Sydney Thunder

The Sydney Thunder are an Australian franchise professional cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League.[2][3] The team's home ground is Sydney Showground Stadium, known as Giants Stadium. Their team uniform is lime green. Thunder won the fifth edition of Big Bash, as well as the inaugural Women's Big Bash League.[2][3]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Sydney Thunder (WBBL).

Sydney Thunder
Personnel
Captain Callum Ferguson
Coach Shane Bond
Team information
Colours  Lime Green
Founded2011
Home groundANZ Stadium (2011–2014)
Sydney Showground Stadium (2015–present)
CapacityApprox. 21,500[1]
History
BBL wins1 (BBL05)
Official websiteSydney Thunder

T20 kit

2019–20 Sydney Thunder season

History

Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Sydney Thunder are the successors of the New South Wales Blues who played in the now-defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. The NSW Cricket board unanimously decided on lime green as the team's colour, though other colours were considered, and rejected as being too close to other Sydney sports teams.[2] Cricket Australia did not allow Cricket NSW to use the sky blue colour traditionally associated with New South Wales sports teams.

The team made their debut in the 2011-12 Big Bash League season – the inaugural season of the Big Bash League. The team performed poorly in its first years in the competition, finishing last in each of its first three seasons and second last in its fourth season.

From 2011 to 2014, the Thunder's home ground was ANZ Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park.[4] The team played their final two games of the 2014-15 Big Bash League season at Sydney Showground Stadium after they were unable to use ANZ Stadium due to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup association football tournament. In June 2015, the Thunder announced they would leave ANZ Stadium and play all home games at Sydney Showground Stadium until the 2024–25 BBL season.[1]

The 2015–16 Big Bash League season marked the first year in which the Thunder finished in the top half of the table, finishing 4th overall. Having won the first three games of the season and boasting a squad including Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja and Jacques Kallis, The Thunder soon became the favourites to win the tournament. However, the Thunder lost their following four games and it looked as if they were set to miss out on the finals. In their final game of the 2015–16 Big Bash League season, the Thunder defeated the Sixers for only the second time in their history to book a finals berth. The Thunder faced the Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval in the first semi final, winning convincingly. The Thunder then faced the Stars in the Finals the Melbourne Stars. The final was played at Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 January 2016 and resulted in the Thunder's defeat of the Melbourne Stars. The Sydney Thunder franchise also swept the titles as the women's team won the inaugural women's title hours ago on the same ground by the same margin with the same number of balls remaining (3 wickets with 3 balls remaining).[5] The men's game also featured a battle of two captains as brothers Michael and David Hussey went against each other on their mother's birthday.[6]

Michael Hussey announced his retirement from domestic cricket during BBL05, at the conclusion of the tournament he was announced the club's Director of Cricket, responsible for managing recruitment, contracts, facilities and scouting for the BBL squad.

Sydney Thunder were the most watched sports team in Australia during 2015/16 with an average TV audience of 1.2m.

Shane Watson was elected to captain the side in 2016.[7][8]

Role in the community

MoneyGram Thunder Nation Cup

The MoneyGram Thunder Nation Cup gives cricket players from seven cultural backgrounds the chance to experience the fun and excitement of Twenty20 cricket, whilst representing their community. The winning team from each community cricket round will represent their country in the MoneyGram Thunder Nation Cup Semi Finals, with the two winners of the semi-finals playing off in a Grand Final prior to a Sydney Thunder match at Spotless Stadium.

Thunder Bus

The Thunder Bus travels around schools and cricket club in Sydney and Regional NSW, it has an interactive quiz and inflatable nets. The Thunder Bus directly engaged with 100,000 children aged between 5- 12 during this period and was seen by over 1 Million people.

Personnel

Sydney Thunder, like every other team, had a salary cap of $1 million for the first season of the Big Bash League, but in that season they spent almost half of the salary cap on the explosive opening combination of Chris Gayle and David Warner. Gayle was pursued by Perth Scorchers but he rejected an offer of $250,000 to stay with the New South Wales team.[9][10]

Sydney Smash

When the league began in 2011, Cricket Australia decided they would place two teams in Sydney. With the core group of players for both sides coming from the New South Wales cricket team, this rivalry automatically becomes widely anticipated in Sydney. In the first four seasons of the BBL the Thunder lost all seven Sydney Derby games to the Sixers. However, in the first match of the fifth Big Bash League, the Thunder scored their first win against the Sixers, breaking the hoodoo set in place by their rivals in Magenta. The season also marked the first time the Thunder beat the Sixers in both games contested during the season.[11] As at 2020, all subsequent seasons have had one win by each team.

