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The Sydney Thunder is an Australian men's professional franchise cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 (T20) cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Thunder is the successor to the New South Wales Blues which played in the now-defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. Since the inaugural 2011–12 Big Bash League season, the Thunder have won one title, and appeared in two finals.
Contents
History
Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Sydney Thunder is the successor to the New South Wales Blues which played in the now-defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. The NSW Cricket board unanimously decided on lime green as the team's colour, though other colours were considered, and rejected as being too close to other Sydney sports teams. Cricket Australia did not allow Cricket NSW to use the sky blue colour traditionally associated with New South Wales sports teams.
The team made its debut in the 2011-12 Big Bash League season – the inaugural season of the Big Bash League. The team performed poorly in its first few years in the competition, finishing last in each of its first three seasons and second last in its fourth season.
From 2011 to 2014, the Thunder's home ground was Stadium Australia in Sydney Olympic Park. The team played its final two games of the 2014-15 Big Bash League season at Sydney Showground Stadium after it was unable to use Stadium Australia due to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup association football tournament. In June 2015, the Thunder announced the team would leave Stadium Australia and play all home games at Sydney Showground Stadium until the 2024–25 BBL season.
The 2015–16 Big Bash League season marked the first year in which the Thunder finished in the top half of the table, finishing 4th overall. Having won the first three games of the season and boasting a squad including Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja and Jacques Kallis, the Thunder soon became the favourites to win the tournament. However, the Thunder lost their following four games and were in danger of missing the finals. In their final game of the 2015–16 Big Bash League season, the Thunder defeated the Sixers for only the second time in their history to book a finals berth. The Thunder faced the Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval in the first semi final, winning convincingly. The Thunder then faced the Stars in the Finals the Melbourne Stars. The final was played at Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 January 2016 and resulted in the Thunder defeating the Melbourne Stars by 3 wickets. Michael Hussey announced his retirement from domestic cricket during BBL05, at the conclusion of the tournament he was announced the club's Director of Cricket, responsible for managing recruitment, contracts, facilities and scouting for the BBL squad. The Thunder were the most watched sports team in Australia during 2015–16 with an average TV audience of 1.2m.
Role in the community
The MoneyGram Thunder Nation Cup gives cricket players from seven cultural backgrounds the chance to experience the fun and excitement of Twenty20 cricket, whilst representing their community. The winning team from each community cricket round will represent their country in the MoneyGram Thunder Nation Cup Semi Finals, with the two winners of the semi-finals playing off in a Grand Final prior to a Sydney Thunder match at Spotless Stadium.
The Thunder Bus travels around schools and cricket club in Sydney and Regional NSW, it has an interactive quiz and inflatable nets. The Thunder Bus directly engaged with 100,000 children aged between 5- 12 during this period and was seen by over 1 Million people.
Personnel
Sydney Thunder, like every other team, had a salary cap of $1 million for the first season of the Big Bash League, but in that season they spent almost half of the salary cap on the explosive opening combination of Chris Gayle and David Warner. Gayle was pursued by Perth Scorchers but he rejected an offer of $250,000 to stay with the New South Wales team.
Captains
There have been 12 captains in the Thunder's history, including matches featuring an acting captain.
Current squad
The squad of the Sydney Thunder for the 2025–26 Big Bash League season as of 6 August 2025.
Players with international caps are listed in bold.
Players
Australian representatives
The following is a list of cricketers who have played for the Thunder after making their debut in the national men's team (the period they spent as both a Thunder squad member and an Australian-capped player is in brackets):
Honours
Champions (1): BBL |05
Runners-Up (1): BBL |14
Minor Premiers (0):
Finals series appearances (6): BBL |05, BBL |09, BBL |10, BBL |11, BBL |12, BBL |14
Wooden Spoons (6): BBL |01, BBL |02, BBL |03, BBL |06, BBL |13 ,BBL |15
Statistics and Awards
Team Stats
Win–loss record:
Big Bash League:
Highest score in an innings: 5/232 (20 overs) vs Sydney Sixers, 22 January 2021
Highest successful chase: 8/183 (19.4 overs) vs Adelaide Strikers, 17 December 2024
Lowest successful defence: 6/142 (20 overs) vs Perth Scorchers, 2 January 2019
Largest victory:
Batting first: 129 runs vs Melbourne Renegades, 26 December 2020 and 8 January 2022
Batting second: 60 balls remaining vs Sydney Sixers, 14 January 2017
Longest winning streak: 6 matches (28 December 2021 – 10 January 2022)
Longest losing streak: 19 matches (30 December 2011 – 11 January 2014)
Source:
Individual Stats
Most runs: Alex Hales – 2,005
Highest score in an innings: David Warner – 130* (65) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 3 January 2026
Highest partnership: Michael Hussey and Jacques Kallis – 160 vs Brisbane Heat, 21 December 2014
Most wickets: Daniel Sams – 109
Best bowling figures in an innings: Nathan McAndrew – 5/16 (4 overs) vs Melbourne Stars, 22 January 2025
Hat-tricks taken:
Gurinder Sandhu vs Perth Scorchers, 6 January 2022
Most catches (fielder): Chris Green – 65
Most dismissals (wicket-keeper): Sam Billings – 30 (25 catches, 5 stumpings)
Source:
Individual Awards
Player of the Match:
Alex Hales – 9
Callum Ferguson, Daniel Sams, and Shane Watson – 5
Usman Khawaja – 4
Sam Billings, Oliver Davies, Matthew Gilkes, and Gurinder Sandhu – 3
Jos Buttler, Chris Gayle, Chris Green, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Nathan McAndrew, and David Warner – 2
Fawad Ahmed, Tom Andrews, Aiden Blizzard, Jonathan Cook, Pat Cummins, Zaman Khan, Saqib Mahmood, Eoin Morgan, Chris Morris, Alex Ross, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, and Jason Sangha – 1
BBL Player of the Final:
Usman Khawaja – BBL|05
BBL Player of the Tournament:
Jacques Kallis – BBL|04
BBL Team of the Tournament:
Daniel Sams (3) – BBL|09, BBL|10, BBL|11
Michael Hussey – BBL|05
Andre Russell – BBL|05
Fawad Ahmed – BBL|07
Shane Watson – BBL|07
Callum Ferguson – BBL|08
Alex Hales – BBL|10
Jason Sangha – BBL|11
Sam Billings – BBL|14
Sydney Smash
When the league began in 2011, Cricket Australia decided they would place two teams in Sydney. With the core group of players for both teams coming from the New South Wales cricket team, this rivalry automatically becomes widely anticipated in the city. In the first four seasons of the league the Thunder lost all seven Sydney derby games to the Sydney Sixers.