The Sydney Thunder (WBBL) are an Australian women's

Twenty20 cricket 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 ...

team based in

Drummoyne Oval Drummoyne Oval is a multi-use sports ground in the Sydney inner-west suburb of Drummoyne, New South Wales. The ground has been used for international women's cricket matches, domestic men's cricket matches and first grade rugby league as well ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. They are one of two teams from

to compete in the

Women's Big Bash League The Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) also known as Weber WBBL for sponsorship reasons, is the Australian professional Women's Twenty20 Cricket league. The WBBL replaced the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, which ran from the 2007–08 season ...

, the other being the

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 ...

. The Thunder have claimed two WBBL titles, winning the league's inaugural championship and the 2020–21 title.

History

Formation

One of eight founding WBBL teams, the Sydney Thunder are aligned with the men's team of the same name. At the official WBBL launch on 10 July 2015, Rene Farrell was unveiled as the team's first-ever player signing.

Joanne Broadbent Joanne Broadbent (born 29 November 1965) is an Australian former cricketer who played as an all-rounder, batting left-handed and bowling left-arm medium. She appeared in 10 Test matches and 60 One Day Internationals for Australia between 19 ...

was appointed as inaugural coach, while

Alex Blackwell Alexandra Joy Blackwell (born 31 August 1983) is a former professional cricketer and Australian women's cricket captain who played for New South Wales Breakers, New South Wales and Australia national women's cricket team, Australia as a special ...

became the inaugural

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. The Thunder played their first game on 6 December against the

at Howell Oval in Penrith, winning by nine wickets with 40 balls remaining.

Rivalries

Brisbane Heat

The Thunder have combined with the

Brisbane Heat The Brisbane Heat are an Australian professional franchise men's and women's cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League (BBL). The Heat are the successors of the Queensland Bulls who playe ...

to produce several "thrillers", including: * 12 January 2019,

Cazaly's Stadium Cazalys Stadium is a sports stadium in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It is situated in the suburb of Westcourt. The stadium is named after the social club which abuts the oval, Cazalys, which itself was named after Australian rules footballer ...

: Responding to the Thunder's first innings total of 7/171, Heat opener

Beth Mooney Bethany Louise Mooney (born 14 January 1994) is an Australian professional cricketer who plays for the Australia women's national cricket team, national cricket team as a batting (cricket), batter in all three formats of the game. At the domes ...

recorded her maiden WBBL

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

but was then dismissed in the 17th over. With the Heat still requiring 19 runs off the last twelve balls,

Harmanpreet Kaur Harmanpreet Kaur ( ; born 8 March 1989) is an Indian cricketer who captains the India women's national team in all formats. She plays as an all-rounder. In 2018, she became the first woman for India to score a century in a T20 International m ...

—having already claimed two wickets, including the stumping of Mooney, for just ten runs—came on to bowl her third over. The Heat, primarily through

Delissa Kimmince Delissa Maree Kimmince (born 14 May 1989) is an Australian former cricketer and Australian rules footballer who played for the national cricket team as an all-rounder. She is a right-handed batter and right-arm fast-medium bowler who played ...

, scored 13 runs off the over to swing the momentum once more.

Laura Harris Laura Elizabeth Harris (born November 20, 1976"Close-up: Laura Harris" by Jay Bobbin, ''Chicago Tribune'' (16 Dec, 2007) Retrieved from ) is a Canadian actress who has appeared in a variety of roles in movies and on television. She may be best ...

then hit the winning runs against the bowling of

Nicola Carey Nicola Jane Carey (born 10 September 1993) is an Australian cricketer who plays for the national cricket team as an all-rounder, batting left-handed and bowling right-arm medium pace. At the domestic level, she plays in the Women's National Cri ...

with three wickets in hand and three balls remaining, making it Brisbane's highest successful run chase. The result helped to set up a semi-final encounter between the two teams on the following weekend. * 19 January 2019,

: In the WBBL, 04 semi-finals, the lower-ranked Heat posted a first innings total of 7/140. After struggling through the middle overs of the run chase, a late charge by the Thunder brought them back into the contest to leave a required five runs off the final delivery for victory. The last ball, sent down by

spinner Spinner may refer to: Technology * Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in ...

Jess Jonassen Jessica Louise Jonassen (born 5 November 1992) is an Australian cricketer from Rockhampton, Rockhampton, Queensland. A left-arm orthodox Bowler (cricket), bowler, Jonassen has been a member of the Australia women's national cricket team, nationa ...

