Ahead of the Big Bash League season starting on Thursday there is just about enough time to go through the many side markets that have been priced up in the search for further value over the course of the season.
The first market to look at is the Top Adelaide Batsman one where Mahela Jayawardene is the favourite. I wouldn’t write off the Sri Lankan legend but he had indifferent NatWest T20 Blast and CPL campaigns which would be a concern.
Craig Simmons had a successful campaign a couple of years ago when he was at the Perth Scorchers while Brad Hodge is an evergreen player. He is the captain of the Strikers this year which is never ideal so I’m going to look elsewhere.
That is in the form of Tim Ludeman. The aggressive wicket-keeper batsman had an excellent season 12 months ago where he smashed 253 runs at 31.62 at the top of the order and I would imagine he will have the same licence to deliver here. Genuine contenders are few and far between so at 7/2 I’ll side with Ludeman here.
Moving up north to Queensland and the Top Brisbane Heat Batsman market is another which is interesting. In theory it looks between Chris Lynn and Lendl Simmons as Joe Burns will be away with Australia at some point. Nathan Reardon could get involved but might bat too low.
I like Simmons here. He comes into the season off the back of a Bangladesh Premier League campaign so he is used to 20 over cricket and more importantly he’ll open the batting whereas Lynn will bat in the middle order. That could well be the difference but Lynn did play for Australia this time last year and could be called up again. That convinces me Simmons is the man to be on.
The Top Melbourne Stars Batsman market is loaded with the star studded players they have but Marcus Stoinis could be the forgotten man. Obviously Kevin Pietersen and Luke Wright will be popular given their reputation in the game while Glenn Maxwell is another big hitter although he’ll be away with Australia.
Stoinis is a big hitter too and he has been opening in the warm up matches and if that continues then the 6/1 on him being the Stars’ top scorer looks too big. He would only need to get going 3-4 times in the tournament at the rate he scores at and he’ll set a daunting total so I’m prepared to get stuck into him.
Sydney Thunder have made some big signings this season but while Shane Watson and Andre Russell will catch the eye at times it is Aiden Blizzard who could well steal the show over the long term.
Blizzard was the top Thunder batsman last season and with Watson likely to be away with Australia towards the end of the tournament, Russell hit and miss albeit blisteringly good when he’s hit, Mike Hussey getting no younger and Usman Khawaja injured the opportunity is for either Blizzard or Kallis to top score.
At the bigger price I’m happy to take the man who plays regularly over the one who might well adopt a consultation role come the end of the season.
Moving into the bowler markets and I like John Hastings in the Melbourne Stars Top Bowler section. James Faulkner is the favourite but with him likely to miss the end of the season with Australia the potential for someone else to take top spot is there.
Ben Hilfenhaus has come in from the Hobart Hurricanes but while he can he hard to get away he didn’t take many wickets for the purple men. In each of the last two seasons he failed to reach double figures for wickets. Adam Zampa is another one who has joined and he could go well.
I like Hastings though. He’s your archetype old school Australian cricketer who will run in and bend his back with 100% effort and I like that. He was the Stars’ leading wicket taker last season and I’ve seen nothing since to suggest he can’t be again here.
Away from the player markets there is one more team market to look at and it is the ‘To Finish Bottom’ market where the Thunder are the favourites. If anything it could be the wrong Sydney side who are the favourites there but I have the market between Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers.
Adelaide made the semi-finals last season so it sounds daft that they could be the worst side this season but Jason Gillespie’s record in T20 as coach of Yorkshire isn’t great and I wonder how he’ll go in this job but with Shaun Tait, Adam Zampa and Kieron Pollard not around the Strikers have lost a lot of wickets which need replacing.
Even then in fairness the Heat’s attack looks threadbare and I’m far from convinced they have enough depth in their batting line up to get the job done so this could be a long season for the Heat and one which results in them finishing bottom just like 12 months ago.
Back T.Ludeman Top Adelaide Strikers Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Stan James
Back L.Simmons Top Brisbane Heat Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 3.50 with Betway
Back M.Stoinis Top Melbourne Stars Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 7.00 with Coral
Back A.Blizzard Top Sydney Thunder Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 6.00 with Betway
Back J.Hastings Top Melbourne Stars Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Stan James
Back Brisbane Heat to finish bottom for a 2/10 stake at 5.50 with Paddy Power
Blog cricket YTD: +21.6pts
