Squad breakdown: Sydney Thunder Supercoach BBL14 preview

Sydney Thunder will look to make amends for a poor history that’s delivered just one title back in BBL05.



They’ve finished on the bottom of the table on five occasions.



They boast a fairly settled roster, although they have committed the services of key internationals Sherfane Rutherford, Sam Billings and Lockie Ferguson, pending the latter’s concerning calf injury.



Rutherford will miss the opening stages due to international duties, but does enter in red-hot form with a recent Abu Dhabi century off just 40 balls.



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Draw-wise, the Thunder have the Supercoach double game week in round 6 and no byes this season.



Further, they play in game three, three and five of the opening three rounds, making them tricky looping prospects.



They won’t become overly relevant until round five, that being said they do boast numerous cheapie prospects that could prove shrewd moves early on.



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Guns</h2>



Lockie Ferguson $152,000



Ferguson is dealing with a calf injury that has him in doubt for the opening round.



For Supercoach purposes, you’re probably not going near him at the price until round 5 earliest anyway.



Across 43 career T20Is for New Zealand, the fast bowler has taken 64 wickets at a strike-rate of 14.3 and an economy of 7.10.



Prior to injury, he took nine wickets in three games, including stunning figures of 3/7 against Sri Lanka in a T20.



He’ll be a huge play when the time is right.



Verdict: Avoid until later



Dan Sams $162,800



Is Dan Sams the forgotten Supercoach gun?



Look, you’re probably not paying up $162k for him early on, but he boasts one of the highest ceilings in Supercoach.



He has a brilliant role and likely bats at seven.



As a reminder of his Supercoach, his hasn’t averaged below 52.5 in the past six seasons, peaking at 68.5 in BBL09.



While more inconsistent than prior campaigns, he produced back-to-back scores of 155 and 172 across game week three and four last season.



In the UK Vitality Blast this season he took seven wickets in six games.



Verdict: Wait, potential to go earlier than the pack pending early tournament form



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Mid-rangers</h2>



David Warner $152,000



Warner will be one to monitor early, and likely a pick-up for the double.



While retired from international cricket, his form hasn’t missed a beat.



His last eight innings came in the Max60 Caribbean tournament, where he topped the scoring charts with 297 runs at an average of 42.42.



Verdict: Avoid until later



Tanveer Sangha $116,200



Tanveer is a little too expensive to consider starting him as an early season POD and cash generator.



He has plenty of talent, but at $116k it’s an awkward price.



He’s averaged between 39 and 45 points across his three Supercoach seasons, but there is potential to increase this significantly.



Recent Marsh Cup outings have produced returns of 1/49, 2/48 and 2/51.



A definite player for the double, but not prior.



Verdict: Avoid for now



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cheapies</h2>



Ollie Davies $78,100



The cheapie prospects are probably the most enticing at the Thunder due to their poor early draw.



While you want to maximise scoring at the beginning of the tournament, generating cash is equally important.



Ollie Davies checks this box with high upside and a bargain rate for his quality.



After bursting onto the scene a few seasons back, Supercoaches have been waiting on that breakout SC season which hasn’t quite come.



The reality is that as a sole batter, coming in at four, the role isn’t great in comparison to others in the game.



Across 39 career T20s he averages 20.68 with a strike-rate of 135.37.



Recent form is okay, with two half-centuries across Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup, without converting any into tonnes.



One for the double game week at best barring any big early scores which would produce a low breakeven and imminent cash.



Verdict: Avoid



Matt Gilkes $58,500



Gilkes may be in and out of the team pending availability of other key players, so you’d generally put him in the no-go category.



However, the WKP slot is very unique this season with no standout options early on, along with the introduction of the ‘Flex’ position.



Some people, including dual champ Andrew Langley, are going very cheap in the slot which actually brings Gilkes into calculations.



If actually needing him to play at all or ideally make some cash, he does come in with decent form with half centuries in both Shield and Marsh Cup fixtures.



He also hasn’t been dismissed for a single digit score this season.



If you’re going cheap in the WKP position he is a genuine option, but I’m personally looking to spend a little more cash there barring one cheap WKP-BAT option that’s ideally not playing such as Jake Doran.



Verdict: Likely avoid



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Nic Maddinson $58,500



Maddinson makes the move back to Sydney where he starts the Supercoach season extremely cheap, for good reason.



His last two seasons have produced Supercoach averages of 13.6 and 28.1.



He has averaged below 29 in five of his past seven seasons, with tops of 47.6 and 37.0.



Recent form has been okay, with half centuries in the Shield and Marsh Cup.



If at any stage he started bowling he’d become a genuine option at the bargain price, but you’d need to see it first.



If he finds form or bowls early he could be a pick-up, but we need results before jumping on.



Verdict: Avoid



Will Salzmann $39,600



Salzmann is currently in 30% of teams to begin the season.



Why? He&#8217;s the perfect nuff.



To initiate auto-emergency and vice-captaincy loopholes, we need a player who isn&#8217;t actually going to play to activate the loops.



Salzmann is bottom dollar, is dual BWL-BAT and isn&#8217;t likely to feature for the Thunder.



Verdict: Buy



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Sydney Thunder – Predicted Round 1 team and analysis via Max Bryden</h3>



David Warner // BAT // SCBBL13 Ave: 25.0 // $152,000



Cameron Bancroft // WKP-BAT // SCBBL13 Ave: 35.0 // $103,400



Nic Maddinson // BAT // SCBBL13 Ave: 13.6 // $58,500



Ollie Davies // BAT // SCBBL13 Ave: 26.4 // $78,100



Sam Billings // WKP-BAT // SCBBL13 Ave: 38.6 // $113,900



Matt Gilkes // WKP-BAT // SCBBL13 Ave: 7.8 // $58,500



Dan Sams // BAT-BWL // SCBBL13 Ave: 55.1 // $162,800



Chris Green // BWL // SCBBL13 Ave: 43.7 // $129,000



Wes Agar // BWL // SCBBL13 Ave: // $99,700



Lockie Ferguson // BWL // SCBBL13 Ave: &#8211; // $152,000



Tanveer Sangha // BWL // SCBBL13 Ave: 39.3 // $116,200



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26/11 Updates and unavailable players:



West Indian Sherfane Rutherford will miss the start of the tournament.



It’s likely we see Matt Gilkes get first dibs in the lower order spot, albeit Dan Sams could also bat 6 and another bowler come in.



Kiwi Lockie Ferguson has injured himself and it remains to be seen if this will impact his availability. Nathan McAndrew is next cab in the pace bowling stocks.



Changes since last season:



Fresh blood behind the scenes at the Thunder has seen some strong recruitment and the best looking Thunder side in years.



Nic Maddinson joins his fourth Big Bash team and should fill the vacancy in the top order left by the non-signing of Alex Hales.&nbsp;



Of course a full season of David Warner means one of the opener’s slots is also sewn up.



Englishman Sam Billings also returns to the club and should slot into the crucial number 5 slot which has proven tricky for the club to fill.&nbsp;



Dan Sams also gets a reprieve with West Indian Sherfane Rutherford likely to push him down one spot to number 7.



Kiwi Lockie Ferguson is an awesome pickup in the draft and will take the death bowling overs for his new club straight away provided he’s available.



Sams has always needed more help and it could arrive in the shape of Wes Agar, albeit he will need to beat out Nathan McAndrew for the spot.

Squad breakdown: Sydney Thunder Supercoach BBL14 preview

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