daily fantasy sports articles

BBL08 heads to Sydney on Wednesday night where the Sydney Thunder will take on the Perth Scorchers at Spotless Stadium. Both teams should be hungry coming off losses at their most recent match, with the Thunder falling 20 runs short of the Strikers and the Scorchers getting destroyed by the Hurricanes in Launceston.

For just $2 on every home and away game of BBL08 you can win entry to the first ever live final in Australian DFS history with the Draftstars “Biggest Bash” contest. If you take first place in the qualifier you win the chance to compete for a $50,000 first prize as well as flights and accommodation to Crown Melbourne for a VIP event on February 17. Check out our interview with Jason Knox aka “Knoxinator”, who won the first qualifier this season with just one lineup entered!

New to Big Bash DFS? Picking the right games to play is a vital skill in wining yourself some cash. There are a number of sites offering a wide range of contests so we have an article breaking down all the contests on offer.

We also have full profiles of the squads of all eight Big Bash teams, so you can read up on any of the Sydney Thunder or Perth Scorchers players you may not be familiar with prior to building your lineups.

Spotless Stadium is one of the lowest-scoring venues in the country when it comes to BBL, producing the second-lowest runs per wicket and lowest runs per over figure of all the major grounds. Batting first has often been an advantage as the pitch can slow up as the match wears on and the figures back that up, so targeting batsmen early and bowlers late in the game may have some merit. In the only game here this season the Thunder put up 169 and never looked like being beaten, with only some late hitting from the Sixers getting them within 21 runs.

This season at DFR we are providing Draftstars Cheat Sheets for the 13 players named in each squad, offering projections and a salary-based value figure. Cricket is a volatile DFS sport so player scores can vary greatly from match to match, however we aim to provide a figure based on historical data as a starting point for your lineup construction.

BATSMEN

It might sound like a broken record but whenever the Thunder play you immediately look to Jos Buttler ($18,000) and Shane Watson ($12,300) as they key batsmen. Buttler has been in terrific form and scored a blistering 63 off 37 balls in their game here earlier in the season. The Scorchers have a very good bowling attack which is something to keep in mind but if you want to spend up on Thunder batsmen, these are the two players at the top of your list.

Ashton Agar ($13,500) was one of the few shining lights against the Hurricanes, making 32 in the middle order and taking 2/19 off his four overs to score 120 fantasy points. His performance have been inconsistent this season but generally due to a lack of opportunity with bat or ball. Slower bowlers can thrive at Spotless so expect him to get his overs with the ball and the struggling Scorchers top order means he may get to face plenty of balls again. His upside is massive at this price but he always comes with a little risk with his role.

On a low-scoring ground it can be prudent to play bowling all-rounders in your batting slots and Chris Green ($14,200) fits the bill here. Despite only taking 2 wickets so far this season, he has earned bonus economy points in three of his four games and can add to his score with some late hitting when he comes in generally around no. 7. He is yet to have a dominant performance but he doesn’t often end up with a lineup-killing score and is still averaging 46 fantasy points which is solid enough at this salary.

BOWLERS

Daniel Sams ($19,000) has been superb this season as a genuine all-rounder and has gone above 97 fantasy points in three of his four games so far. He is a strong hitter who has faced at least 8 balls in every innings batting at no. 6 and is the team’s leading pace bowler so his upside is massive. His salary has caught up to his performances to some degree but when it comes to raw points, he is one of the leading options in the match.

Fawad Ahmed ($12,000) has been a bit plain so far this season with an average of just 22.5 but it is important to note he took a bag of 3 wickets in his match at this ground against the Sixers. The resulting 70 fantasy points would be a big win at this salary and his performance at Spotless in past seasons have also been his best. The Scorchers have been noticeably poor with the bat this season so this looks a nice spot for Ahmed to return to his best.

The best thing the Scorchers have had going for them this season has been their pace battery. Jason Behrendorff ($16,900) is arguably the leader of the attack and his price has come back to an attractive level after only bowling 2 overs in their big loss to the Hurricanes. His economy is excellent and prior to that match he had taken two wickets in each game so he is more than capable of reaching value at this salary.

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