two primary things to look for when backing a top batsman in a tournament like the Big Bash. The first thing is to ensure they will be around for the whole competition. This is an extremely busy winter of international cricket and the last thing you need is to back someone who will miss matches during the season. We don’t know all the squads for the upcoming series but we can use a little guesswork.
The other thing to look for is someone who bats high up the order. This is T20 cricket so while the odd cameo might come from someone down the order over the course of eight matches the bulk of the runs will be scored by players in the top three, possibly four. Obviously finding a player to go to the final and get the extra two innings will be advantageous but as Chris Lynn showed last year not essential.
Betting
I’m going with two in this market although there are quite a few others who interested me. I can take them for their franchises though which might be the better option. My first bet is on Cameron White.
I’ve backed his franchise Melbourne Renegades to go all the way this season so it makes sense to back one of their star batsmen too. White top scored in the 50 over competition this season so he’s in decent nick and he is one of those players who can play the knock it around and rebuild innings or he can go ballistic and tear sides apart.
White averages 30.56 in this format so just matching his average gives him 244 runs with a 50 roughly every six innings he is likely to better that especially given his form so he is a leading player here.
Ian Bell is a really good overseas signing for the Perth Scorchers. They were crying out for some glue for the likes of Mitch Marsh, Ashton Agar, Sam Whiteman and Ashton Turner to bat around and he could well be it. Bell is a really classy operator and while he might not smoke balls out of the park he averages 28 in this format which is very good. He wants to get back in the England picture and a big season here could be perfectly timed.
Tips
Back C.White Top Tournament Batsman (e/w) for a 2/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-4)
Back him here:
Back I.Bell Top Tournament Batsman (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Skybet (1/4 1-4)
Back him here:
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