Welcome to Wicky’s 3rd BBL Supercoach Watch, our round-by-round preview article of the 2023/24 season of BBL Supercoach!
In this article, we’ll run through each game in Round 3 of BBL Supercoach, breaking down picks, talking strategy, and diving into venue, opposition, matchup, and other stats to help build your team for the round.
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Doubles: Stars, Renegades
Byes: Heat, Strikers
Stars v Thunder
Sat 23/12, 3.30pm
Lavington Sports Ground
This game begins a run of 5 games in 3 rounds for the Stars. As we mentioned in our Round 1 preview, this double and the one in Round 5 are the Stars doubles to attack. Unlike in Round 2, Stars don’t have a bye between these two doubles.
First up, the Stars you benched in Round 2 should come straight into your XI here. Glenn Maxwell ($130k) and Marcus Stoinis ($106k) are the most popular Stars picks at the moment.
Based on ownership alone, they are must-haves. It could really hurt if you go without.
In a major boost, Maxwell has recovered from injury and is named in the squad for the Thunder game. He burned briefly in the season opener against the Heat – 1/44 and 23 (14) – and the innings before that was a T20I hundred versus India.
Maxwell’s a strong contender for captaincy in Round 3. He’s certainly the most attractive captaincy pick at the Stars.
Given they’re playing in the first game of the round, a simple way to play this is to VC Maxwell, see how it unfolds, and work forwards from there.
There are a couple of notable threats to Maxwell in this double. Since 2020, Sean Abbott (Sixers) and Tanveer Sangha (Thunder) have both dismissed him twice each in the BBL.
This alone shouldn’t dissuade you from a Maxwell captaincy, though – just something to keep in mind.
If you’re type to pick on form, the cupboard’s pretty bare at the Stars. Their top scorer is on 57 runs, their top wicket taker on 2 poles.
Scanning through our Men’s T20 Portal, there’s not much by way of recent venue or team records that mark any of Thomas Rogers ($108k), Sam Harper ($112k), Nick Larkin ($72k), or Joe Burns ($64k) as standout picks.
The pick we do like is Hilton Cartwright ($108k), the above-mentioned 57-run top scorer.
He’s looked really bright in a couple of cameos this season, crossed 20 both times at healthy strike rates, is a POD (4% at time of writing) across all doublers in action in Round 3, and is great value at that price.
You put all of that next to his recent record against Stars’ opponents in the double, the Sydney clubs, and you get the full picture of why we like him.
Much like Maxwell, it’s worth flagging some major threats. In this same period, similar to Maxwell, Cartwright has been dismissed twice each by the Thunder’s Tanveer Sangha and the Sixers’ Hayden Kerr.
If you’re confident he can navigate those landmines, and depending on how heavily covered you already are for the Round 3 doubles, we think he’s a good 2nd or 3rd trade for this one.
Some general notes on Stars picks and strategy. Any Stars you go for now are a hold until the end of Round 5, which is another double.
They have a bye in Round 6, so all your Stars are a bench or a sell right after.
If you want to go hard on Stars, do it now rather than before Round 5. You’ll get two doubles out of them.
Either way, dead-end your Stars into Round 5.
Check out our Draftstars BBL Stats Bible with projections for every BBL game!
Any POD picks? If he’s playing game 1 – and you’ll know in time – we reckon Mark Steketee ($118k; 1% at time of writing) is worth at least a look.
The Sydney clubs aren’t his favourite BBL opponents but he’s done well against them in the past.
Crucially, he’s played at roughly the same level against both. If recent history is any guide, you won’t be praying for a haul in either game.
Something else to note is his excellent record against many Sixers batters in this same time.
He’s been especially good against Jordan Silk and Daniel Hughes.
Pakistan duo Haris Rauf ($120k) and Usama Mir ($121k) are the other bowlers worth looking at – and their prices are great. They could both be good picks if you hold but a word on this double specifically.
Last season, the Lavington Sports Ground hosted Thunder v Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve.
It was a rough day out for the wrist spinners: Paddy Dooley, Shadab Khan, D’Arcy Short, and Usman Qadir combined for 1-112 off 10 overs.
By contrast, the only finger spinner, Chris Green, returned 1-34 from his four overs.
