The Sydney Thunder are an Australian women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales. They are one of two teams from Sydney to compete in the Women's Big Bash League, the other being the Sydney Sixers. The Thunder have claimed two WBBL titles, winning the league's inaugural championship and the 2020–21 title.
Contents
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 was appointed as inaugural coach, while Alex Blackwell became the inaugural captain.
The Thunder played their first game on 6 December against the Sydney Sixers at Howell Oval in Penrith, winning by nine wickets with 40 balls remaining.
Rivalries
The Thunder have combined with the Brisbane Heat to produce several "thrillers", including:
12 January 2019, Cazaly's Stadium: Responding to the Thunder's first innings total of 7/171, Heat opener Beth Mooney recorded her maiden WBBL century but was then dismissed in the 17th over. With the Heat still requiring 19 runs off the last twelve balls, Harmanpreet Kaur—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, scored 13 runs off the over to swing the momentum once more. Laura Harris then hit the winning runs against the bowling of Nicola Carey 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, Drummoyne Oval: 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 Jess Jonassen, 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 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: Thunder batters Alex Blackwell and Phoebe Litchfield set a new WBBL record for highest fourth-wicket partnership 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.
The Thunder and the Perth Scorchers have met in two semi-finals:
Captaincy records
There have been six captains in the Thunder's history, including matches featuring an acting captain.
Source:
Current squad
The squad of the Sydney Thunder for the 2026 Women's Big Bash League season as of 12 September 2026.
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):
Honours
Champions: 2 – WBBL|01, WBBL|06
Runners-Up: 0
Minor Premiers: 1 – WBBL|01
Finals Appearances: 6 – WBBL|01, WBBL|03, WBBL|04, WBBL|06, WBBL|09, WBBL|10
Wooden Spoons: 1 – WBBL|08
Statistics and Awards
Team Stats
Win–loss record:
Highest score in an innings: 5/212 (20 overs) vs Adelaide Strikers, 1 November 2024
Highest successful chase: 3/173 (19 overs) vs Perth Scorchers, 15 November 2024
Lowest successful defence: 9/104 (20 overs) vs Melbourne Stars, 17 January 2016
Largest victory:
Batting first: 64 runs vs Adelaide Strikers, 1 November 2024
Batting second: 50 balls remaining vs Melbourne Renegades, 27 December 2016
Longest winning streak: 5 matches
Longest losing streak: 6 matches
Source:
Individual Stats
Most runs: Rachael Haynes – 2,142
Highest score in an innings: Smriti Mandhana – 114* (64) vs Melbourne Renegades, 17 November 2021
Highest partnership: Smriti Mandhana and Tahlia Wilson – 125* vs Melbourne Renegades, 17 November 2021
Most wickets: Samantha Bates – 128
Best bowling figures in an innings: Hannah Darlington – 5/10 (4 overs) vs Melbourne Stars, 10 November 2023
Most catches (fielder): Phoebe Litchfield – 44
Most dismissals (wicket-keeper): Tahlia Wilson – 41 (24 catches, 17 stumpings)
Source:
Individual Awards
Player of the Match:
Stafanie Taylor – 8
Alex Blackwell – 7
Samantha Bates – 6
Chamari Athapaththu, Hannah Darlington, Rene Farrell, Rachael Haynes, and Heather Knight – 4
Shabnim Ismail, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Phoebe Litchfield, Naomi Stalenberg, Georgia Voll, and Tahlia Wilson – 3
Nicola Carey, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Rachel Priest – 2
Lauren Cheatle, Lisa Griffith, Smriti Mandhana, Erin Osborne, Deepti Sharma, Lauren Smith, Belinda Vakarewa, and Issy Wong – 1
WBBL Player of the Final:
Erin Osborne – WBBL|01
Shabnim Ismail – WBBL|06
WBBL Player of the Tournament:
Chamari Athapaththu – WBBL|09
WBBL Team of the Tournament:
Samantha Bates (2) – WBBL|06, WBBL|10
Hannah Darlington (2) – WBBL|06, WBBL|07
Rene Farrell (2) – WBBL|01, WBBL|03
Phoebe Litchfield (2) – WBBL|10, WBBL|11
Alex Blackwell – WBBL|01
Stafanie Taylor – WBBL|04