List of Sydney Smash matches
No. Date Winner Margin Venue Attendance MoM
1
8 January 2012
Sixers
17 Runs (D/L)ANZ Stadium31,262Mitchell Starc
2
8 December 2012
Sixers
7 WicketsSCG15,279Brad Haddin
3
30 December 2012
Sixers
4 WicketsANZ Stadium20,986Daniel Hughes
4
21 December 2013
Sixers
6 WicketsSCG18,180Nic Maddinson
5
25 January 2014
Sixers
8 WicketsANZ Stadium25,726Nathan Lyon
6
27 December 2014
Sixers
16 RunsANZ Stadium32,823Aiden Blizzard
7
22 January 2015
Sixers
4 WicketsSCG36,487Jordan Silk
8
17 December 2015
Thunder
36 RunsSpotless Stadium18,287Michael Hussey
9
16 January 2016
Thunder
46 RunsSCG38,456Shane Watson
10
20 December 2016
Sixers
9 WicketsSpotless Stadium21,798Moises Henriques
11
14 January 2017
Thunder
8 WicketsSCG39,756Fawad Ahmed
12
19 December 2017
Thunder
5 WicketsSpotless Stadium21,589Shane Watson
13
13 January 2018
Sixers
8 WicketsSCG36,458Chris Green
14
24 December 2018
Thunder
21 RunsSpotless Stadium10,508Jos Buttler
15
2 February 2019
Sixers
9 Wickets (D/L)SCG34,385Sean Abbott
16
28 December 2019
Sixers
Super OverSCG35,296Tom Curran
17
18 January 2020
Thunder
4 Runs (D/L)Giants Stadium15,476Chris Morris
18
13 January 2021
Sixers
5 Wickets (D/L)Manuka OvalSteve O'Keefe

2020–21 BBL squad
S/N Name Nat. Date of birth (age) Batting style Bowling style Notes
Batsmen
9Oliver Davies (2000-10-15) 15 October 2000Right-handedRight-arm off break
12Callum Ferguson (1984-11-21) 21 November 1984Right-handedRight arm mediumInternational Cap & Captain
18Usman Khawaja (1986-12-18) 18 December 1986Left-handedRight-arm mediumInternational Cap
6Alex Hales (1989-01-05) 5 January 1989Right-handedRight arm mediumInternational Cap
49Alex Ross (1992-04-17) 17 April 1992Right-handedRight-arm off-break
32Jason Sangha (1999-09-08) 8 September 1999Right-handedRight arm leg spin
All-rounders
93Chris Green (1993-10-01) 1 October 1993Right-handedRight arm off-break
24Arjun Nair (1998-04-12) 12 April 1998Right-handedRight arm off-break
44Nathan McAndrew (1993-07-14) 14 July 1993Right-handedRight-arm fast medium
60Daniel Sams (1992-10-27) 27 October 1992Right-handedLeft-arm fast mediumInternational Cap
31Ben Cutting (1987-01-30) 30 January 1987Right-handedRight-arm fast medium
Wicket-keepers
7Sam Billings (1991-06-15) 15 June 1991Right-HandedRight-arm mediumVisa contract & International Cap
22Matt Gilkes (1999-08-21) 21 August 1999Left-HandedLeft-arm medium
16Baxter Holt (1999-10-21) 21 October 1999Right-handedRight-arm medium
Fast Bowlers
35Brendan Doggett (1994-05-03) 3 May 1994Right-handedRight-arm fast medium
10Adam Milne (1992-04-13) 13 April 1992Right-handedRight-arm fast mediumVisa contract & International Cap
20Chris Tremain (1991-08-10) 10 August 1991Right-handedRight-arm fast mediumInternational Cap
Spin bowlers
50Jono Cook (1989-12-14) 14 December 1989Right-handedRight arm leg spin
17Tanveer Sangha (2001-11-26) 26 November 2001Right-handedRight arm leg spin