As we’ve mentioned before, spin has generally found it harder to take wickets at the SCG in recent seasons. Treat these numbers with the appropriate caution, especially the ones from Lavington.
But the difficulties for spin at these grounds could make seamer Rauf a potentially safer pick than leggie Usama Mir for Round 3.
England’s Liam Dawson ($108k) will depart and Pakistan’s Imad Wasim ($125k) will arrive mid-way through the round, making both a no-go for Round 3.
Thunder
With their double coming up next round, remember that any Thunder picks here help you pre-game for Round 4. Any you already have are a hold.
We’ve laid out the merits of Ollie Davies as a pick, both in our Round 1 and our Round 2 preview articles, and our case for starting him this round is built on the 65 (32) he made at Lavington in the above-mentioned New Year’s Eve game.
Alex Hales also shone in that game, blasting 77 (45).
He averages 11 against the Stars since 2020, although the warning about wrist spinners at Lavington mentioned earlier applies to Tanveer Sangha as well.
Cameron Bancroft is a good pick for the double, although there’s little in recent history to suggest he’s a good or bad pick for this opponent and these conditions.
It’s not essential to start your Thunder this round. If you have any of these, however, it’s at least worth thinking about.
If you really want to branch out, though, there’s a couple of PODs who are worth a start this round. Alex Ross ($80k) averages 51 against the Stars since 2020 and captain Chris Green ($169k) has 9 wickets at 15 against them in the same time.
Both are currently under 5% and, based on recent history, are decent picks for the double as well.
Our Men’s T20 Portal breaks down batting and bowling stats by opposition, venue, and phase of game, besides batting records by bowler type and individual head-to-head matchups from T20 leagues around the world!
Hurricanes v Renegades
Sat 23/12, 7.15pm
Blundstone Arena
Although the Renegades also double in Round 3, you won’t, unlike the Stars, know their playing XI by the first lockout.
Going by the schedule, it makes sense to be safer with your Gades picks.
We reckon ownership and form makes Will Sutherland and Jake Fraser-McGurk must-haves. Besides them, consider Tom Rogers.
He’s much cheaper now and has done decently against both Hurricanes and Scorchers in the past three years.
If you’re debating him or Kane Richardson, there’s one thing that we reckon makes Rogers worth the extra cash.
The former Hurricane has plenty of experience bowling at Blundstone (Bellerive Oval on Sundays) and has a genuinely excellent record at that ground.
Contrast with Richardson’s 5 wickets at 18 at Blundstone in the same time.
This is a bit of a recurring theme with Gades picks for this double. If recent history is any guide, no one’s going to haul in both games. It’s one or the other.
In the last three seasons, Aaron Finch averages 65 against Perth, strikes at 200 at Optus, and has excellent head-to-head records against both Andrew Tye and Jason Behrendorff.
Against Hobart and at Blundstone, those numbers are 20 and 113 respectively.
Similar story with Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the same time. He has 10 wickets at 16 against the Hurricanes but only 1 at 52 versus Scorchers (albeit from only 48 balls).
If you’re scouting based on opponent/conditions, there’s no slam dunk pick here. You may have to pick based on which game you want the haul from.
There are two other notable picks: Quinton de Kock and Adam Zampa. Both are fair enough for the double, although Zampa suffers from a similar problem to Finch and Mujeeb (since 2020, average 77 against Perth and 17 against Hobart).
At 21% and 40% ownership respectively, maybe their popularity will convince you to buy/stick with them.
Hurricanes
You might not have liked what you saw from the home side in the first couple of rounds. It’s worth emphasising, though, that things are going to change for the Hurricanes from here.
They’re coming off the hardest game in this league – Perth away – and now begin a run of three straight home games in three rounds.
At the very least, this warrants a clean slate.
If you’re keen on trades with singles, this is the time to get on Hobart if there ever was one.
The length of this run – the middle third of the season – is also an advantage. You can board the Cane Train at any point during, and then they double in Round 7.
Unfortunately, it looks like that’s what you’ll have to do with Riley Meredith. We’ve covered why he’s the play we like for this little run at home but given his injury problems, it looks like a trade in will have to at least be put on hold.
It’s not been a great start to the season and we’re not saying you should do it, but if there was ever a time to start Ben McDermott, this is it.
