Is this the year for Sydney Thunder to finally make it to the BBL playoffs?
The Sydney franchise has been the most under-performing squad over the last four years of the Big Bash League, with three wooden spoons to their name, before they salvaged their position somewhat last year with a seventh position finish, a place above Brisbane Heat.
Though their town rivals, Sydney Sixers, have won both the BBL and the Champions League T20 once each, and finished runners-up last year, for the Thunder the storyline has been simply pathetic. Huge investments, massive players, three wooden spoons, and no playoffs. Though many expect the trend to go very similar this time around, as well, there are a few bright links, which, in the least, might see them through to the semis.
Refurbished squad
A franchise which has boasted the likes of Chris Gayle, David Warner, Jacques Kallis, and Michael Clarke over the past seasons and spent half their salary cap pursuing big names made key alterations and removed the over-hyped players. This year brought a philosophy of a strong Australian core with quality foreign inputs in Mashrafe Mortaza, Kallis and Andre Russell.
Unlike the past seasons. they brought in true T20 specialists in ex-Melboune Stars fast bowler Clint McKay, Andrew McDonald and Alister McDermot. Shane Watson and Russell’s entry in particular would add the much needed depth to the middle-order, which would again rely on their experienced duo of Michael Hussey and Kallis.at the top.
Their bowling, though, would miss the lightening-quick Pat Cummins, who was quite a visible difference last year and with Gurpreet Sandhu, the best bowler in the Thunder link.
Nevertheless, their all-rounders’ depth would definitely keep them in good stead. Having three potential all-rounders would definitely add a cutting edge to the side, which was transparent in the first game against the Sixers, where they emerged as comprehensive winners.
One signing that would definitley be a plus for them would be that of Ben Rohrer, the ex-Renegades franchise player, who had two tremendous seasons with the Victorian outfit before joining the Thunder. His calm demeanour at the top of the order, with Jacques Kallis would lend a perfect blend to an otherwise deadly batting lineup.
Like the early seasons, they still retain, perhaps, the most formidable batting link in the Big Bash, with good all-rounders’ signings adding tail to the rather cadet bowling department. Their squad, bossed by the ex-India fieding coach, Paddy Upton, still looks the best when compared with stronger teams like the Perth Scorchers and the Adelaide Strikers.
Other teams failure to bring in quality players to help Thunder?
What makes them capable of challenging the rest and make the cut is the way teams like Stars and Sixers have assembled themselves this season. As for the Melbourne outfit, they have again gone for broke splashing gargantuan amounts of money to retain Glenn Maxwell and Luke Wright, who had outrightly failed last season.
The arrival of Sri Lankan veteran Mahela Jayawardena is a pure gamble. In the first game against the Strikers he scored a paltry five. They have hardly improved their bowling link, sticking with their old trusted players in John Hastings, Adam Zampa and Michael Beer.
Likewise, the Sixers also pulled massive gambles in the trade season, only baiting Johan Botha, especially after reports confimed Mitchell Starc got ruled out of the T20I WC. What that means is that the Thunder has strong chances of making the cut, which pre-requisitely needs, at least four wins (and Thunder has got the fisrt one in their kitty).
The Hobart Hurricanes, despite adding the likes of kumar Sangakara as a wicketkeeper-batsman and Darren Sammy, as an all-rounder failed to purchase T20 specailists in the trade season and moreover stuck with Tim Paine, the ex-Aussie wicketkeeper as their skipper with George Bailey in the side.
The only challenge they face in the remaining matches are from the reigning champions, Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers, though they face both of them at home in the Sydney Olympic stadium.
Scorchers will miss several of their key players in Adam Voges and the Marsh brothers, who were selected for the national Test outfit for the Frank-Worrell Trophy against the West Indies. However, their second-tier team of youngsters cannot be taken lightly, with potential candidates in the veteran Brad Hogg and youngster Ashton Agar in the team.
For Agar, he will be itching to prove his skills with a big chance of playing the upcoming World T20 on cards. Same would be the case for James Muirhead, who represented his national team in the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka. Brisbane Heat, last year’s wooden spoon finishers and Hobart Hurricanes look to be the crunching games, where the Scorchers have a good chance of going through.
Unlike the past seasons, the opening game victory at the Spotless Arena has given the Thunder fans plenty of optimism and if the results carry on in the same vein for the next two outings against the Stars and Strikers, they would have put one foot in the semi-finals.