The AFL Finals might still be in full swing, but this weekend the Cricket season is officially back! It’s been a while since the Australian public has been remotely excited about the one day limited overs tournament but there seems to be a bit of buzz around the JLT One Day Cup this year after squads were announced throughout the week.
The tournament will start and finish in under a month this season, with the first game set to be played on the 16th of September and the final scheduled for the 10th of October. Each team will face each opponent just once before a finals series to decide the eventual winner. You can check out the full schedule for the JLT One Day Cup here.
We take a look at some of the contenders for the JLT One Day Cup this season and give our betting tips below.
2018 JLT One Day Cup Betting Tips
Western Australia
Western Australia claimed the JLT One Day Cup title last season after a six wicket win over South Australia in the final. The win gave the Warriors a record 13th One Day Cup title, with New South Wales and Queensland trailing closely on 11 and 10 respectively. They will once again be benefitted this year from the tight community that WA Cricket promotes with players signing contracts for all three forms of the game to keep them in the state. However, they will be without the Marsh brothers for the tournament due to Test duty and will lose front line spinner Ashton Agar after the first two games.
Without those three players, the Warriors still boast arguably the most talented squad in the competition. Their bowling stocks seem endless and the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson and Joel Paris will be troubling for any squad who travels West to play on at the hard and fast WACA wicket. The batting line-up actually looks a touch thin to what we have come to expect from a West Australian team as Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Turner, D’Arcy Short and Marcus Stoinis should carry the bulk of the batting load. It’ll be the bowling unit where the games are won and loss for the Warriors though.
Squad: Ashton Turner (c), Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Jonathan Wells
Odds: $4.00 at Sportsbet
South Australia
Last season’s runners up, South Australia will enter the season with a very similar squad to the one that went agonisingly close to picking up their first title since 2011-12 last season. The big loss though is of course skipper Travis Head, who will miss the competition for Test duty. Talented young batsman Jake Lehmann will take up the captaincy duties in his absence and he’ll be joined in the top order by a host of proven run scorers in limited over cricket in Tom Cooper, Callum Ferguson, Alex Ross, Jake Weatherald and Alex Carey.
Batting definitely the Redbacks strength, as any of the above-mentioned players are capable of peeling off game winning performances in the 50-over format. However, their bowling unit comprises some talented players who are specialists at maximising production and limiting runs from their 10 over spells. Adam Zampa, Joe Mennie, Daniel Worrall, Kane Richardson and Chadd Sayers will likely compete for the four bowling spots available, making the Redbacks a talented team from top to bottom.
Squad: Jake Lehmann (c), Alex Carey, Tom Cooper, Callum Ferguson, Spencer Johnson, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Kane Richardson, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa
Odds: $5.50 at Sportsbet
Victoria
The Bushrangers will be disappointed with their third-place finish in last season’s JLT One Day Cup after entering the tournament as favourites. It was the third year in a row that the Bushrangers had finished on the bottom step of the podium and they’ll be desperate to make amends this year as they start the competition as favourites once again. While the exclusion of Glenn Maxwell from the Test squad to play Pakistan in the coming months was a confusing one, the Bushrangers selectors would have been quietly happy with the decision, as Maxwell should look to dominate this tournament
Aaron Finch, Jon Holland and Peter Siddle will all be missing from the tournament through Test duty, but Peter Handscomb will be available after also being snubbed from international duty. He will take up the captaincy in Finch’s absence and he’ll be joined in the top order by recruit Nic Maddison who came over from NSW. All in all the Vics still have an extremely talented list but bowling is a bit of an issue with both Holland and Siddle missing through Test duty.
Squad: Peter Handscomb (c), Scott Boland, Jackson Coleman, Travis Dean, Sebastian Gotch, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Tom O'Connell, Matt Short, Will Sutherland, Chris Tremain, Cameron White
Odds: $3.75 at Sportsbet
New South Wales
The Blues have been one of the busiest teams in the off-season, although not necessarily in a good way. They will name three uncapped players in their squad after being ravaged by selections in the Test team. Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc will obviously all be unavailable due to Test duty after playing varied games last season. Peter Nevill has been promoted to skipper and leads a big mix of experience and youth.
Moises Henriques, Sean Abbot, Daniel Huges and Stephen O’Keefe will all need to be massive for the Blues this season if they want to make a splash and BBL star from last season Daniel Sams will also look to impress in his first One Day Cup. In my opinion, however, this squad doesn’t stack up with some of the more talented in the league.
Squad: Peter Nevill (c), Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Ryan Gibson, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Stephen O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha
Odds: $4.50 at Sportsbet
Queensland
The Bulls are probably the unluckiest team when it comes to unavailabilites due to Test selection. They’ll be without Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett for the One Day Cup, and BBL star Chris Lynn will take up the captaincy duties in place of Khawaja. Lynn and Joe Burns will need to carry a heavy load in the batting line-up that is filled with youngsters and all-rounders after them.
The bowling line-up actually looks pretty promising for the Bulls though. Billy Stanlake and Mark Steketee should be good seam options while Mitch Swepson has another pre season under his belt and will look to impress Test selectors. The Bulls start at $8.00 for the tournament which I think is about right, they are probably still a few years off and should struggle without their key international players.
Squad: Chris Lynn (c), Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Luke Feldman, Sam Heazlett, Charlie Hemphrey, Lachlan Pfeffer, Jack Prestwidge, Billy Stanlake, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Sam Truloff, Jack Wildermuth
Odds: $8.00 at Sportsbet
Tasmania
Tassy finished last in the 2017-18 One Day Cup but I’m struggling to figure out why they are the highest priced team heading into this year’s tournament. Only Tim Paine will be away on Test duty for the Devils and in my opinion, they have compiled one of the more talented squads in the competition. George Bailey will skipper the side and experience will be the key factor for them as himself, Matthew Wade, Jordan Silk, Ben McDermott and Jake Doran make up a damaging batting line-up.
James Faulkner and Jackson Bird are top line Australian limited overs bowlers and Clive Rose proved he is one of the more underrated short format spinners in the BBL over the last few seasons. I think this Tasmanian side has the talent to make a big splash this season.
Squad: George Bailey (c), Jackson Bird, Nicholas Buchanan, Jake Doran, James Faulkner, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Simon Milenko, Tom Rogers, Clive Rose, Jordan Silk, Aaron Summers, Matthew Wade, Beau Webster
Odds: $9.00 at Sportsbet
Prediction
Always tough to predict a winner of the limited overs tournaments. One player can literally change the landscape of the entire tournament with just a few spectacular innings or spells of bowling. However, on paper alone, it’s hard to look past South Australia in my opinion. They have put together one of the most talented batting line-ups in the country that has managed to avoid being raided for international duty for the last few years (barring Travis Head).
Their bowling unit is also top class. They have five bowlers who have represented Australia at some point and it’s clear that their domination in the recent BBL season was no fluke. They might not be in the bookies eyes but the Redbacks are the clear front runners for me. Apart from South Australia I also like the look of the Vics, Warriors and Tasmania for some value.
South Australia to win
$5.50