In the last three seasons, he averages 50 and strikes at 146 at Blundstone.
If you’re having a wicketkeeper crisis that you don’t want to spend a trade on, consider pulling this lever.
Whoever you’re looking at from the Canes, their home record should now be at the front of your mind when sizing up picks.
We’ve broken down exactly what each pick brings to the table at home before, and now you can add the dirt-cheap Billy Stanlake to your watchlist too.
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Sixers v Stars
Tue 26/12, 6.05pm
SCG
There’s two other Stars picks worth noting specifically because we think this the game you want them for.
In his only Stars game so far, he’s had a better batting role than a bowling role and assuming that continues into Round 3, maybe Beau Webster ($160k) is worth a shout.
At the SCG, Webster averages 40 and strikes at 145 since 2020. It’s a good record, but his price hasn’t fallen much. At $160k, that’s a lot to fork out and we’re not sure it’s the best value.
We like Joel Paris ($94k) a bit better. At a five-figure price, his 5 wickets at 20 against the Sixers and 3 wickets at 15 at the SCG in the same time look like decent value.
He’s still a risky pick though; the latter game is the one you should expect any sort of haul from.
Sixers
Sean Abbott was included in the squad for the last Sixers game but didn’t make the XI. Generally speaking, we reckon your Sixers are worth holding. This is a good game at home against a struggling opponent.
But in Abbott’s case, unless you get early news re his availability, the cash you get from selling could be worth much more in a round where two clubs double.
Tom Curran’s lengthy ban means that’s a pick you have to shift as soon as possible. That’s a good slot to bring in any doublers this round.
But we reckon it’s 100% worth holding on to your Sixers sticks for now as they almost all have done well against the Stars recently, from Josh Philippe to Daniel Hughes to Moises Henriques. Reassess the other side of Round 3.
Our BBL Supercoach Player Comparison dashboards help you set your choice of filters to find the best picks in BBL Supercoach – and now they’re available on a single page!
Scorchers v Renegades
Tue 26/12, 6.15pm
Optus Stadium
An astonishing Chris Jordan half-century briefly made a game of it, but the Scorchers still crushed the Hurricanes at Optus in the last game.
They’re facing a similar opponent in Round 3, actually – a brittle top order with some hitting lower down.
Much like the Sixers, this is a good game at home against a much worse opponent. As in Round 2, we reckon most of your Scorchers are a hold – especially the quicks and the top order sticks.
The only possible exception is Andrew Tye. The Gades are by a distance his worst BBL opponent in recent seasons – he averages 39 against them in the last three years.
That poor record is partly down to his nemesis Finch in the opposition ranks.
Either way, that makes him a candidate to sell early should you need the cash or the slot, before byes in consecutive rounds for the Scorchers.
A word on strategy. Unless you need the funds right now, keep your (probably pricey) Scorchers until the end of this round at the very least.
They’re a sell in Round 4 anyway with back to back byes. If you have multiple Scorchers, the next round is also an opportunity to boost and offload them all.
There are more than enough picks to sort through from the doubling Renegades and Stars. As far as possible, minimise the disruption to other areas of your team.
Sixers and especially Scorchers have good home games and are prime candidates to hold now and worry about on the other side.
Renegades
Unlike many Renegades, Sutherland doesn’t have a wild variation in historical performance against the Hurricanes (average 25 since 2020) and the Scorchers (average 30).
He strikes at an incendiary 164 against Perth in this time. Last season, he compiled 30 (18) at Optus.
In fact, it’s not inconceivable that Sutherland launches a Jordan-style counter attack from #7 in the order.
His kryptonite is left arm pace but Jason Behrendorff should mostly be bowled out by the time Sutherland’s in.
If you’re not captaining Maxwell, give some thought to throwing the VC on Sutherland in game 2 of Round 3.
Lastly, it could be worth holding your Gades past this double. Round 4 is a single at home to the Strikers. Should you want to make trades elsewhere, your Renegades don’t have the worst game.
Our Women’s T20 Portal breaks down batting and bowling stats by opposition, venue, and phase of game, besides batting records by bowler type and individual head-t0-head matchups from the WBBL, Super Smash, WPL, and now the Charlotte Edwards Cup!
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