Tuesday, the 19th of December marks the start of the 2017-18 Big Bash League season and has it been an exciting build up to the 7th edition of the tournament over the past few weeks. Plenty of player movement in the offseason has shaken up the tournament and we are here to preview the season give our best future bets below.
2017-18 Big Bash League Betting Tips
BBL07 Championship
How can we look past a team that has finished in the top four in every season of the Big Bash League and has won the title on three separate occasions? The Perth Scorchers understandably start as favourites for the title after winning BBL06 after a dominant finals performance. The reigning champions haven’t made a single key move, highlighting the confidence the management staff have in their current squad to go back to back. At $4.33, they are a solid bet to go back to back or at the very least they should be around the mark at the end of the season and competing for the title.
The Sydney Sixers start as second favourites at $6 after making the grand final last year with a very young and talented squad. Their main advantage is that they’ll barely be hindered by international selection, meaning they’ll be able to get a well rounded and consistent line-up on the park. Their top order is young and should come along in leaps and bounds, but we think they did outperform their team on paper a little bit this year. They will definitely be in the mix but we’ll be looking elsewhere for value this year.
Is it finally time we see a Melbourne team with the Big Bash League. Throughout the six seasons so far, the best the Victorians could muster is a runner up finish, which was achieved by the Stars in BBL05. With the lists they have assembled on paper, we think that this is the year one of them could finally break through to get the job done. The Renegades are at $6 and the Stars at $6.50 so we think there’s plenty of value here, but we’ll be leaning more towards the Renegades, who have made some monster off season moves.
TIP: Melbourne Stars top 4 finish - $1.67 at Sportsbet
In a near full overhaul of their squad, the Renegades waved goodbye to Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle, Nathan Rimmington, Callum Ferguson, Xavier Doherty, Sunil Narine and Peter Nevill. With the mass exodus came a fresh bunch of faces in Kane Richardson, Brad Hodge, Kieron Pollard and Mohammad Nabi. The moves will allow for a much more consistent lineup throughout the tournament, one that isn’t hindered by international selection. With the experienced heads of Hodge and Brad Hogg combining with some extremely talented players in Cam White, Aaron Finch, Kane Richardson and James Pattinson, we think they have what is takes to go all the way.
TIP: Melbourne Renegades to win BBL07 - $6 at Sportsbet
Top Runscorer
Its always a tough prospect betting on top performers in the BBL. There’s somewhat a juggling act that needs to be played between who is good enough to consistently score runs but is in no danger of missing games due to international selection. Ben Dunk was the perfrect example of this last season, amassing 364 runs in eight innings at an average of 52.
Dunk is value again this year at $13. Opening the batting is a massive advantage when it comes to top run scorers in a T20. Numbers 4-7 don’t always get a good opportunity to score because they are generally coming in with a team first mentality, so taking an opener or number three is your best bet here.
Some options that a lot of people will fancy but could be hindered by international selection are Aaron Finch and Chris Lynn. I’d stay away from these guys this year with a busy ODI and T20 campaign against England coming up.
The option that we really like is Perth Scorcher Michael Klinger. Klinger finished third on the run scorers table last season with 334 runs and will get plenty of opportunity as the captain and opening batsman at the Scorchers. We’ve seen throughout the Sheffield Shield so far this year and the start of the third Test that the WACA has been a great batting wicket so with Klinger playing at least half of his games there, he’s a great chance.
TIP: Michael Klinger most tournament runs - $11 at Sportsbet
Top Wicket Taker
The top wicket taker markets differ a touch from the run scorer in the fact that most of the best and most consistent bowlers getting around the Big Bash League this season are either overseas players or Australian’s with barely any chance to miss games.
The likes of Rashid Khan, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell McCenaghan top the odds, and after Johnson’s performance in the Scorchers two finals games last season its hard to look past him. He is at $12 to take the most wickets and should play every game for the Scorchers barring injury. However, as we said, the WACA is playing very well for batsmen lately so that could be an issue.
One player who we think is great value is Sean Abbot. The Sydney Sixer took the most wickets in BBL06 and while the door is marginally still open for him in terms of international duty, the selection committee seems to doubts over him as he has had limited opportinuty even after great performances in domestic cricket. He’s our pick for the BBL07 top wicket taker!
TIP: Sean Abbot top wicket taker - $15 at Sportsbet
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