SuperCoach BBL: Top 10 young guns in Big Bash
Tom Sangster, The Daily Telegraph
October 28, 2019 4:08pm
Subscriber only
1 MATTHEW GILKES(Thunder)
The 20-year-old from Ulladulla is so highly rated he leapfrogged a number of veterans into a near Test-strength NSW XI in the Marsh one-day Cup. Taking the field alongside David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood, Gilkes bettered all of them with 43 off 41 balls. It came on the back of 82 off 51 the previous match.
The Thunder have lost massive batting power in Jos Buttler (England), Joe Root (England), Shane Watson (retired) and Kurtis Patterson (Scorchers), with Alex Hales (England) the only batting recruit.
Gilkes is therefore likely to bat in the top four. He may even open, as he did for his breakout 51 off 38 balls on debut last season. With the likely added bonus of wicketkeeping stats, Gilkes is a steal for SuperCoach at $96,700.
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Matthew Gilkes played two games for Thunder last season.
2 CAMERON GREEN (Scorchers)
A strapping all-rounder standing over 200cm, capable of hitting 140km/h and with an outrageous first-class bowling average of 20.70. He’s also batted No.7 for Western Australia in List A cricket and hits the longest of long bombs.
That makes for great reading and the 20-year-old West Australian is as good as he sounds. While essentially unknown to the “average” cricket fan, particularly on this side of the Nullarbor, Green has admirers in very high places at Cricket Australia. Translation: Don’t be surprised if he plays for Australia very soon.
What’s more, BBL09 could be the tournament that launches Green into Australian living rooms and become a household name. He has huge opportunities at the Scorchers in the absence of Nathan Coulter-Nile (Stars) and Jason Behrendorff (stress fractures).
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And at a rock-bottom $42,000, almost every SuperCoach will be cheering him on if named for the opening round.
Cameron Green has been dominant at Sheffield Shield level.
3 NATHAN ELLIS (unsigned)
Not yet officially signed by a Big Bash team, but the 25-year-old is hot property after topping the wickets in the Marsh Cup, sitting with 11 scalps at a miserly 18.90 runs apiece. Ellis’s haul includes 5-38 on a notoriously flat North Sydney Oval against possibly the best domestic batting line-up he’ll ever bowl against — a NSW team featuring all Test stars.
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Capable of hitting 140km/h with a big “wind-up” reminiscent of Indian ace Jasprit Bumrah, the boy from Greenacre in Sydney’s west is now plying his trade in Tasmania and is on the radar of the Hobart Hurricanes. Ellis is a specialist death bowler, meaning he’ll take plenty of wickets, but can go the journey.
Nathan Ellis celebrates five-for against a star-studded NSW. Picture: Phil Hillyard
4 OLLIE DAVIES (Thunder)
The 19-year-old from Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches became a viral sensation last year when he hit 17 sixes in an innings at the Australian Under 19 championships. Davies finished with a brutal 207 off 115 balls and hit one hapless bowler for six sixes in an over.
Since his junior heroics, Davies has gone on to dominate against men, becoming the youngest Manly-Warringah player to score a first-grade century and forcing his way into the NSW second XI.
Also a handy off-spinner and brilliant fielder, Davies has signed with the Thunder and immediately scored a spot in the top squad. As mentioned above, the Thunder have batting slots open following the exits of Buttler, Root, Watson and Patterson, meaning Davies is huge chance to debut at some stage in BBL09.
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5 CALEB JEWELL (Hurricanes)
When a youngster goes stroke-for-stroke with D’Arcy Short, the cricket world takes notice. The dashing left-hander did exactly that last year by notching 61 from 38 balls as Short stroked 68 from 41 at the other end, their partnership ending unbeaten in an emphatic victory within 14.2 overs.
Jewell scored just 62 runs in his other seven games, but the fact the Hurricanes stuck with him at No.3 shows how highly rated he is in the Apple Isle.
How batsmen score points in SuperCoach BBL
Runs (per run scored): 1 point
For every run a player scores above the amount of balls faced: 1 point (eg: if a player scores 40 of 26 balls, they score an additional 14 points)
Bonus for every 6 hit: 2 points
Bonus for every 4 hit: 1 point
Jewell started this season’s Marsh Cup on fire averaging 48.6 over the first five games, including a century against South Australia.
With Matthew Wade on Test duty over the opening BBL rounds and Tim Paine confirmed to sit out the Big Bash, Jewell is a huge chance to open alongside Short and is therefore a SuperCoach bargain at $67,300.
Caleb Jewell is set to open for the Hurricanes.