THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews the return of the Big Bash League and Tuesday’s match between Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The Big Bash returns on BETDAQ Betting Exchange from Australia on Tuesday! One wonders what storylines will grab the headlines this season, but you have to say attendance will be one of them. The Big Bash has seen interest fade a little in recent seasons, but there has always been excuses – The Ashes, Covid19 etc. We’ve just had a T20 World Cup in Australia, so that probably a ready-made excuse for Cricket Australia but that was a while ago now – and the Aussie public voted with their feet when Australia played England in an ODI series after that. I think, whatever twist they put on it, Cricket Australia need some full houses this season.
The Big Bash has always had to deal with a weaker pool of overseas players, and now they clash with the SA20 and the ILT20 taking place at the same time. I suppose the Big Bash suffers because it is viewed as the second placed T20tournament around the world, but nothing really compares to the IPL. Last year we saw Cricket Australia change the rules a little with Power Surge, X-Factor and Bash Boost. This season only one of those survived – the Power Surge. Obviously Cricket Australia also run International games during the Big Bash season – so most sides will be without their domestic stars. The ECB have moved The 100 to a window this summer with no England cricket to clash – maybe this is something Cricket Australia will look at if we see poor crowds again.
We kick the tournament off with Sydney Thunder taking on Melbourne Stars, and this should be a good game to start! The Thunder have the likes of Alex Hales, Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw and David Warner in their squad, while Melbourne Stars have Trent Boult, Gleen Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis. The Glenn Max example is a pretty good one to go off here to not just look at the squads. Maxwell in injured, and will make the end of the tournament at best. David Warner will also have Test duty – some teams could actually end up very weak at certain stages of the tournament; which can be a betting/trading edge.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We start the tournament in Canberra at the Manuka Oval. This ground has had plenty of Big Bash games over the last while, so we should have a good idea of conditions once the tournament gets going. You can never be too sure in the opening game, and I’d like to see how the wicket is playing before having any strong opinions. There’s been a lot of change over the last two seasons with Covid19, so we only had two games here in the 2021/22 season – Sydney Thunder won both games. The first inning scores were 140/8 (chased with 17 balls left) and 200/7 (won). I’d expect good scoring conditions, but let’s wait and confirm conditions.
RECOMMENDED BET:
On paper, these two could have decent seasons but the way things have worked out means they will struggle in my opinion. Maxwell is clearly a massive loss for Melbourne Stars, his batting and fielding are superb, even his bowling is decent at this level. However, they will get to keep their Aussie T20 stars for the tournament so they could have a settled group – if they hit form they can do well. The Thunder have an excellent squad, and I believe will start well – however, most of their key players will leave at some stage. They will lose Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw and Faz Farooqi. That’s going to leave a huge hole in their side – but for the moment, with those playing I’d expect them to start with a win. They have a better side than the Stars coming into this game.
The Edge Says:
Two points win Sydney Thunder to beat Melbourne Stars at 1.9 with Betdaq Exchange.
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/SydMel
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
While I want to wait and see what conditions are actually like, I do feel we’ll see a reasonably high scoring game here. With that in mind, if things are looking good in the opening stage of the game I would focus on looking for trades on the batting side rather than the bowling side. A par score might be around 180, and chasing isn’t that difficult here if we don’t see a high score in the first innings. There’s no players I am looking at here and want to take on at the start of the tournament, but that will come later on.
