Having previewed the Big Bash League outright market and the market for the batsmen it is now time to have a look at the tournament bowler market where there looks like plenty of value to be had given that it is 16/1 the field on the best prices.
Dwayne Bravo heads the betting at 16/1 and he is a bit of a T20 specialist so I guess that is fair enough but if something holds him back it could be that the Renegades aren’t certainties to go deep in the tournament and the wicket at the Etihad can be on the slow side.
As with the batsman market we’re looking for someone to play every match in this tournament here especially with the difference in wicket separation in these markets much smaller than runs in the batsman ones. Any missed matches could be extra significant here. Another ideal effect would be finding a bowler who bowls in the powerplay but particularly at the death.
Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Behrendorff, John Hastings, Ben Laughlin and Cameron Boyce are all towards the head of the betting. All five aside from Behrendorff are likely to feature for Australia at some point while the Scorchers seamer looks a little on the short side.
Jackson Bird, James Faulkner and Kane Richardson are all in the next band of prices but I have reservations over them too. Bird is injury prone and might need to be managed through the tournament while the latter two will play for Australia, or have the potential to at least. I wouldn’t put anyone off taking Andre Russell or Sean Abbott.
My main bet though comes on a man who fits all the criteria in Andrew Tye. Tye will bowl in the powerplay and with Yasir Arafat not here this year he should bowl at the death too. Tye bowls a heavy ball but he’s got wonderful change ups too which is as important as the time in the innings he will bowl so I’m expecting him to pick up some cheap wickets.
Tye was tied for sixth in the wickets in the Matador BBQs One Day Cup which shows he’s in good form and still foxing batsmen and he was fourth in the wicket list in this tournament last year so he has great potential and at 25/1 looks a great bet.
As with the batsman market I can’t let a market of this size go without firing a couple of darts at big prices down the betting and I’ve picked out two I like with that in mind in this event too.
Mark Steketee matched Tye’s wicket tally in the One Day Cup and there are signs that he’s coming into a bit of form. He will bowl on the best wicket in the country at the Gabba but at least he bowls at the right stage of the innings. With the likes of Watson, Johnson, Christian and Flintoff all moved on or not around anymore Steketee should be seeing the ball at the right times.
Steketee has good pace which can be crucial especially if the Heat get into the top order and he bowls at the tail and at 66/1 he is worth supporting in the hope he bags a couple of three wicket hauls and chips in around that.
Two seasons ago Michael Neser bagged 10 scalps which was a decent total in a struggling side and having missed last season through injury the seamer is now back for more. At his best he was in Australia’s A side so he clearly has a lot of potential and with Shaun Tait away from the Adelaide Oval now the Strikers will need someone to stand up and be counted. Neser has the pedigree to do that and at 150/1 he’s too big to ignore completely.
Back A.Tye Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back M.Steketee Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betway (1/4 1-4)
Back M.Neser Top Tournament Bowler (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Betway (1/4 1-4)
Blog cricket YTD: +21.6pts