, was struck flat and cleanly to deep square leg by batter Nicola Carey. Jonassen immediately signalled disappointment as the ball set sail for beyond the boundary rope, therefore scoring six runs and clinching the match for the Thunder. However, Heat fielder

Haidee Birkett Haidee Birkett is an Australian cricketer who plays as an all-rounder for Queensland Fire and Brisbane Heat. Originally from Charters Towers, Birkett played her junior cricket there and in Townsville. She has been described by coaches and tea ...

made enough ground in time to take a "miracle" catch just inside the field of play to knock the Thunder out of the tournament. The match, in conjunction with the other semi-final played later in the day, was hailed as a showcase of "the irrefutable rise of women's cricket" and "sport with drama, skill and unpredictability – a potent recipe for success". * 20 October 2019,

North Sydney Oval North Sydney Oval (Also known as “Bear Park” by North Sydney Bears fans) is a multi-use sporting facility in Miller Street, North Sydney, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is ...

: Thunder batters

and

Phoebe Litchfield Phoebe Elizabeth Susan Litchfield (born 18 April 2003) is an Australian international cricketer who plays as a left-handed Batting (cricket), batter who represents Australia in all three formats of the game. She plays for the New South Wales Br ...

set a new WBBL record for highest fourth-wicket

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

in their pursuit of the Heat's 9/150. The unbeaten 97-run stand, which got the Thunder over the line with seven balls to spare, was noted for the 20-year age gap between the two batting partners. At 16 years and 185 days, Litchfield also set a new WBBL record as the youngest player to score a half-century.

Perth Scorchers

The Thunder and the

Perth Scorchers The Perth Scorchers are an Australian men's professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Big Bash League. The Scorchers wear an orange uniform and are based in Perth in the Australian state of Western Australia. Their home gr ...

have met in two semi-finals: * 21 January 2016,

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, ...

: Defending a total of 6/118, the Thunder restricted the Scorchers to 9/110 and claimed victory by eight runs. * 1 February 2018,

Perth Stadium Perth Stadium, commercially known as Optus Stadium due to sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Burswood, Western Australia, Burswood suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It was completed during late 2017 and officially opened ...

: In the first innings, the Scorchers posted a total of 2/148. The Thunder were reeling by the 11th over of the run chase, having lost five wickets for just 46 runs.

Fran Wilson Frances Claire Wilson (born 7 November 1991) is an English cricketer. A right handed batter and right arm off break bowler, she was born in Farnham in Surrey and plays for Birmingham Phoenix. She previously played for Somerset, Middlesex, Kent ...

piled on 46 runs from 28 balls late in the match but Perth, led by Emma King's 3/17, easily defended the target to win by 27 runs. Due to a scheduling quirk, the two teams did not meet in the Thunder's home state of

until the 2020–21 Women's Big Bash League season (when the season was played entirely in Sydney due to uncertainty surrounding state border closures during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

). From 2017 to 2018, five of their regular season encounters were played at

Lilac Hill Park Lilac Hill is a cricket ground in Western Australia in the Perth suburb of Caversham, where the Swan River flows around its southern and eastern sides. The ends of the ground are known as the ''River End'' and the ''Pavilion End''. In 1990 ...

and characterised by close finishes, including: * 7 January 2018: The Scorchers were well poised to chase down their target of 146 until a catch on the boundary by Thunder fielder

Lisa Griffith Lisa Griffith is an Australian cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and right-arm medium pace bowler. She made her professional debut for the New South Wales Breakers in the 2010–11 Women's National Cricket League before taking a fi ...

dismissed

Nicole Bolton Nicole Elizabeth Bolton is an Australian former cricketer who played as a left-handed batter and right-arm off break bowler for Australia and a number of domestic teams in Australia, New Zealand and England. Early life and education Bolton wa ...

for 71 in the 18th over. On the last ball of the match, Scorchers batter

Mathilda Carmichael Mathilda Grace Carmichael (born 4 April 1994) is an Australian cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter for Western Australia in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and Sydney Sixers in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL). Originally ...

was

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, in which the fielding team put down the wicket of a batter who is outside their ground, usually because they are trying to score a run. Run out is governed by Law 38 of the laws of cricket. If ...

by a metre while attempting a game-tying run, therefore securing victory for the Thunder by the narrowest of margins. * 29 December 2018: The Thunder were catapulted to a score of 5/179 by a late 49-run partnership between

and

Stafanie Taylor Stafanie Roxann Taylor (born 11 June 1991) is a Jamaican cricketer who is a former captain of the West Indies women's cricket team. She has represented West Indies women's cricket team, them over 250 times since her debut in 2008. A right-hand ...

