The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

franchise cricket team based in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

that compete in the

Big Bash League The Big Bash League (BBL), also known as the KFC Big Bash League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Australia. Established in 2011 by Cricket Australia, the Big Bash League replaced the previous competitio ...

(BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 December 2013, <> Their home ground is the

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

,Cricket Australia(n.d), Adelaide Strikers, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 December 2013, and they play in a cornflower blue uniform. The Strikers were formed in 2011 to play in the BBL, succeeding the Southern Redbacks, who played in the now-defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash competition.Jelstad, J (2011), South Australia's Big Bash team to be renamed the Adelaide Strikers, The Advertiser, accessed 1 December 2013, Their sole victory in the BBL came in 2017–18. Over their 11-year history in the BBL, they have had many effective and popular players on their team, from all-rounders such as Johan Botha, Michael Neser, Kieron Pollard,

Ryan ten Doeschate Ryan Neil ten Doeschate (; born 30 June 1980) is a Dutch cricket coach and former cricketer. He is currently one of the assistant coaches of Indian men’s cricket team. Born in South Africa, he played for the Netherlands national cricket team ...

and Chris Jordan, to high-scoring batsmen

Travis Head Travis Michael Head (born 29 December 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who represents the Australia national cricket team in all formats and is the current Test Captain (cricket), vice-captain. A left-handed batter and part-tim ...

, Colin Ingram, Chris Lynn,

Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (; born 27 May 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, Sri Lankan national cricket team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

, Jonathan Wells, Michael Klinger and Jake Weatherald, to effective bowlers Ben Laughlin, Billy Stanlake,

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman (; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and captain of the Afghanistan national team in the T20I format. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide ...

, Peter Siddle, Adil Rashid and Kane Richardson, and finally keepers Alex Carey and Tim Ludeman. The Strikers are currently coached by former Australian cricketer Tim Paine and captained by Matthew Short.

History

The Adelaide Strikers were formed in 2011, as a result of the formation of the

. When the competition was first formed, each team had an opportunity to sign up players and build their lists. The contracting window opened on 30 June 2011 at 9 am and closed on 22 July 2011. Each team was allowed to sign up to 18 players, including up to two from overseas.Big Bash League timeline. Cricket Australia.
The team's inaugural captain was

captain, Michael Klinger, and the inaugural coach was Darren Berry, the then coach of the Southern Redbacks. In the 2016/17 Big Bash, the Adelaide Strikers were rated the most entertaining team in the BBL, with a BBEI of 2177.

New Year's Eve match

Since BBL03, Cricket Australia started hosting a Strikers home match on 31 December night every year against different oppositions. It quickly gained popularity among the fans, turning into a tradition and attracting big crowds at the

throughout the years. It is popularly termed as the New Year's Eve Match or NYE Clash in the media. Up until BBL08, the Strikers had maintained a clean 6–0 win record in the NYE Big Bash clashes. In season 3,

scored a brilliant century to take the Strikers home against

Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers is an Australian professional franchise men's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). Along with the Sydney Thunder, the Sixers are the successors of the Spee ...

in the NYE clash, which remains one of the most memorable NYE matches in the short history of BBL to date. Though, in BBL09, the Strikers finally fell against the

Sydney Thunder The Sydney Thunder is an Australian franchise professional cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League. Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Thunder is the successor to the Speed Blitz Blues, ...

by 3 runs, the Strikers' first defeat on New Year's Eve. The Strikers haven't won a New Year's Eve game since 2018, currently going on a 5-year losing streak.

List of New Year's Eve matches

Season Summaries

Captaincy Records

There have been 10 captains in the Strikers' history, including matches featuring an acting captain.

Home grounds

Current squad

The squad of the Adelaide Strikers for the 2025–26 Big Bash League season as of 29 May 2025. * Players with international caps are listed in bold.

Players

Australian representatives

The following is a list of cricketers who have played for the Strikers after making their debut in the national men's team (the period they spent as both a Strikers squad member and an Australian-capped player is in brackets):

Overseas marquees

Source:

Records

Team records

Result summary v. opponent

*Source: CricInfo

Highest innings score

Batting

Most career runs

Highest scores

Highest Averages

As of 22 December 2023

Highest Strike Rate

Most Sixes

As of 22 December 2023

Most Ducks

Highest partnerships by wicket

Bowling

Most career wickets

Best bowling figures

Fielding

Most Catches

Honours

* BBL: **Champions (1): 2017–18 **''Runners Up (0):'' **''Minor Premiers (2): 2014–15, 2015–16'' **''Finals series appearances (7): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24'' **''Wooden Spoons (1): 2024–25

Notes

References

External links

* {{Cricket in Australia Adelaide Strikers Big Bash League teams Cricket in South Australia 2011 establishments in Australia Cricket clubs established in 2011 Sports clubs and teams in Adelaide