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Preview: Thunder add pieces to make them contenders

A core group of players, a key off-season acquisition, and some outstanding international talent have the Sydney Thunder eyeing off a BBL crown to go with the club's WBBL title

BBL|09 result: Third

Squad: Sam Billings (England), Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Callum Ferguson (c), Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales (England), Baxter Holt, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Adam Milne (NZ), Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain

Imports: Sam Billings (England), Alex Hales (England), Adam Milne (NZ)

Ins: Sam Billings, Ben Cutting, Baxter Holt, Adam Milne

Outs: Jay Lenton, Chris Morris (SA), Gurinder Sandhu, Liam Bowe

Possible Best XI: Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson, Sam Billings, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Adam Milne, Chris Tremain, Jono Cook

Possible Best XI for first game: Alex Hales (OS), Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson, Matt Gilkes, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Adam Milne (OS), Chris Tremain, Jono Cook

The inside word with coach Shane Bond

The off-season

"We had a really good season last year, finishing third … but you're always looking to make refinements. This winter has been particularly challenging not really knowing how you're going to be affected with quarantine, so you're trying to build depth because getting players in and out of your squad could potentially be tougher. One of the key areas we highlighted was having someone who could bat at No.6 and add some firepower. The season before we added Alex Ross into the middle order, and he was outstanding, and as it turned out Brisbane wanted to release Ben Cutting … and I was really keen to get him to join us. He was our number one priority and we've been wrapped to grab him.

"I've been really happy in the past couple of years with the list that we've built, and we're keen to keep the core of the team together. It's the same as what we've done at Mumbai; you bring a group of people together who are not only good players but they like each other, they know how each other play, that's a big part of how you build success. The core guys are coming back from last year … and with the experience we have and the group of overseas players we've put around them, we feel like we can be challenging for the title. We think when we put our best team out there on the field, we feel it's a pretty strong team."

Player availability

"It'll be sometime after Boxing Day that Sam Billings will become available for us. We have wicketkeeping cover; Baxter Holt, I think he's a terrific player with real leadership potential … and I'm happy with Matt Gilkes as well, he's an exciting young player … and he's a straight swap (for Billings). I think they're both terrific young players and I'm happy to give those guys some opportunities. We didn't really contemplate (an international replacement for Billings) and we're happy with what we've got.

"In the IPL, we played KKR when Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan walked straight out of quarantine and played, it was really hot, and they found it pretty tough going. So I'm very mindful of giving Sam the best opportunity to have a bat and be physically ready to go. I'll talk to him when he gets here from South Africa, but I'd be more willing to go on the conservative side. I want to give Sam the best opportunity to come in, not hurt himself and play as well as he can.

"Adam Milne is flying over with me on December 4 and Alex Hales is already in hotel quarantine. Unless there's an injury in the Aussie squad and someone gets called up, we won't be affected by the representative season."

All of Golden Arm Daniel Sams' wickets | KFC BBL|09

Imports

"I was disappointed for Alex Hales that England haven't open the door for him again. They're obviously a really strong T20 side with some great depth, but he's done his time and he's been fantastic for us on and off the field and we wanted him back. It's great to have the continuity of someone coming back, who fits in and knows how I operate and how the boys operate. He's such a great player … it was a lay down misère for us.

It's always nice to have some pace in your squad and Adam Milne, he's 28, he's a hell of a good guy … he's a terrific fielder, he bats a bit, he's a great team man and most importantly has been a very, very good T20 bowler. I was keen to get him over and I'm excited to see him in our team.

Hales goes huge against Hurricanes in Hobart

We were very keen on Sam Billings … he's always been a good player, but he's also always been a very popular guy around teams. He comes over and offers a lot off the field and his game has been trending upwards for a number of years. So to get him at the time that we have, we're very fortunate because he's probably playing the best cricket of his career at the moment. We wanted someone to bat in the middle order around Ross and Cutting and most overseas players tend to bat at the top of the order, but Sam wants to bat in the four or five spot and wants to push his case in that role for England. So he fits perfectly for us, we're stoked to get him and we're excited to unleash him in the tournament."

Player to watch

I was hugely surprised that Ben Cutting was available. If you look at Ben's figures comparatively to everyone else in the competition, what he does in that No.6 role, he's the standout player in terms of strike rate and what he can offer. And he can bowl some overs as well; Brisbane is the best batting wicket in the country so your bowling numbers are also going to be higher up there. But he's bowled well at our home ground before, which can be a tricky surface to bat on, and he can be very hard to hit.

"We think when we play on our surface at the back end of the season, he'll be extremely effective. There's not many people who can come out a strike the ball like he can and we wanted to add that to our team. He's a professional, he looks after himself, he prepares well … to bring an experienced player of that quality, you can't beat having an outstanding local player like Ben. We were wrapped to get him, he's got a strong relationship with Usman Khawaja and he'll fit perfectly into our team."

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Your thoughts on the new rules?

"My initial reaction is I'm a little bit disappointed that they've brought them in, but I'm also open-minded. If they work out, great and kudos has to go to the BBL for bringing them in. I've obviously been part of the IPL and the product speaks for itself. It's hugely popular and it's getting more popular, and it's very basic. We've given a lot of thought already about how we're going to use these rules and we definitely want to work with them. And I hope for the competition that they'll be a booming success. But like everyone else, we're just not sure what to expect, but we're working through our strategies. I think the tournament as it was is still a fantastic tournament … we'll just have to see how the rules go this year."

The biggest threat

The BBL is one those tournaments, like the IPL, where all teams are strong in different ways. Anybody can win it because the nature of the competition is if one player plays well for the course of a tournament, it can be very tough to beat them. The Sixers will obviously be tough, the Stars have always got a hell of a good side and I think the Scorchers have got a very good side as well with firepower in their batting and a good local bowling attack. They're probably the three that standout for me.