(which included 21 runs off the 18th over against the bowling of Taneale Peschel, who had taken 1/12 in her first three overs). Eight overs into the second innings, captain

Meg Lanning Meghann Moira Lanning (born 25 March 1992) is an Australian cricketer who formerly captained the national women's team. Lanning has been a member of seven successful world championship campaigns, winning two Women's Cricket World Cup and five ...

had scored 71 of the Scorchers' 83 runs. Although Lanning was run out for 76 in the tenth over,

Elyse Villani Elyse Jayne Villani (born 6 October 1989) is an Australian cricketer who played for the Australia national women's team from 2009 to 2019. She has also played domestic cricket for various teams in both the Women's National Cricket League (WNC ...

went on to score 66

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

, guiding the Scorchers to a six-wicket victory with one ball remaining. In doing so, the Scorchers set a new WBBL record for highest successful run chase.

Sydney Sixers

At the WBBL 02 season launch, Thunder captain Alex Blackwell said the

"desperately want to beat us and we desperately want to beat them. It's set up to be a really good rivalry." In a joint media conference ahead of WBBL 05, Sixers captain

Ellyse Perry Ellyse Perry (born 3 November 1990) is an Australian cricketer and former soccer, soccer player. Having debuted for both the Australia women's national cricket team, national cricket and Australia women's national soccer team, national soccer t ...

said she considers the Thunder "our biggest rivals" while the Thunder's

Rachel Priest Rachel Holly Priest (born 13 June 1985 in New Plymouth, Taranaki) is a New Zealand cricketer who plays as a wicket-keeper and right-handed batter. She played for New Zealand between 2007 and 2020. Career Domestic and franchise In May 2018, ...

claimed "it was a really intense rivalry right when I started with the team". Noteworthy matches include: * 24 January 2016,

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

: Having lost their first six games of the season, the Sixers stormed into the WBBL, 01 final by winning nine consecutive matches. Their streak would come to an end in a low-scoring championship decider plagued by "probably the worst fielding seen all tournament" from both teams. Ultimately the Thunder scraped home by three wickets with three balls remaining to claim the inaugural Women's Big Bash title.

Erin Osborne Erin Alyce Osborne (born 27 June 1989) is an Australian former cricketer and current cricket coach and commentator, who appeared in 2 Women's Test cricket, Test matches, 60 Women's One Day International, One Day Internationals and 59 Women's T ...

earned Player of the Final honours for her bowling figures of 3/21 off four overs. * 14 January 2017,

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

: Defending a first innings total of 138, Sixers off-spinner Lauren Smith conceded seven runs in the last over to tie the game. With scores still level after the subsequent

super over Super Over, also known as a one-over eliminator or a one over per side eliminator, is a Tiebreaker, tie-breaking method used in Limited overs cricket, limited-overs cricket matches. If a match ends in a "Result (cricket)#Tie, tie", it proceeds t ...

, the Thunder were awarded the win on the boundary count back rule. Despite the intense rivalry between the two teams, the match was noted for a sporting gesture by Thunder captain Alex Blackwell who, suspecting she interfered with the batter, withdrew an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

that would have led to the dismissal of the Sixers'

Sara McGlashan Sara Jade McGlashan (born 28 March 1982) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter and wicket-keeper. She appeared in 2 Test matches, 134 One Day Internationals and 76 Twenty20 Internationals for New Zealand betwe ...

. * 15 November 2019, Drummoyne Oval: The Sixers cruised to a comfortable 40-run victory, having also defeated the Thunder by 49 runs in the season opener—Perry top-scoring with 81 on both occasions. This marked the first time either team would

sweep Sweep or swept may refer to: Cleaning * Sweep, the action of using a brush to clean * Chimney sweep, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys * Street sweeper, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets * Swept quartz, a cle ...

their fellow Sydneysiders in the regular season.

Captaincy records

There have been six

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the Thunder's history, including matches featuring an acting captain. Source:

Season summaries

Home grounds

Current squad

The squad of the Sydney Thunder for the 2025–26 Women's Big Bash League season as of 11 December 2024. * 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 women's team (the period they spent as both a Thunder squad member and an Australian-capped player is in brackets):

Overseas marquees

Associate rookies

Statistics and awards

Team stats

* Champions: 2 – WBBL 01, WBBL 06 * Runners-up: 0 *

Minor premiers A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymology ...

: 1 – WBBL 01 * Win–loss record: * Highest score in an innings: 5/212 (20 overs) vs

Adelaide Strikers The Adelaide Strikers are an Australian professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia that compete in the Big Bash League (BBL).Cricket Australia (n.d), Teams and Players, Cricket Australia, accessed 1 Decemb ...

, 1 November 2024 * Highest successful chase: 3/173 (19 overs) vs

, 15 November 2024 * Lowest successful defence: 9/104 (20 overs) vs

Melbourne Stars Melbourne Stars are an Australian Twenty20 franchise cricket team, based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in Australia's Twenty20 competition, the Big Bash League. The Stars wear a green uniform and play their home matches at the Melbou ...

