The Late Cut’s BBL07 Mid-Season Review
BBL07 is over half way through and it has lived up to the high expectations, delivering big hitting, last ball thrillers and plenty of controversy. The Adelaide Strikers and Perth Scorchers have both won five matches, with the Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars at the bottom of the table both winless. Let’s take a look at each of the teams and see how they shape up for the rest of the tournament.
Adelaide Strikers
The Strikers have been one of the real surprises of the tournament sitting in top of the table after most expected them to really struggle this season. The strikers lost a wealth of experience in the offseason, but have replaced them all with promising young players including Alex Carey and Rashid Khan who are both dominating. The strikers will lose their skipper, Travis Head, to the national ODI team, which may see them struggle as there is no obvious choice to replace his runs and leadership. They look primed for finals, but I cannot see them winning the tournament.
Perth Scorchers
The perennial powerhouse continue to do their thing even without a few of their regulars. The Scorchers have lost a few players to injuries/national representation, but just continue to win. The Scorchers will hold onto their two ‘Smashton brothers’ (Agar and Turner) and add former England international Tim Bresnan for the back half of the tournament. If they can finish top two and get a home final, expect them to be very hard to beat as the Grand Final is set to be played in Perth.
Melbourne Renegades
The ‘Gades are flying this big bash, securing the spot as the number one Melbourne team. The ‘Gades brought in a lot of experience into the tournament with the likes of Brad Hodge, Tim Ludeman and Kane Richardson all joining in the offseason. They will lose their captain Aaron Finch and Cam White to the national team, but unlike previous years, they have good depth and can cover their losses. Expect them make finals and to give it a serious shake this year.
Brisbane Heat
The Heat are the most entertaining team to watch with explosive batting from the top of the order. Lynn and McCullum were lethal when they played together, but unfortunately, Lynn will not play for the rest of the tournament. The biggest surprise this season has been the quality of their bowling with leggies Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan and Mitch Swepson all bowling exceptionally well. This improvement in their bowling gives them a chance to go all the way.
Hobart Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have exceeded expectations this season largely thanks to revelation D’Arcy Short who is comfortably the leading tournament run scorer. Short was the player to watch in our season preview and he has delivered in spades, hope you all have been following him! The Hurricanes are pushing for a finals berth, but look as though they might just fall short.
Sydney Thunder
The Thunder started slowly this tournament but with the huge inclusion of Usman Khawaja can make a run for the finals. Khawaja made 85 in his last match and looked in amazing touch. At his best, he is the second best short form batsmen in Australia behind Smith and it is puzzling why he isn’t in the ODI team.
Sydney Sixers
The Sixers have been incredibly disappointing so far in BBL07. They are winless and do not look like winning soon. They appear to have retained players who are past their prime (Bollinger and Botha) as well as relying on players who are horribly out of from (Maddinson and Abbott). The Sixers add West Indian captain Carlos Braithwaite for the last few games who will hopefully add a spark, but it looks as though the Sixers should focus on next year.
Melbourne Stars
The team who started equal favourite for the title sit on the bottom of the table winless after five matches. The Stars have been putrid batting and bowling this season and poorly lead by first year captain John Hastings. The Stars have been blessed by national team selectors with Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner missing the ODI squad, but will lose their only in form player, Marcus Stoinis. Look for a clean out from the Stars at the end of the season as many overpaid underachievers are let go.
BBL SCORING SYSTEM
**All stats are provided by Fox Sports
Batting
Per Run Scored = 1 point
Boundary Bonus: 4 = 1 point
Boundary Bonus: 6 = 2 points
Strike Rate Bonus = 1 point
For every run a player scores above the amount of balls faced: (e.g. if a player scores 40 off 26 balls, they score an additional 14 points)
Bowling
Dot Ball = 1 point
Maiden Over Bonus = 15 points
Wicket = 25 points
3 or More Wicket Bonus = 10 points
Extras Penalty (wide or no-ball) = -1 point
Economy Rate Bonus (4 or less runs per over) = 25 points
Economy Rate Bonus (4.01 – 5 runs per over) = 20 points
Economy Rate Bonus (5.01 – 6 runs per over) = 15 points
Economy Rate Bonus (6.01 – 7 runs per over) = 10 points
Economy Rate Bonus (7.01 – 8 runs per over) = 5 points
Fielding
Catch = 10 points
Stumping = 15 points
Run Out = 20 points