Big Bash: Best of the Best (so far)

Big Bash betting: who doesn’t enjoy it?

Whether you’re a head-to-head punter, or enjoy exotics such as most sixes or most wickets, we’re here to help.

As part of our commitment to help you find value in the BBL betting markets (and pull together your BBL fantasy lineups!) Stats Insider’s model has run the numbers over all eight squads to show you the ten players who have been most likely to strike a boundary, bowl a dot ball, or bag a wicket at any given moment, based on what has happened so far this season.

The following ‘top ten’ lists are based on BBL08 data gathered up until the end of January 7 and has been filtered to include only players who have either faced, or bowled, at least 60 deliveries in the tournament. Unlike our simulation and match prediction model, this data does not account for match situation (such as the bowler being faced, or when/where in the lineup a player has batted). Thus, you’re likely to be as surprised by the results as I was!

LIKELIHOOD TO HIT A FOUR

1. Max Bryant (Heat)

2. Tom Curran (Sixers)

3. Sam Harper (Renegades)

4. Alex Doolan (Hurricanes) 

5. Jake Weatherald (Strikers)

6. Josh Philippe (Sixers)

7. Daniel Hughes (Sixers)

8. Joe Root (Thunder)

9. Matthew Wade (Hurricanes

10. George Bailey (Hurricanes)

If you need four runs off one ball to save your life (or more realistically, some quick DraftStars points), who would you turn to? Michael Bevan isn’t around to save you these days… if your answer was D’Arcy Short, or either of the “Bash Brothers”, you could be in strife. 

How about Brisbane Heat’s Max Bryant? According to our data, 19yo Bryant has been a nearly one-in-five chance of finding the rope off any given delivery this BBL, thanks to some handy cameos on the Gold Coast against the Sixers (five fours in a 34 from 18), and the Hurricanes (four fours in a 30 from 15).  

You could also benefit from the bat of Sixers’ English import Tom Curran, who has stuck his hand up as a potential Player of the Tournament with both bat and ball. He has hit the rope off 18% of balls faced, as demonstrated on the Christmas Eve 'Sydney Smash' when he amassed eight of them off just 38 deliveries.

LIKELIHOOD TO HIT A SIX

1. Ben Cutting (Heat)

2. Daniel Sams (Sixers)

3. Max Bryant (Heat)

4. Dan Christian (Renegades)

5. Glenn Maxwell (Stars)

6. Colin Ingram (Strikers)

7. Marcus Stoinis (Stars)

8. Ben McDermott (Hurricanes)

9. D’Arcy Short (Hurricanes)

10. Chris Lynn (Heat)

Given the popularity of 'most sixes' betting markets, we couldn’t wait to run this one. While many of the usual suspects - Short, Buttler and Lynn - are currently in the top five for most sixes struck during the tournament, this doesn’t necessarily make them more likely to put one over the rope at any given moment. 

Remember, this list only includes players who have faced at least 60 deliveries, but a stat like this is more likely to favour lower-order batsmen who bat at the death or are likely to be in the action during the business end of a chase. Thus, some familiar faces are missing (or are much lower) on the top ten list! 

Brisbane’s Ben Cutting - who (at time of writing) has clubbed seven maximums from just 61 balls faced in this tournament - tops the list as clearing the rope 11.11% of the time, while Daniel Sams is a surprise second-place off the back of nine sixes from 79 balls in BBL08.

The clubhouse leader for the ‘most tournament sixes’ chart - Hurricanes star opener D’Arcy Short - comes in at in ninth, clearing the boundary 5.58% of the time (he is averaging one every 17 balls so far in BBL08). 

LIKELIHOOD TO BOWL A DOT BALL

1. Rashid Khan (Strikers)

2. Mujeeb ur Rahman (Heat)

3. Riley Meredith (Hurricanes)

4. Jhye Richardson (Scorchers)

5. Jason Behrendorff (Scorchers)

6. Usman Khan Shinwari (Renegades)

7. Ben Dwarshuis (Sixers)

8. Nathan Coulter-Nile (Scorchers)

9. James Pattinson (Heat)

10. Andrew Tye (Scorchers)

No surprises here, with the two best economy rates in the tournament (minimum 10 overs bowled) occupying #1 and #2 on the list. The two best spin bowlers of this Big Bash edition - Rashid and Mujeeb, both from Afghanistan - are two of just three bowlers (alongside Behrendorff) that are enjoying an economy rate of under a run a ball from a minimum 60 deliveries. 

Rashid is yet to put in a bad performance throughout BBL08, and has been bowling dots at a  45.95% clip. 74 of his 144 deliveries in BBL08 have been no-scores. Staggering numbers for T20 cricket!

Riley Meredith is somewhat of a surprise up there at third on the list (41.94%) if you consider his economy rate of 7.95 for the tournament, but worth mentioning he has 64 dot balls to his name from 138 deliveries. Still, conceding an average of one boundary per over shows how deadly he can be when he is on song. 

A special mention goes to Peter Siddle, who has total figures of 4/44 from nine overs in BBL08 (economy 4.88) but misses the list due to the minimum deliveries parameter. If he can maintain those numbers (an ODI recall beckons), he’ll no doubt be looking to appear high up on this list in the next update.

LIKELIHOOD TO TAKE A WICKET

1. Tom Curran (Sixers)

2. Sandeep Lamichhane (Stars)

3. Daniel Sams (Sixers)

4. Stephen O’Keefe (Sixers)

5. Kane Richardson (Renegades)

6. James Faulkner (Hurricanes)

7. Jhye Richardson (Scorchers)

8. Rashid Khan (Strikers)

9. Dwayne Bravo (Stars)

10. Jason Behrendorff (Scorchers)

As mentioned earlier, Tom Curran has proven to be a match-winner for the men in pink so far in BBL08, with his very impressive 11 wickets (economy rate 6.92) sending him to the top of this list, taking a wicket a tournament-leading 8.28% of the time. 

28yo former international James Faulkner is enjoying somewhat of a second-coming after moving back home to Tasmania, and is seriously knocking on the door for T20I selection after taking ten wickets this season. So far, Faulkner is taking a wicket from 7.3% of deliveries bowled, sitting pretty at sixth on our list. 

Sydney Sixers’ Stephen O’Keefe may be leading the tournament for wickets taken (13), but has also bowled more deliveries than any other player (168) at this stage, hence he is lower down the list than perhaps expected. 

Our #2 on this list, having taken a wicket with 8.25% of deliveries, Sandeep Lamichhane has gone to Bangladesh for the BPL, though he will be back at the conclusion of that tournament in early February to finish his Stars commitments. 

Still not sure who's going to win BBL08? Simulate all the options with our Big Bash Simulator, or take advantage of our 5-day Stats Insider Premium FREE TRIAL to access daily match predictions across all our sports!