THE FINAL club in our 2022/23 BBL Club Preview series is the Sydney Thunder, who were a tier below the eventual winners last season but still managed to demonstrate how close they are to claiming a second title.

In BBL|11, the Thunder were one of the top sides in the competition, but found themselves outclassed in the postseason by the grand finalists and could not make the big dance.

However, there is still plenty of optimism surrounding the Thunder’s prospects this season, and a better gauge of where the team is at will be seen when Sydney kicks off the season against the Stars next Tuesday night.

Sydney Thunder

2021/22 record – nine wins, five losses

The Thunder were one of the form teams of the competition last campaign, finishing in the top three and looking a solid chance in the postseason given the strength of their roster. After winning two of their first five, the Thunder were able to string together a winning streak behind the big batting efforts of Sam Billings and Jason Sangha.

Sydney won seven of its last nine games in a barnstorming effort to make the top three on the eve of the finals. However, its stint in the postseason was short-lived, falling to the Adelaide Strikers in the knockout stage and bringing a promising season to a premature close.

Sangha was the team’s leading run-scorer with 445, often boasting a strong strike rate and progressively getting cheap wickets out of his game as the fixture rolled on. On the other end of the game, Daniel Sams continued to find scalps, leading the side with 19, as the left-arm pace bowler used swing to rattle the stumps on plenty of occasions.

The Thunder looked to have nailed the BBL Draft, selecting England left-armer David Willey, who was set to be available for the entire tournament, a rarity in Big Bash Cricket. However, it ended up backfiring as Willey withdrew from the tournament in November, with no reason given.

Instead, the side added Fazalhaq Farooqi and Usman Qadir, boosting their bowling attack. The team’s second and third selections in the draft in Alex Hales and Rilee Rossouw set to bolster the team’s batting lineup, as will David Warner, who should bring plenty of runs when available.

The Thunder bowed out in disappointing fashion last season, but some additions from both a batting and bowling perspective could see Sydney a genuine chance to see BBL title number two.

BBL|12 roster

Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Usman Qadir, Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner