The Sydney Thunder might have finally got off the bottom of the Big Bash League to become champions last time around, but things aren’t looking so positive heading into the new season with some serious worries over talent and squad depth.
The Thunder, to put it bluntly, had a horror run over the first four seasons of the Big Bash, winning just five of the 32 matches played over the four editions.
2015-16 saw a massive turnaround for the club as they not only avoided the wooden spoon for only the second time after ‘winning’ the worst prize in the comp for each of the first three seasons, but made their maiden appearance in the finals before going on to win the final.
After causing a shock upset to beat the Adelaide Strikers at a packed Adelaide Oval in the semi-final, they went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground and with Usman Khawaja in some incredible form, proceeded to win the final by just three wickets with five balls to spare.
Going back-to-back is a hard thing to do in any sport and for the Thunder to come up trumps this year looks a little far-fetched.
Of course, they weren’t rated a genuine chance by many last season (yours truly included), so it’s no good completely writing them off at this point.
Sydney Thunder factbox
BBL history
BBL|01: 8th place, wooden spoon
BBL|02: 8th place, wooden spoon
BBL|03: 8th place, wooden spoon
BBL|04: 7th place
BBL|05: 4th place, premiersClothing colour: Lime green
Home ground: Spotless Stadium, Homebush
Captain: Shane Watson
Coach: Paddy UptonSquad
Shane Watson (c), Fawad Ahmed, Aiden Blizzard, Patrick Cummins, Jake Doran, Ryan Gibson, Chris Green, Chris Hartley, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Alister McDermott, Clint McKay, Eoin Morgan, Arjun Nair, Kurtis Patterson, Ben Rohrer, Andre Russell, Gurinder SandhuDraw (all times AEDT)
Tuesday, December 20 (7:40pm) vs Sydney Sixers at Spotless Stadium
Thursday, December 22 (7:40pm) vs Melbourne Renegades at Etihad Stadium
Wednesday, December 28 (7:10pm) vs Brisbane Heat at Spotless Stadium
Sunday, January 1 (9:15pm) vs Perth Scorchers at WACA
Wednesday, January 4 (7:10pm) vs Melbourne Stars at Spotless Stadium
Sunday, January 8 (7:10pm) vs Hobart Hurricanes at Blundstone Arena
Saturday, January 14 (6:10pm) vs Sydney Sixers at Sydney Cricket Ground
Wednesday, January 18 (7:40pm) vs Adelaide Strikers at Spotless Stadium
The Thunder might have finally achieved something in the BBL last season, but whether they can keep that going this time around is up in the air.
While they shouldn’t fall back to the bottom of the table, and certainly not to the level they were during the first three editions of the competition, they have lost some very experienced weapons for this campaign.
Even if age was catching up with star batsman Mike Hussey and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, there was no questioning how big the part was that they played in the Thunder’s campaign, with Hussey finishing fourth in the runs department.
The other big blow for the Thunder this year is that Usman Khawaja is going to be able to play very few games for them thanks to his growing status in the Australian Test team.
Last season, Khawaja managed to play four games for the Thunder yet he still ended up with the second-most runs in the tournament, such was his form.
That included a century to guide the Thunder over the line in a tough semi-final chase against the Adelaide Strikers and another 70 against the Melbourne Stars in the final.
Given there is every chance Khawaja will be selected in the ODI team following the Big Bash, it is possible Khawaja will be only available for a game at the absolute most and that is going to hurt the Thunder’s batting.
Losing your three best players from the season before is going to hurt any batting lineup in this competition, and the Thunder will be hoping they can turn to others to stay at the top of the table.
Shane Watson has been pencilled into captain the Thunder with Hussey out of the fold, but he picked up a hamstring injury in a warm-up fixture against Canterbury in New Zealand – what a surprise that must be!
There is a very real danger of Watson missing out on the start of the BBL season because of it and that will really start to test the Thunder’s depth.
Watson is joined by fellow all-rounder Andre Russell. The big-hitting West Indian is currently under a bit of a cloud, waiting for the final outcome of a tribunal hearing into missed drug tests earlier in the year and it could also rule him out.
If he is to play for the Thunder, he could go absolutely ballistic. Consistency might be an issue for the big-hitting West Indian, but clearing the fence certainly isn’t.
Russell is one of the most powerful hitters in world cricket and can flip a match on its head in a matter of balls – team that up with his pace bowling and you have one of the most explosive T20 players on the world circuit.
The key for the Thunder this season will be their bowling and limiting teams to low scores so they are never in a position where they need to chase much, and a lot of the pressure for that will fall on the extremely talented Pat Cummins.
Cummins, who has struggled with injury and didn’t play in the BBL last season, recently made his return to the ODI setup for Australia and impressed, giving himself every opportunity of being picked again at the back end of January against Pakistan.
While that might be the best option for Australia, it could de-rail the Thunder’s BBL campaign – that is unless Clint McKay bowls as well as he did last season.
McKay took out the 2015-16 gong for most wickets in the competition and if he can do the same again then the Thunder will be in a strong position – however, consistency over the last few years has been an issue for McKay.
Given he used to be the best ODI bowler in the world there is no doubting he can do it, but in such an unforgiving environment, being that good two seasons in a row would be a surprise.
The bowling attack will be propped up by Gurinder Sandhu and Alister McDermott while Chris Green and Fawad Ahmed will lead the spin attack.
In terms of batting, the Thunder are reasonably well stocked – but it’s a question of who is actually going to stand up and perform behind Watson and Russell.
Aiden Blizzard has shown plenty over his time in the shortest form of the game and will be expected to open the innings for the green machine while veterans Chris Hartley and Ben Rohrer will add flexibility and plenty of runs.
Rohrer in particular, who should lock down one of the middle order spots, is a little bit of an X-Factor for the Thunder. He has proven his ability to clear the fence at will and close out an innings, something that is so important in the short form of the game.
Joining Rohrer in the middle order will be the in-form Kurtis Patterson, who many thought should have been in the Test side.
The Thunder’s biggest drawcard though may be Englishman Eoin Morgan. While he won’t be able to play a full tournament due to national team commitments in India, he will add plenty early on in the top order and will be a big loss when he leaves.
Whether any of the Thunder’s youngsters – namely Arjun Nair, Jake Doran or Nathan McAndrew – can stand up is another question that needs answering, but even if they do it’s difficult to see the Thunder having enough to make the finals.
It’s difficult to see the Thunder getting to the dizzying heights of last season. They just haven’t got the depth and there is the whole issue of Russell’s availability.
Not having Kallis and Hussey along for the ride is going to hurt their experience and the amount of exposure their youngsters get in the nets – learning from those two would be an absolute dream and they do have plenty of inexperience in the squad.
It’s not that the Thunder don’t have talent, it’s just tough to see them having enough to crack the finals unless Cummins does something special with the ball to ensure they don’t chase big scores.
Sixth.
Don’t forget The Roar will have live coverage and highlights of every single game from the 2016-17 BBL season.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
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