The BBL11 season is steamrolling its way to the finish line with three big matches on Wednesday kicking off with the Brisbane Heat taking on the Sydney Sixers from the Gabba. The action kicks off at 1:05pm AEDT.

 

Draftstars are offering a $15,000 contest for this one, with plenty of other supporting contests on a big day of fantasy BBL action!

 

Draftstars

 

Heat squad: Peirson (c), Bartlett, Bazley, Bryant, Cooper, Dooley, Duckett, Guthrie, Heazlett, Kuhnemann, Labuschagne, Lynn, Neser, Pfeffer, Prestwidge, Steketee, Swepson

Sixers squad: Abbott, Avendano, Bird, Christian, Dwarshuis, J.Edwards, M.Edwards, Henriques (c), Hughes, Kerr, Lyon, Murphy, Neil-Smith, O'Keefe, Philippe, Pope

 

The Brisbane Heat have had a season to forget with just three wins to show for their efforts in BBL11. Some hard thinking needs to be done in the off-season, and perhaps a revamped approach to their campaign with some new personnel might be what’s required.

 

Their recent matches showed a better effort with the bat, reaching a respectable 149 against the Stars, and 155 against the Scorchers, but on both occasions, they were easily outgunned.

 

It was refreshing to see Max Bryant back at the top of the order and he smashed out a decent score of 81 (56) against the Scorchers. If only he could deliver that more than once a season! Chris Lynn continues to struggle and maybe he’s just not capable of the form of previous years any longer, while Jimmy Peirson chipped in at the end for the first time this season. Marnus Labuschagne is on the plane to Brisbane and reportedly keen to play, which is rather extraordinary given his Ashes workload and the fact that this match means absolutely nothing to the Heat’s chances of playing finals.

 

The Heat bowling attack has looked stronger with Michael Neser back in the fold, alongside Mark Steketee and James Bazley, however T20 specialist Xavier Bartlett has been squeezed from the line up which seems a bit unfortunate as he adds a lot of depth to the side with both bat and ball. Mitch Swepson has been a great inclusion though with 2-19 from 4 overs against the Scorchers.

 

Meanwhile the Sixers will be looking to win this one to lock up second place on the BBL11 ladder. They would be very disappointed having dropped their last game against the under-manned Strikers, where they were comprehensively beaten.

 

Their batting certainly looks thinner without the experience and consistent James Vince at the top of the order. Relying on Jack Edwards and Justin Avendano to hit a winning score doesn’t seem like a great strategy. Josh Philippe and Moises Henriques have been a little subdued recently, and the Sixers will need them firing for finals time.

 

Nathan Lyon has been added to the Sixers squad, and may be fresh after not bowling any overs the Hobart Test, however reports are that he might’ve fatigued himself in the celebrations off the field, so it remains to be seen whether he will actually play in this match. The Sixers do lack a spinner if Steve O’Keefe is out, so there is potentially a spot there for him.  Look to wicket-taking machines Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis to get stuck into the fragile Heat batting lineup here.

 

Looking for Draftstars scores from previous editions from the BBL? Our Free Players Logs + Ground Fantasy breakdowns are now available in our BBL11 Data Tools

Love It - Michael Neser ($14,000)

Michael Neser looks the best value pick of this contest, with his price sneaking down to just $14,000. Neser is an international quality bowler, and although there’s been a bit of adjustment coming from red-ball cricket to the madness of the BBL, Neser is proven quality and capable of hooping the ball around to pick up bags of wickets. Also capable of some late order hitting which might be required in this one!

 

Love It - Jackson Bird ($12,700)

Hasn’t exactly set the world on fire since coming into the side following injury, but the big Bird is certainly capable of challenging batsmen. He’ll also get some swing with the new ball and coming up against a Heat batting order that is as fickle as they come, Bird is a big chance to get an early wicket or two, and will save you thousands compared to Abbott or Dwarshuis.

 

Don’t Love It - Marnus Labuschagne ($20,100)

I don’t love Marnus here on two levels. Firstly, I don’t love that he’s playing. Yes, we get that he’s a cricket nut, but surely a day or two of rest is deserved and even required here. I just don’t see the point of him playing a random BBL match where the result is meaningless for the Heat. Put him on the shelf for the next red ball series. If he does play, then as the most expensive player on the slate, I don’t feel the need to pay up for someone making such a massive transition from Ashes to BBL.

 

Don’t Love It - Justin Avendano ($9,400)

Top scored last match for the Sixers with a nice fifty at number six in the order. Hopefully some recency bias gets a few cheap buyers on the Avendano express, but that’s a ride I won’t be taking. A streaky player who has struggled at this level, I’d rather save some salary elsewhere.

 

Who Knows - Chris Lynn ($16,500)

Probably the cheapest price Chris Lynn has been for a while, but how can you trust him right now? With just one fifty for the season, and five scores of 10 or less, Lynn just isn’t the same player that he used to be. I’m sure many have jumped off him before now, so you might get him at decent low ownership if he does happen to fire in this one.

 

Suggested Draftstars Line-up

 

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