Sydney Thunder

Sydney Thunder are an Australian professional cricket team, competing in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL).  Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Thunder are the successors of the New South Wales Blues who played in the now-defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.

They play their home games at Sydney Showground Stadium, known as Spotless Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park while the Sixers play their home games at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

History:

2011-2012 season:

The Thunder started the inaugural season on a stunning note. They crushed Melbourne Stars by six wickets in their season-opener. In the following game, they crushed Adelaide Strikers by the same margin. However, the start of the season was not the precursor of the things that were to follow. The Thunder went on to lose all their remaining games and ended with the wooden spoon after managing just two wins in seven games.

2012-2013 season:

If the inaugural season was a disastrous one for the Thunder, then the 2012-13 was an absolute nightmare. They once again failed to do well in the league and ended the season at the bottom after failing to not win even a solitary game.

2013-2014 season:

After finishing at the bottom for the first two seasons of the league, Thunder were in desperate need of a good show. However, what followed was yet another disappointing season. They lost their first six games and once again ended the season at the bottom spot after winning just one game in 8.

2014-2015 season:

The first three seasons of the BBL were an absolute nightmare for the Thunder. They had managed to win only three games in the first three seasons and had finished at the bottom on every occasion. They started the fourth season with a win over Brisbane Heat but soon started finding themselves on the wrong end of the results.  They eventually ended the season with 2 wins and managed to avoid the wooden spoon only to finish at the seventh position.

2015-2016 season:

After four disappointing seasons, the Thunder finally put in an effort worth mentioning. They had finished at the bottom of the league in the first three seasons and had finished at second-bottom in the fourth. However, they came up with a solid performance in the fifth to not only progress to the semifinals but went on to win their maiden BBL trophy. The Thunder made it to the finals after winning four of the eight games in the league stage. In the semifinal, they beat table-toppers Adelaide Strikers by eight wickets before beating Melbourne Stars by 3 wickets in the title-decider.

2016-2017 season:

The Thunder started their title-defence in poor fashion, losing to city rivals Sydney Sixers by 9 wickets. Their fortunes did not change in the following games either as they lost to Melbourne Renegades, Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers to remain winless in the first four games.  They then went on to win the next three games but it did not make much of a difference as they ended the season with the wooden spoon once again after managing just three wins in eight games.

2017-2018 season:

The seventh season of the competition saw the teams playing ten games instead of eight like the previous seasons. The Thunder never got the momentum and missed out on the semifinal spot after managing just four wins in ten games.

Here are some other details about the team:

Most runs:

 

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave
UT Khawaja	2011-2018	24	24	956	109*	50.31
MEK Hussey	2013-2016	23	23	741	96	39
SR Watson	2015-2018	26	26	670	77	26.8
KR Patterson	2013-2018	25	23	438	48	19.9
AC Blizzard	2014-2018	21	18	390	80*	26
CH Gayle	2011-2013	14	14	389	100*	29.92
BJ Rohrer	2015-2018	28	26	386	48	24.12
JH Kallis	2014-2016	16	16	372	97*	28.61
EJG Morgan	2013-2017	13	13	318	71*	31.8
AD Russell	2015-2017	15	13	210	46	17.5
JC Buttler	2017-2018	6	6	202	81	33.66
DP Hughes	2013-2015	13	11	179	40*	19.88
DA Warner	2011-2013	2	2	152	102*	152
JM Vince	2017-2018	6	6	149	44	24.83
CJ Green	2015-2018	27	17	149	49	11.46
RGL Carters	2012-2014	16	15	144	33*	13.09
PJ Cummins	2014-2017	11	8	142	39	35.5
RJ Gibson	2016-2018	13	10	131	53	14.55
SA Abbott	2011-2013	14	11	130	39	16.25
JS Floros	2011-2014	12	11	120	37*	17.14
AJ Nair	2016-2018	13	10	113	45	18.83
CJ Ferguson	2017-2018	7	6	102	37	20.4
MJ Cosgrove	2012-2015	6	6	87	22	14.5
CJL Rogers	2012-2012	6	6	87	24	14.5
SJ Coyte	2011-2014	13	8	85	33	14.16
SJC Keen	2012-2013	5	5	66	24	13.2
AB McDonald	2014-2016	6	5	66	23	13.2
JS Lenton	2017-2018	9	4	64	23	21.33
TM Dilshan	2014-2014	4	4	62	46	15.5
BR Dunk	2011-2012	7	7	59	19*	9.83
CJ McKay	2015-2017	17	8	55	14*	18.33
DLR Smith	2011-2012	7	7	44	21	6.28
CP Tremain	2012-2015	12	6	42	37*	14
CJ Borgas	2012-2014	7	7	39	11	5.57
HM Nicholls	2016-2016	2	2	38	35*	38
CD Hartley	2014-2016	17	6	37	23	9.25
GS Sandhu	2012-2018	32	10	37	11*	6.16
MJ Prior	2012-2013	4	4	32	17	8
CS Delport	2015-2015	1	1	30	30	30
MR Day	2012-2012	1	1	29	29*	–
TJ Armstrong	2012-2012	3	2	29	25	14.5
Azhar Mahmood	2012-2012	3	3	25	23	8.33
CS Sandri	2013-2013	2	2	22	13	22
MJ Guptill	2012-2012	1	1	20	20	20
JJ Roy	2015-2015	3	3	18	14*	9
A Zampa	2012-2013	6	5	18	8	3.6
TD Cruickshank	2011-2012	3	3	17	15	5.66
AJ Tye	2014-2014	3	2	16	9	8
BAW Mendis	2014-2014	3	2	13	8	6.5
NM Hauritz	2014-2015	8	1	12	12	12

