Thunder set for selection dilemma, NCN ruled out, Stoinis to return

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Honeyball Staff Writer Leave a comment

The Sydney Thunder will unleash Sam Billings while they’ve got a selection dilemma with Alex Ross available again, while Noor Ahmad is set for increased opportunity after Imran Tahir withdrew from BBL|10.

SQUAD NEWS

Jackson Bird ($127k BWL) and Hayden Kerr ($62 BAT/BWL) were added after injuries to the extended Sydney Sixers squad to play the Renegades on Tuesday.

Sixers squad: Avendano, Bertus, Bird, Brathwaite, Christian, Dwarshuis, J.Edwards, Holder, Hughes, Kerr, Manenti, O’Keefe, Philippe, Pope, Rogers, Sandhu, Silk, Vince

The Renegades named their extended squad to face the Sixers, without Noor Ahmad ($68k BWL).

Renegades squad: Finch, Couch, Evans, Fraser-McGurk, Harper, Harvey, Hatzoglou, Holland, Lalor, Marsh, Nabi, Perry, Prestwidge, Richardson, Rossouw, Sutherland, Imad Wasim, Webster

The Sydney Thunder named an extended squad to face the Stars on Tuesday, including Sam Billings ($160k WKP/BAT) as well as Alex Ross ($104k BAT) who has been declared fit after a groin issue.

Thunder coach Shane Bond said: “Sam came out of quarantine on Christmas Day, we wanted to give him the opportunity of having a few good hits… He’s playing beautifully and has done that for the last year or so.”

His inclusion means Baxter Holt ($42k WKP/BAT) will miss out. Bond said: “Baxter Holt has done a really good job for us with the gloves, but Sam (Billings) brings the gloves and his batting.”

With Ross fit again, the Thunder have a batting selection issue and Bond added: “Alex is ready to play. To be fair, he was in the last match. We didn’t want to risk him. It afforded Ollie Davies another chance – and he grabbed it. It makes a headache for me.”

Thunder squad: Ferguson, Billings, Cook, Cutting, Davies, Doggett, Gilkes, Green, Hales, Holt, Khawaja, McAndrew, Milne, Nair, Ross, Sams, J.Sangha, T.Sangha, Tremain

The Stars confirmed their squad on Tuesday morning but captain Glenn Maxwell spoke to the media in Canberra on Monday to give an insight about Nathan Coulter-Nile ($203k BWL) who injured his calf on Saturday night.

Maxwell said: “I think he’s still a bit sore. He didn’t get a scan. He’s done the injury before. He’s in good spirits. He thinks it won’t take long for him to get back.”

They’ll also regain Marcus Stoinis ($168k BAT/BWL) and Nic Maddinson ($83k BAT) after missing Saturday’s loss to the Sydney Sixers due to leave and the border closure respectively.

Maxwell added: “Hopefully having Marcus and Nic Maddinson back at my disposal will be nice. With Nathan’s loss, to have some experience come into the side will be nice for us.”

Stars squad: Maxwell, Cartwright, Dunk, Fletcher, Gotch, Hatcher, Hinchliffe, Zahir Khan, Larkin, Maddinson, Morris, Pooran, Stanlake, Stoinis, Zampa

UPDATES

The Renegades confirmed that Imran Tahir ($175k BWL) will not be coming out for BBL|10 for personal reasons but coach Michael Klinger said that opened the door for Noor Ahmad ($68k BWL).

Klinger said: “Unfortunately Imran isn’t coming for personal reasons anymore. He’s a loss but we’ve seen Noor Ahmad a couple of games ago.

“He’s a bowler people haven’t seen much of, so that might work in our favour. He’ll play a fair chunk in the back end of the season once Nabi has to go home for international duty.”

The Hurricanes informed Honeyball that James Faulkner ($184k BWL) had reported hamstring soreness when he came from the field in Sunday’s game and went for assessment on Monday morning. The club will inform on the scan results in due course.

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