The BBL is back for another season with one of it’s strongest playing rosters in some years, with internationals Andre Russell and Faf du Plessis joining the party, while Steve Smith and David Warner are also confirmed for late-season cameos.
There is also no Australian ODI or T20 cricket to conflict with the season and DRS is finally in for every game.
Here’s our outright picks for Big Bash League season 2022/23.
Outright Winner
The reigning champs should be the automatic favourite entering any BBL season, so to see them on the third line of betting is very appetising.
The Scorchers’ record in BBL cricket is outstanding; winning four of the twelve tournaments, finishing runner-up a further three times and making the top four twice more. They’ve missed the finals just twice in eleven seasons.
They are so difficult to beat at Optus Stadium, having won 14 of their last 15 games at home, so you can almost pencil them in for a top four finish before a ball is bowled purely on their record out west.
As always, the Scorchers squad is chock-full of WA talent with years of experience playing with one another. Mitch Marsh’s absence with an ankle injury is largely offset by the addition of South African legend Faf du Plessis for the first seven games and Cam Green for the end of the tournament.
Adam Voges’ team will be mighty hard to beat once again.
Top Batter
The newly installed Thunder captain is a player on the rise and looks great value to top the runs tally in BBL|12.
Sangha enjoyed a breakout tournament last season, finishing fifth for most tournament runs with 543 runs at 49.44 – a higher average than any of the other top ten batsmen.
With Usman Khawaja heading to the Heat, the former Australian U19 skipper will need to shoulder more of the burden in the top order which he is very capable of doing. If the Thunder can push deep into the tournament, Sangha is an excellent bet at this price.
Top Wicket Taker
Only one spinner has ever taken the most wickets in a BBL season (Rashid Khan tied for first in BBL|07) so stick to the quicks here.
Peter Siddle was the runaway winner winner of this award last season, finishing with 30 wickets – five more than any other player.
The Adelaide Striker has started the Shield season in fine form, racking up 21 wickets at 22 through Tasmania’s first six games.
While the 38-year-old may be getting long in the tooth, the man who eats nothing but bananas is showing no sign of slowing down and will be taking plenty of wickets again in BBL|12.