Year-by-year record
Year Finishing Position Finals
2011–12 8th DNQ
2012–13 8th DNQ
2013–14 8th DNQ
2014–15 7th DNQ
2015–16 4th Champions
2016–17 8th DNQ
2017–18 6th DNQ
2018–19 6th DNQ
2019–20 5th 3rd

Captains list
[12] Name Years captain Captained Won Lost Tied[*] NR %[**]
1 David Warner 2011 1 1 0 0 0 100.00%
2 Daniel Smith 2011–2012 6 1 5 0 0 16.66%
3 Chris Rogers 2012 6 0 6 0 0 0%
4 Chris Gayle 2013 2 0 2 0 0 0%
5 Michael Hussey 2013–2016 23 9 14 0 0 39.13%
6 Chris Hartley 2015 2 0 1 0 1 0%
7 Shane Watson 2016–2019 31 13 17 0 1 43.33%
8 Ben Rohrer 2016 2 0 2 0 0 0%
9 Callum Ferguson 2019– 14 6 6 1 1 50.00%

^* Includes matches determined by a Super Over ^** Ties counted as half a win

Honours

Domestic

Sponsors

Sydney Thunder are sponsored by Mazda, Transport for NSW, Homeworld, Sydney Water and Moneygram for the BBL06 season.[13]

BBL Team Sponsors:

Years Kit Manufacturers Chest Sponsor Breast Sponsor
2011–12 KooGa Cudo
2012–13 Webjet University of Canberra
2013–14
2014–15 Majestic Athletic Mazda Spot Jobs
2015–16 Homeworld
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20

WBBL Team Sponsors:

Years Kit Manufactures Chest Sponsor Breast Sponsor Back Sponsor
2015–16 Majestic Athletic Rebel Sports X Venture X Venture
2016–17 Mazda Homeworld
2017–18
2018–19 Mazda Homeworld
2019–20 Ring.com

Imported players

The following players have been imported to play for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League:[14]

Sydney Thunder imported players in the Big Bash League
BBLPlayerCountry
BBL06Carlos BrathwaiteWest Indies
BBL08Jos ButlerEngland
BBL04Cameron DelportSouth Africa
BBL08Anton DevcichNew Zealand
BBL03Tillakaratne DilshanSri Lanka
BBL01Fidel EdwardsWest Indies
BBL01 – BBL02Chris GayleWest Indies
BBL02Martin GuptillNew Zealand
BBL08Chris JordanEngland
BBL04 – BBL05Jacques KallisSouth Africa
BBL04 +Craig KieswetterEngland
BBL07Mitchell McClenaghanNew Zealand
BBL01Azhar MahmoodPakistan
BBL03Ajantha MendisSri Lanka
BBL03 and BBL06Eoin MorganIreland/England
BBL05Henry NichollsNew Zealand
BBL02Matt PriorEngland
BBL08Joe RootEngland
BBL04Jason RoyEngland
BBL05Andre RussellWest Indies
BBL06James VinceEngland
BBL03Chris WoakesEngland

+= Did not play a game

See also

References
  1. "Sydney Thunder Announce Spotless Stadium As New Home Ground". Sydney Thunder. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  2. Wu, Andrew (15 March 2011). "Sydney Thunder to clash with Sixers in Big Bash". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  3. "New Twenty20 Big Bash league to feature teams in pink, orange and purple as tradition is abandoned". Fox Sports (Australia). 6 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  4. "BBL team names and colours". 6 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  5. "Thunder claim the first WBBL title". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  6. "Thunder toast historic double". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  7. WATSON REPLACES FUSSEY AS THUNDER CAPTAIN
  8. Watson to skipper Thunder
  9. "Chris Gayle signs for Sydney Thunder in Big Bash League". Herald Sun. 30 June 2011.
  10. GAYLE JOINS WARNER AT THUNDER Bigbash.com.au. Archived 5 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Thunder Nation Made Proud At Spotless". Sydney Thunder.
  12. "Big Bash League - Sydney Thunder / Records / Most matches as captain". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media Ltd. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  13. "Sydney Thunder Website".
  14. "Sydney Thunder Website".
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