Cricket betting tips: Big Bash outright preview and best bets
Richard Mann provides his outright preview for the 2022/2023 edition of the Big Bash League, which begins on Tuesday.
Cricket tips: Big Bash
2pts Melbourne Stars to win the Big Bash 13/2 (General)
Despite the new, high-profile player draft which took place earlier in the year, the latest edition of the Big Bash League has already been hit hard by international call-ups, the SA20 and the ILT20 – though things should still be much better than the last two renewals which were badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Big Bash has patently lost a little bit of its stature in the last few years, the gap between this competition and the IPL widening and new rival leagues improving in quality, and ultimately, paying more to attract bigger names to their competitions.
What Australia does offer is generally good weather, at this time of year anyway, the lack of a particularly strong toss bias that has to be good for everyone, good pitches and decent-sized grounds that usually facilitate a fair contest between bat and ball. The timing of the matches, more often starting early to mid-morning UK time, is ideal for viewers and punters over here, too.
Sydney Sixers worthy favourites
Three-time Big Bash champions and last year’s finalists, Sydney Sixers, once again head the betting and for good reason.
The Sixers are the epitome of consistency, making a habit of winning close matches and clutch moments, in part due to their vastly experienced squad that has barely changed in personnel and has clearly defined, set roles for each member.
In James Vince they have international star quality, but he is one of many who seems unlikely to play the whole season, owing to other commitments, and my slight concern with the Sixers is an ageing squad that is still reliant on the likes of Dan Christian and Steve O’Keefe.
Christian has been a wonderful T20 cricketer, but I don’t think he’s the player he was a couple of years ago, while O’Keefe’s hamstrings are notoriously fragile and are liable to go at any time.
The batting remains strong, but the Sixers look opposable on price (7/2), given they aren’t certain to shorten that much if finishing in the top five in the league table, and thus qualifying for the latter stages.
Hobart Hurricanes are next in with Sky Bet at 4/1, and they have recruited some exciting and experienced talent from Pakistan to bolster a talented squad.
My issue with the Hurricanes, just as it was last year, is the imbalance in a batting line-up that features four destructive batsmen who are all at their best opening the batting.
Fans of the T20 Blast will know what Ben McDermott is capable of, and he was last year’s leading runscorer in this competition. But D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade and England’s Zak Crawley all like to bat at the top of the order, and I’m just not convinced the Hurricanes will be able to get the best out of everyone.
Tim David does provide unmatched finishing power, and there is plenty of pace in a bowling attack led by the excellent Nathan Ellis, but they, too, look plenty short enough in the betting.
Scorchers not so hot after troubled build-up
Like the Sixers, Perth Scorchers have an illustrious history in the competition having won four Big Bash titles already, including last year.
Losing Phil Salt, Laurie Evans and Mitchell Marsh for the duration of this edition has been a big blow to their preparations, though Adam Lyth is an excellent signing who promises to be well-suited by the nature of the pitches in Australia.
Lyth was outstanding for Northern Superchargers in the second edition of The Hundred last summer, but he, Faf du Plessis and Tymal Mills will only be available for the first half of the tournament, and as strong as the bowling looks on paper, runs could be a problem further down the line.
Despite bringing in plenty of new faces, Brisbane Heat still can’t win me over and overseas signings Sam Billings and Colin Munro will leave for other leagues in early January.
Keep an eye on Jack Wildermuth who is a terrific all-rounder cricketer, while opening batsman Max Bryant is a big talent who is capable of better than he produced last season. Bryant's recent domestic form has been very good, so he might be able to prove best of a bad bunch on a match-by-match basis.
Stars to shine bright amid chaos
Though having a reputation for flattering to deceive, with a host of marquee signings failing to deliver over the years, MELBOURNE STARS might just have turned a corner and they make most appeal in the outright market, with 13/2 worth a bet.
Glenn Maxwell missing a good chunk of the early part of the season through injury is a massive blow considering he was Stars’ leading runscorer last term, but there is still real quality in a squad that might not be too badly affected by player ins and outs.
Trent Boult might be the only one, but his involvement will be priceless when he is around and the prospect of him, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Luke Wood bowling together is an exciting one. Add wrist spinner Adam Zampa to the mix and this is a mighty fine attack.
The batting, minus Maxwell, is the obvious concern. Marcus Stoinis has become a finisher for the national team so will need to get used to opening the batting again, while Joe Clarke arrives in Australia on the back of a disappointing summer in the England.
But Stoinis has real pedigree at the highest level and has been a brilliant opener in this competition for a long time now. Clarke was terrific throughout last season, and the likes of Hilton Cartwright and Joe Burns add power and a touch class respectively.
If Stoinis and Clarke can click the Stars are genuine title contenders, and it’s worth remembering that they were the worst affected by Covid-19 last season – at one stage playing with a team almost exclusively made up of club recruits because of positive tests.
The Stars had made a blistering start to that campaign until Covid struck, and I would take their eventual finishing position (sixth) with a large pinch of salt.
Part of the reason why the Scorchers have been so successful over the years has been because they have historically boasted the best attack in the competition, and I reckon the Stars can lay claim to having the strongest bowling line-up on this occasion.
In a tournament with so many question marks surrounding so many of the teams, the Stars, for once, have a solid look to them – even without Maxwell – and rate a spot of value at 13/2.
Sydney Thunder continue to knock hard on the door, but I do wonder if they missed their chance in the 2020/2021 edition when coming up short in the knockouts, having looked so good in the regular season.
Their squad remains strong, but they promise to be hurt when their overseas stars head for brighter lights elsewhere, and that is also applicable to Adelaide Strikers who won't have the services of Rashid Khan for the full season.
Solid but unspectacular, the Strikers might well make the latter stages again but expect them to come up short – as they did against the Sixers last year – when things hot up.
For those wanting a name to follow, Adam Hose looked a fine player in the making when impressing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred last summer and I’ll be keen to see where he slots in this Strikers batting line-up, and how odds compilers price him up.
Renegades could outrun big odds
The final franchise to mention is Melbourne Renegades, the outsiders of the field but perhaps not the forlorn hopes the betting would suggest.
The bowling does have holes in it, but Kane Richardson will continue to lead the attack with skill and guile, while Mujeeb ur Rahman will be a real a handful until his departure.
The strength is in the batting, though, with old hands Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, and Martin Guptill still more than capable of scoring big runs at this level. There is also genuine talent from some of the younger batsmen in the squad, namely Mackenzie Harvey and Jake Fraser-McGurk.
With so much experience and pedigree in their ranks, the Renegades could easily get on a roll, for all there probably isn’t the same level of quality on their roster as when they went all the way in 2018/2019.
Preview posted at 1915 GMT on 11/12/2022
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