The Sydney Thunder today began their journey towards a re-birth in season three of the KFC T20 Big Bash League, with the announcement of the start of the contracting period for this season’s competition.

The Thunder have a major opportunity to re-build this season with only five players currently under contract, the fewest of all the teams in the competition.

Scott Coyte, Ryan Carters, Cameron Borgas, Luke Doran and Jason Floros are the five signed for this year and they will form the nucleus around which coach Chandika Hathurusinghe will build his squad in coming weeks.

Hathurusinghe, has many options at his disposal. The choice of a veteran leader will be crucial, alongside a more stable top order and a bowling line-up that will suit all surfaces.

The 44 year-old Sri Lankan coach, who has experienced success during his spell with the Sri Lankan team and more recently with the NSW SpeedBlitz Blues, is excited about the months ahead: “The contracting period ahead is exciting because it gives me a chance to re-build a Thunder squad that can win matches in this year’s Big Bash. With only five players presently contracted, I am looking at finding the right balance of domestic talent and adding some quality overseas signings to create a team with the firepower to win matches. Today marks the start of a planning period that will allow us to build a side that will represent the people of Western Sydney with pride.”

Today sees the beginning of each team finalising their squad for this season.

How contracting works this year:
Today 12 June – start of main contracting period
Friday 19 July – close of main contracting period (teams must have contracted min 10 players)
Mon 22 July – Fri 26 July – BBL team list announcement window and Memberships on sale
Mon 11th November – Friday 15th November – Trade period
Friday 6 December – BBL contracting end date; all teams must have 18 players contracted
Tuesday 10 December – BBL supplementary lists finalised.