 

Most wickets:

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Wkts	BBI	Econ
GS Sandhu	2012-2018	32	32	111.3	2	31	3/19	1/6
Fawad Ahmed	2015-2018	28	28	99	1	27	4/14	1/5
DP Nannes	2012-2015	20	20	72.1	1	23	4/17	1/6
CJ McKay	2015-2017	17	17	55.5	1	22	4/28	1/7
CJ Green	2015-2018	27	27	88	0	22	3/27	1/6
AD Russell	2015-2017	15	15	55.4	1	19	3/13	1/6
SR Watson	2015-2018	26	22	64	0	19	3/13	1/7
CP Tremain	2012-2015	12	12	43.2	0	12	2/27	1/7
PJ Cummins	2014-2017	11	11	41.4	0	11	2/21	1/7
MJ McClenaghan	2017-2018	10	10	39.2	0	11	2/19	1/8
JH Kallis	2014-2016	16	14	44	0	10	2/18	1/5
SA Abbott	2011-2013	14	14	37.4	0	10	2/17	1/7
AJ Nair	2016-2018	13	11	33	0	9	3/36	7.33
SJ Coyte	2011-2014	13	13	43.1	1	8	2/14	1/6
JK Lalor	2015-2015	5	5	13.4	1	7	4/29	1/7
CR Brathwaite	2017-2017	3	3	11	0	6	3/21	1/6
FH Edwards	2011-2012	5	5	20	0	6	2/33	7.65
NM Hauritz	2014-2015	8	8	18.3	0	6	2/34	9.02
CH Gayle	2011-2013	14	13	27	0	6	2/5	1/6
A Zampa	2012-2013	6	6	18.2	0	5	3/26	1/7
LA Doran	2011-2013	10	10	28	0	5	2/26	1/5
AB McDonald	2014-2016	6	4	6	0	4	3/20	1/8
LR Butterworth	2011-2012	4	4	11.4	0	4	2/27	1/6
LW Feldman	2013-2014	5	5	18	0	4	2/43	8.16
BAW Mendis	2014-2014	3	3	12	0	3	2/15	1/5
ND Bills	2012-2012	1	1	4	0	2	2/44	11
DE Bollinger	2011-2011	2	2	6	0	2	2/22	1/7
CS Sandri	2013-2013	2	2	6	0	2	1/20	1/7
CR Woakes	2013-2013	2	2	8	0	2	1/31	1/6
AJ Tye	2014-2014	3	3	11	0	2	1/20	1/6
Azhar Mahmood	2012-2012	3	3	9	0	2	2/18	1/7
IA Moran	2015-2015	1	1	1	0	1	1/19	1/18
BS Dean	2013-2013	1	1	2	0	1	1/29	1/13
SJC Keen	2012-2013	5	2	4	0	1	1/28	1/8
AR Beadle	2015-2015	3	2	8	0	1	1/39	7.62
AL Fekete	2017-2017	3	3	9.5	0	1	1/37	9.55
RJG Lockyear	2012-2012	1	1	1	0	0	–	6
TA Copeland	2012-2012	1	1	2	0	0	–	10
MR Day	2012-2012	1	1	2	0	0	–	12.5
N McAndrew	2016-2016	2	2	4	0	0	–	8.75
TM Dilshan	2014-2014	4	2	6.1	0	0	–	9.24
JS Floros	2011-2014	12	5	13	0	0	–	7.92

 

Most dismissals as wicketkeeper:

 

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	Stumping
RGL Carters	2012-2014	16	16	14	12	2
CD Hartley	2014-2016	17	17	11	8	3
JC Buttler	2017-2018	6	6	5	5	0
JS Lenton	2017-2018	9	9	4	2	2
BR Dunk	2011-2012	7	7	2	2	0
JR Doran	2015-2016	4	4	0	0	0

 

Current squad:

 

Fawad Ahmed

Jos Buttler (OS)

Patrick Cummins

Callum Ferguson

Ryan Gibson

Chris Green

Liam Hatcher

Usman Khawaja

Jay Lenton

Nathan McAndrew

Arjun Nair

Kurtis Patterson

Sam Rainbird

Joe Root (OS)

Daniel Sams

Gurinder Sandhu

Jason Sangha

Shane Watson

Chris Jordan

Anton Devcich

 

*Stats and squad updated before the start of BBL 2018-19