The Sydney Thunder are former winners of the Big Bash League and they will be looking to regain the crown over the course of BBL09. Consistency is not something you can throw at the way of the Thunder. They have either won this tournament or stunk the place out so the first thing they will be looking to do over the course of this season is establish themselves early. Once they have done that their talent can flow and who knows how far they can go in their pursuit of the title.
Stats
Last Season: 6th
Captain: Callum Ferguson
Overseas Players: Alex Hales & Chris Morris
Key Player: Usman Khawaja
Best Odds: 9/1 General
Predicted Finishing Position: 3rd
Fixtures
Tuesday December 17 – Brisbane Heat (a)
Thursday December 19 – Melbourne Renegades (a)
Saturday December 21 – Adelaide Strikers (h)
Saturday December 28 – Sydney Sixers (a)
Tuesday December 31 – Adelaide Strikers (a)
Thursday January 2 – Melbourne Stars (h)
Monday January 6 – Brisbane Heat (h)
Wednesday January 8 – Melbourne Stars (a)
Saturday January 11 – Hobart Hurricanes (h)
Wednesday January 15 – Melbourne Renegades (h)
Saturday January 18 – Sydney Sixers (h)
Monday January 20 – Perth Scorchers (a)
Friday January 24 – Hobart Hurricanes (a)
Sunday January 26 – Perth Scorchers (h)
Squad
Callum Ferguson (c), Jono Cook, Oliver Davies, Matthew Gilkes (wk), Chris Green, Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Jay Lenton (wk), Nathan McAndrew, Chris Morris, Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain
Preview
The Sydney Thunder continue to flatter to deceive but there might not be any excuses for them this season as they are not hindered by a plethora of international call ups and they have a couple of overseas players who should lift the quality and who are here for the whole season. They have strengthened with the bat and should enjoy a better season with the willow as a result.
The question marks come over whether their bowling attack is good or enough. Time will tell on whether it is or it isn’t. On paper it looks strong enough but these events aren’t played on that. Chris Morris, Chris Tremain and Chris Green offer solid foundations with the ball, and they are loaded with young options. Expect a better campaign from the Thunder.
Betting
I’ll go with one bet for the Sydney Thunder over the course of the tournament. I was hoping that we would get a wrong price about Usman Khawaja but the odds compilers are seemingly clued up on what he offers this side so I’ll leave the batting alone and focus more on the bowlers, where there could be a dark horse at a decent enough price.
Arjun Nair only bowled in three matches for the Sydney Thunder last season, taking three wickets in those games at a strike rate of one every 10 balls and given that he gave something of an all-round masterclass in a warm up match over the weekend I fancy he’ll be involved from the start here and if he is, and that strike rate can be maintained, or something close to it, then it is going to take a lot to stop him. Chris Morris misses the opening match which isn’t ideal and Daniel Sams only took 15 wickets playing the whole season last term. I’ll have a little nibble on the right arm offie.
Tips
Back A.Nair Top Sydney Thunder Season Bowler for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfred
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