Fantasy musts have, the maybes & the maybe nots!
Would you believe it that tomorrow marks the halfway point of the season already. Whilst on the field results for our adult teams have been mixed, off the field has been utterly dominated by Woolfy. All is not lost though, as prizes are still available for July and August manager of the months. With that, congratulations to Rhianna who got off to a hot start and won May.
The must have!
Having been earmarked as potential flops of the season, both Richard Wyatt (£5.6m) and Stephen Woolf (£5.2m) have had bees in their bonnets all season long to prove yours truly wrong. Helped by exceptional availability, with only one game missed between them, they are both ranked in the top 5 of overall point scorers. Therefore, they are proving to be true cornerstones of any fantasy team. Richie Wyatt has been in true run-scoring form and is yet to register a single digit score all year. Meanwhile, having donned the gloves for most of the season so far, Woolfy has added another string to his bow in with eight catches and stumping in addition to his exemplary run scoring form of two 50s.
Another must have is Ramesh Gunalan (£8.7m) and is currently criminally only owned by 33% of owners. With two game week scores of above 100, is a definitely an easy set and forget captaincy option. If he doesn’t deliver with the bat, then he will deliver with the ball. With 255 runs & 12 wickets, he goes into this weekend with full confidence as he takes on a Stock bowling line up he has had a decent record against in the past.
The maybes!
Making their season debut for the club, it is worth keeping an eye on Musab Asif (£3m) & Qasim Asif (£2.5m). With ownership very low on these players, they will be sure fire bolters for any owners looking for pure differentials. Whilst going straight into the 1st XI could put owners off on face aspect, the skills of these boys are ones not to be underestimated. It is worth noting that Qasim warmed up nicely last Sunday in his U16 match taking 5-33 with his masterful trickery, bamboozling all batters in his way.
Another transfer option is that of Hadi Shaikh (£1.5m). Another spinner who will look to get amongst the wickets and will look to build on the 2 wickets he picked up on 2nd team debut a couple of weeks ago. On top of this, he went at a miserly 2.75 runs per over on Wednesday in the adult T20 match. Therefore, whilst points with the bat might produce a low return, points will the ball have a huge ceiling.
The maybe nots! (Transfer OUT!)
Having started the season in red hot form bagging 5 wickets in the second week, David Baxter (£2.1m) has cooled off in recent weeks scoring on 57 points in the last five weeks. Therefore, I would advise either transferring him out or looking at other budget options to avoid feeling ‘trapped’ by holding him.
Finally, one player to consider transferring out is Chris Huartson (£10m). The hefty price tag is certainly weighing heavy on his shoulders. With the lack of bowling action this summer (only 3 wickets so far), it has meant a reliance on his run scoring to deliver those valuable points. Whilst in recent weeks, he has got himself starts having returned to the top order, the return on points is as great as those player priced around him. A recommendation would be to transfer out and spread funds across your team.