BBL08 CONTEST PREVIEW GAME 17: THUNDER v SCORCHERS
“This caper is horses for courses and tonight’s Thunder v Scorchers game is all about picking the eyes out of the batsman as the spinner wreak havoc around them.”
The Recap
A nice cash in the first game then just missed in the late game (killing us Whitey!) was a breakeven day yesterday. Feeling very good about tonight though!
Likely XI’s
Game 17 @ Spotless Stadium
Thunder – Watson, Buttler, Ferguson, Root, Sangha, Sams, Green, Nair, Rainbird, Cook, Ahmed (Sandhu, McAndrew)
- Unchanged from their loss in Adelaide on NYE. Sadhu could be the one to come in possibly for Rainbird. Despite the fact they have eleventy one of them, they are unlikely to drop a spinner on this spotless pitch.
Scorchers –Klinger, Bosisto, Cartwright, Turner, Bancroft, Agar, Willey, Coulter-Nile, Tye, Behrendorff, Quadir (Richardson, Whiteman)
- If there was ever a time to play Usman Quadir again, it is now. Spotless is a turner and their five-pronged pace attack will go the distance here. Having said that, this is Perth and to paraphrase Eric Cartman, they do what they waaant. Think they have finally settled on a top six too (praise the lorda) so coaches can go into this game with a big more security at selection.
Selection Committee
First thing to do tonight is don’t even look at the salary cap. Just disregard it completely. This caper is horses for courses and tonight is all about picking the eyes out of the batsman as the spinner wreak havoc around them.
Selection
Jos Buttler ($18,000): The Perth pace attack is going to find Spotless very different from Optus. There will be scoring chances for Buttler early and if he gets going and you don’t have him your drawing dead in dfs. He is a fine fade if the Thunder bat first but I’ve seen enough over the last few games. In form and can pick up 20-30pts in the field which helps with his floor if he fails with the bat. Will be (stupidly) high owned though so as I said, don’t mind the fade against the field for Watto.
Callum Ferguson ($11,200): Amazing what happens when he doesn’t try stupid sh*t. High Bat honours last start so in form. But more importantly he will heva learnt last game that he needs to be the rock because there is no one else. Can play spin very well and I love how under-owned he always is.
Hilton Cartwright ($11,500): Expect Carty to come in early tonight as I think the Thunder will have a spin-heavy power play. Will fancy himself against the spinners and with people likely to have heaps of salary left over, it is quite possible that players like Carty and Ferguson will be left alone abit more than usual.
Ashton Agar ($13,500): Faith in Agar’s BBL pedigree was rewarded last start with a big 120pt game against Hobart. High Bat honours and 2 wickets (2/19 off 4). Agar will love Spotless. He is being picked as a batsman in this team but he is in the side to bowl because I want 16 overs on this deck. Fields in the catch zones at long-off/mid-off a lot too which will see plenty of kookaburra tonight.
Fawad Ahmed ($12,000): Averaging just 22.5pts from four games including two globes. It’s not great reading. But what is Rule #2 of BBL DFS? Ahmed is Spotless. Peeled off a 70pt game in his only match at home so far and just loves bowling there. Will be brought on at times that is advantageous to him taking a wicket too. Hopefully the field looks at his average and gives him a miss. I’m all in.
Daniel Sams ($19,000): Just killing it this season. Gets his four overs and also provides the team with some batting insurance should Fergy and Buttler both fail. I don’t mind a fade on Sams tonight simply because the cap is so soft that everyone will have Sams. If he doesn’t hit with his economy and doesn’t get a bat (both possible) then it’s a great play – a pivot to a Tye against what is a pretty long Thunder tail is solid. This team is built around the Scorchers struggling on this deck so Sams is in for me.
Chris Green ($14,200): A high-frequency fielder who gets four overs and also provides batting insurance? Yes please. Seldom owned as high as he should be and I loved that he got to bowl the death overs last start. Nair is the ultimate POD tonight if he plays but only getting 2 overs last game has scared me off. He should get his 4 tonight though.
Final Thought
As we mentioned at the top the trickiest part of this game will be having the mental power to disregard the cap. This wicket turns and is generally tricky for batsman so the best strategy is squeezing in as many bowlers as you can, ideally bowlers who will get good batting exposure if/when the top order fails.
BBL08 Balance
Games: 16
Spend: $240
Win: $213.44
Profit: -$26.56