Big Bash League 11: Betting Preview

The Big Bash League is back with the eleventh edition of the tournament, and it promises to bring us more entertainment than ever before. @imongamagcwabe gives us a tournament preview ahead of the first match between defending champions Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars.

Squads, Team Stats & Key players below.

This year’s edition of the Big Bash will play alongside the Ashes Test series which Australia will host as well. This means some teams in the Big Bash will miss key players as they will release them for national duty. Let’s have a look at the teams, how they have performed over the last three seasons and their squads.

Sydney Sixers

The Sixers are the defending champions yet again this season after winning the last two editions of the tournament, they have an opportunity to make history by being the first team in Big Bash history to win the tournament in three successive seasons

Titles Won: 3

Last three seasons: 1^st, 1^st, 3^rd

Key Players: Moises Henriques, Chris Jordan & James Vince. Wooden Spoons:  1

Squad: Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Dan Christian, Tom Curran, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Ben Manenti, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, James Vince, Steve O’Keefe, Chris Jordan (five-match contract, starting December 5)

Outright Odds: 4.35

Perth Scorchers

The Scorchers will be boosted by the availability of T20 World Cup star, Mitchell Marsh, who has not been included in the Australian Ashes Test team. The form Marsh is in will be key for Scorchers as they push to be the most successful team in the history of the Big Bash League.

Titles Won: 3

Last three seasons: 2^nd, 6^th, 8^th

Key Players: Mitch Marsh, Josh Inglis, Colin Munro

Wooden Spoons: 1

Squad Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Colin Munro, Laurie Evans

Outright Odds: 5.00

Brisbane Heat

Brisbane Heat have retained the services of the top-scorer in Big Bash history in Chris Lynn for the 11^th  edition of the tournament. Despite losing key players like Marnus Labuschane and Michael Nesser who have joined the Australian test team for the Ashes series, they will still pose a threat in the competition more especially with the in form skipper Jimmy Peirson.

Titles Won: 1

Last three seasons: 6^th, 4^th, 2^nd

Key Players: Chris Lynn, Ben Duckett & Jimmy Peirson

Wooden Spoons: 1

Squad: Xavier Bartlett, Tom Cooper, Sam Heazlett, Chris Lynn, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Jimmy Peirson (c), Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Willans, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Ben Duckett, Tom Abell, Jack Wildermuth, James Bazley, Matt Kuhnemann, Max Bryant, Connor Sully

Outright Odds: 8.00

Sydney Thunder

Sydney Thunder is the only team to have more than two Wooden Spoons, meaning they have finished last (8^th) in the log more than any other team in the past 10 seasons. Having included high calibre players like Alex Hales in their side, they will be confident that they can add one more trophy to their cabinet.

Titles Won: 1

Last three seasons: 7^th, 2^nd, 4^th

Key Players: Alex Hales, Saqib Mahmood & Ben Cutting

Wooden Spoons: 4

Squad: Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain, Alex Hales, Sam Billings, Baxter Holt, Saqib Mahmood, Jason Sangha

Outright Odds: 6.50

Melbourne Renegades

The Renegades have had two disappointing seasons in which they finished in 8th  position in the log, in 2018/19 and 2019/20. The availability of Aaron Finch will instil some sort of confidence in the side as they strive to add to their one BBL trophy so far. Even though the side is led by Nic Maddison, they will undoubtedly look to Finch, the only Australian T20I captain to win the World Cup, for leadership should they find themselves in difficult situations as they did in the past two seasons.

Titles Won: 1

Last three seasons: 8^th, 8^th, 1^st

Key Players: Aaron Finch, Mohammad Nabi & James Pattinson

Wooden Spoons: 2

Squad: Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Josh Lalor, Shaun Marsh, James Pattinson, Mitch Perry, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Nic Maddinson (c), Reece Topley, Unmukt Chand, Mohammad Nabi, Zahir Khan

Outright Odds: 11.00

Adelaide Strikers

The Strikers are without their skipper, Travis Head, who is on national duty for the summer, this then leaves them without their regular skipper and that will prove to be a problem for the struggling Strikers. Nonetheless, experienced heads of Peter Siddle and Rashid Khan will have to step up to give the team some form of hope as they go into the season.

Titles Won: 1

Last three seasons: 5^th, 3^rd, 7^th

Key Players: Rashid Khan, Matthew Renshaw & Peter Siddle

Wooden Spoons: 0

Squad: Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head (c), Spencer Johnson, Harry Nielsen, Liam O’Connor, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Peter Siddle, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall, George Garton, Ryan Gibson, Fawad Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Matt Short, Jake Weatherald

Outright Odds: 8.50

Melbourne Stars

Looking at the names in this team, it is hard to believe that Melbourne Stars have never won the BBL, not even once since the league started in the 2011/12 season. I think this season will be a lot different given the big names in the squad and the form these big names bring into the season. The Stars will be a hard team to beat this season regardless of their past performances in the tournament.

Titles Won: 0

Last three seasons: 7^th, 2^nd, 4^th

Key Players: Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa & Marcus Stoinis

Wooden Spoons: 1

Squad: Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Seb Gotch, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchliffe, Nick Larkin, Glenn Maxwell (c), Tom O’Connell, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Joe Burns, Sam Rainbird, Joe Clarke, Qais Ahmad (joining after the conclusion of Abu Dhabi T10 League), Sam Elliot, Beau Webster

Outright Odds: 6.50

Hobart Hurricanes

Looking at the Hurricanes squad for this season, it’s hard to see who they will rely on for runs. They lack power in their batting line up which is such a big part of successful T20 cricket teams these days. But I wouldn’t completely write them off, more especially with Matthew Wade leading the side. He is known for proving people wrong when it matters the most.

Titles Won: 0

Last three seasons: 6^th, 4^th, 2^nd

Key Players: Matthew Wade, Riley Meredith & D’Arcy Short

Wooden Spoons: 0

Squad: Scott Boland, Tim David. Nathan Ellis, Peter Handscomb, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Wil Parker, D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (c), Mac Wright, Sandeep Lamichhane, Caleb Jewell, Joel Paris, Harry Brook, Josh Kann, Tom Rogers, Jordan Thompson

Outright Odds: 7.50