BBL 2021/22 - Sydney Thunder Team Preview

Name: Sydney Thunder
Captain: Usman Khawaja
Head Coach: Trevor Bayliss
Home Ground: Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney
Squad members: 18 (15 + 3 overseas)
Best result: Champions in BBL 2015–16
BBL 2020/21 result: 4th after playoffs

This has been one of the better teams in terms of strength on paper but they’ve only ever made one BBL final till date, which of course they won. That 100% BBL finals record is something they’ll want to test this year and go a couple of steps further than what they did last season. Sydney Thunder finished 3rd on the BBL 2020 points table but then lost the first game in the BBL 2020 playoffs.

The batting line up gets a little dented as they’ve released Callum Ferguson who is one of the most experienced players in BBL history and with 405 runs in BBL 2020, he was Thunder’s second highest run scorer. While they have a couple of in-form batsmen, there will be dependence on local batters like Alex Ross, Ollie Davies, and others. We saw a great cameo from Davies last year but consistency will be key.

The reason we saw that the top order is in good hands because captain Usman Khawaja will be at the top and he got 300+ runs last season too. While he hasn’t played at the international level since a while now, a couple of fifties and a couple of centuries in his last 4 FC games shows that he’s in great touch. With 2019 being his last game for the national side, he’ll have a lot of points to prove to the selectors too.

And Khawaja isn’t even going to be the biggest threat with the bat. Alex Hales has been fabulous in the last couple of seasons of this tournament, ending as the top scorer in BBL 2020 with 543 runs in 15 games, also being one of two batsmen to get a century that season. His England career may be past him but he’s continuously knocking on the doors, and is sure to be among the top scorers in BBL 2021/22 too.

He’s one of three overseas signings for Sydney Thunder and they love the Englishmen, with their other two overseas picks also from England. There’s Sam Billings who got 260 runs last season but he will need to be used better, being a really smart T20 cricketer. Saqib Mahmood though is likely to be picked ahead of him if there’s a limit of just two overseas players per BBL franchise.

Mahmood has been one of the leading white ball wicket takers from England in the last couple of years, with experience of playing in multiple T20 and franchise leagues. It’s going to be his first BBL season and we’re sure he’s going to make the playing eleven because they don’t have the best pace bowling attack. Chris Tremain will be one of the leading pacers while Daniel Sams is one of their x-factor players.

Sydney Thunder – BBL 2021/22 Betting

While Aussie pitches don’t always support spinners, Tanveer Sangha was brilliant last season with 21 wickets in 15 games and he got a 4-fer in his last List A game for New South Wales as well. If you’re into sports betting online, get on to Betway and try out a bet on him to be their top bowler in BBL 11, while if you think this team can go all the way this season, they’re up at attractive pre-tournament odds of 8.0!

We mentioned Sams as the threat because he got 200 runs and 11 wickets in his 10 appearances in BBL 2020, and his BBL form saw him bag an IPL contract and also a call up to the national side. Ollie Davies as we mentioned above could be an x-factor with the bat while if you want a trusted and experience campaigner (who hasn’t always performed to potential in BBL history), they’ve got the big hitting Ben Cutting in their side too.

Sydney THUNDER BBL 2021/22 squad: Usman Khawaja (C), Jonathan Cook, Daniel Sams, Ben Cutting, Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain, Baxter Holt, Jason Sangha, Alex Hales (Ovr), Sam Billings (Ovr), Saqib Mahmood (Ovr).

For more updates on the progress of Sydney Thunder in BBL 11, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…

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