WHO'S FOUND AN EDGE
Move over fellas, this is my home pitch — SuperCoach guru TOM SANGSTER runs his rule over the teams of three Australian greats
THEY were Aussie heroes and the best of mates on theh cricket field, bbut now that Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and Mike Hussey are turning their attentions to SuperCoach BBL, things just might start to heat up in the Fox Cricket commentary box over summer.
The trio have signed up to SuperCoach BBL, where they will run their own teams in pursuit of a $55,000 total prize pool. But how do their legendary talents stack up in the alternate cricketing universe of SuperCoach?
SHANE WARNE
THE legendary tweaker has shown great restraint and named only four spinners. But then again, he’s picked D’Arcy Short partly for his left-arm wrist-spin, so let’s make it five.
Spending big cash clearly isn’t an issue for the “Club 23 Legends” as Warne has splurged on some of the most expensive players in the game, including D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Marcus Stoinis, Jos Buttler, Ashton Agar and Andrew Tye.
With so much money tied up in the big guns, Warne will be forced to rely on a motley crew of young guns and returning veterans for the remaining slots.
Mitchell Swepson is Warne’s pick for buy of the year y at a very affordable $101,500 — and the young BBrisbaneib HeatH spinneri willill be b aided by the first-round double.
MIKE HUSSEY
AS A you’d expect from a man nicknamed Mr Cricket, Mike Hussey is all over the tactical side of the game.
He is a tragic for the AFL version v of SuperCoach and he’s clearly carried that knowledge across to BBL.
Hussey’s main tactic is to target teams with the double in round one, naming 10 of 16 players from these sides (Heat and Scorchers).
It helps that one of the sides on the double is his old team the Scorchers, which gives g Mr Cricket some intriguing insights into how players will be used.
For example, Hussey’s mail that Ashton Turner may get g back to the bowling crease this year after shoulder surgery is an important nugget of information.
Likewise, SuperCoaches should take note about Hussey’s mail that Michael Klinger is set to open the batting.
That said, with so much Strikers and Heat coverage for round one, Hussey is putting a lot of eggs in one basket and could be caught short if his team suffers an injury crisis.
MARK WAUGH
OF all these teams, Waugh is the one coach backing his gut g and ignoring the tactics, which w is a legitimate tactic in itself.
He has opted against many of the most popular players with early doubles, including Brendon McCullum, James Pattinson, Andrew Tye and Ashton Agar.
Instead, he has gone for the likes of Hilton Cartwright, Jimmy Peirson, Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Waugh has backed a beauty as his buy of the year in Mujeeb Ur Rahman. The 17year-old y Afghani spinner lit up this season’s IPL, taking a wicket every 17 balls and going g for just 6.99 runs an over.