Former Australian and NSW Blues opener Phil Jaques has joined the Sydney Thunder as an assistant to Head Coach Paddy Upton.

Jaques, who only retired from professional cricket in June after a final stint with Nottinghamshire in England, has moved seamlessly into the coaching world having been appointed as a Pathway and Assistant coach for the NSW Blues in July of this year.

Jaques had a prolific First Class career as an opening batsman having played 11 Tests for Australia, where he averaged 47.47 with the bat.

In addition he played 200 First Class matches for New South Wales, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, averaging a superb 48.29.

He was also part of the birth of T20 cricket, playing in 84 matches, where he averaged 28.62, with a strike rate of 123.85.

Sydney Thunder General Manager Nick Cummins was delighted to have Jaques on board: “Phil brings with him an enormous amount of recent experience at the highest level, in particular with the T20 format. He has an astute cricket brain and has played for a number of successful teams and will be an excellent mentor for our batting group. With his coaching role with the NSW Blues he will also have extensive knowledge of the representative and Grade cricket scene which will be a benefit for us when it comes to selecting players.”

Thunder Schedule:
Sunday, 21 December 2014-Brisbane Heat – Stadium Australia
Saturday, 27 December 2014-Sydney Sixers – Stadium Australia
Tuesday, 30 December 2014-Melbourne Renegades – Etihad Stadium
Thursday, 1 January 2015-Perth Scorchers – The Furnace (WACA)
Wednesday, 7 January 2015-Hobart Hurricanes – Spotless Stadium
Friday, 9 January 2015-Sydney Sixers – SCG
Monday, 12 January 2015-Adelaide Strikers – Adelaide Oval
Saturday, 17 January 2015-Melbourne Stars – Spotless Stadium