, 17 January 2016 * Largest victory: ** Batting first: 64 runs vs Adelaide Strikers, 1 November 2024 ** Batting second: 50 balls remaining vs

Melbourne Renegades Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competit ...

, 27 December 2016 * Longest winning streak: 5 matches * Longest losing streak: 6 matches Source:

Individual stats

* Most runs:

Rachael Haynes Rachael Louise Haynes (born 26 December 1986) is an Australian former international cricketer who has won six world championships as a member of the national women's team. A left-handed batter, Haynes was vice-captain of Australia from 2017 to ...

– 2,142 * Highest score in an innings:

Smriti Mandhana Smriti Mandhana (born 18 July 1996) is an Indian international cricketer and the vice-captain of the India women's national cricket team, national team. She is third on the list of list of cricketers by number of international centuries scored#Wo ...

– 114 * (64) vs Melbourne Renegades, 17 November 2021 * Highest partnership: Smriti Mandhana and

Tahlia Wilson Tahlia Beverly Wilson (born 21 October 1999) is an Australian cricketer who plays for the New South Wales Breakers in the Women's National Cricket League and the Sydney Thunder in the Women's Big Bash League. She played her debut season in 2018 ...

– 125 * vs Melbourne Renegades, 17 November 2021 * Most wickets: Samantha Bates – 120 * Best bowling figures in an innings: Hannah Darlington – 5/10 (4 overs) vs Melbourne Stars, 10 November 2023 * Most catches (fielder):

– 41 * Most dismissals (wicket-keeper): Tahlia Wilson – 36 (20 catches, 16 stumpings) Source:

Individual awards

* Player of the Match: **

– 8 **

– 7 ** Samantha Bates – 6 **

Chamari Athapaththu Atapattu Mudiyanselage Chamari Jayangani Kumari Athapaththu (born 9 February 1990, also known as Chamari Athapaththu) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and the current captain of the women's Twenty20 International team of Sri Lanka. Chamari was the ten ...

, Hannah Darlington, Rene Farrell, Rachael Haynes, and Heather Knight – 4 **

Shabnim Ismail Shabnim Ismail (born 5 October 1988) is a South African former international cricketer who currently playing cricket leagues all over the world. who made her debut for the national women's team in January 2007. A right-arm fast bowler, Ismail ...

, Sammy-Jo Johnson, and

Naomi Stalenberg Naomi Elizabeth Stalenberg (born 18 April 1994) is an Australian cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and right-arm medium bowler. She represented New South Wales in domestic cricket beginning in 2013, and in 2016 she played a Twenty20 ...

– 3 **

, Phoebe Litchfield,

, and Georgia Voll – 2 ** Lauren Cheatle,

, Smriti Mandhana,

Deepti Sharma Deepti Sharma (born 24 August 1997) is an Indian cricketer who plays for Uttar Pradesh, UP Warriorz, London Spirit, Melbourne Stars and India. She is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm off break. As of 2018, she was ranke ...

, Lauren Smith,

Belinda Vakarewa Belinda Waimakare Vakarewa (born 22 January 1998) is an Australian cricketer from Griffith, New South Wales. She plays as a fast bowler. Vakarewa has made one international appearance for the national women's team. Early life Vakarewa atten ...

, Tahlia Wilson, and

Issy Wong Isabelle Eleanor Chih Ming Wong (born 15 May 2002) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Warwickshire, Birmingham Phoenix and England as a fast-medium bowler. She has previously played for Central Sparks, Southern Vipers in the Women ...

– 1 * WBBL Player of the Final: ** Erin Osborne – WBBL01 ** Shabnim Ismail – WBBL06 * WBBL Player of the Tournament: ** Chamari Athapaththu – WBBL09 * WBBL Team of the Tournament: ** Samantha Bates (2) – WBBL06, WBBL10 ** Hannah Darlington (2) – WBBL, 06, WBBL07 ** Rene Farrell (2) – WBBL01, WBBL03 ** Alex Blackwell – WBBL, 01 ** Stafanie Taylor – WBBL04 ** Heather Knight – WBBL, 06 ** Chamari Athapaththu – WBBL09 ** Phoebe Litchfield – WBBL, 10 ** Georgia Voll – WBBL, 10 * WBBL Young Gun Award: ** Lauren Cheatle – WBBL01 ** Hannah Darlington – WBBL05 ** Phoebe Litchfield – WBBL07

References

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Women's Big Bash League teams Cricket in New South Wales Sports clubs and teams in Sydney Cricket clubs established in 2015 2015 establishments in Australia