The 2021–22 Sydney Thunder Women's season was the seventh in the team's history. Coached by Trevor Griffin, the Thunder entered WBBL|07 as the defending champions but ended the regular season in seventh place on the ladder, recording their worst finishing position across the league's first seven editions. Due to ongoing border restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were not scheduled to play any games in their home state of New South Wales for the season.[1] After captain Rachael Haynes announced she would be unlikely to participate in the season due to family reasons, Hannah Darlington was appointed to stand in as Haynes' replacement.[2]
| 2021–22 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Coach | Trevor Griffin | ||
| Captain(s) | Rachael Haynes, Hannah Darlington | ||
| Home ground | N/A | ||
| League | WBBL | ||
| Record | 4–8 (7th) | ||
| Finals | Did not qualify | ||
| Leading Run Scorer | Smriti Mandhana – 377 | ||
| Leading Wicket Taker | Hannah Darlington – 16 | ||
| Player of the Season | Smriti Mandhana | ||
| |||
Squad
editEach 2021–22 squad was made up of 15 active players. Teams could sign up to five 'marquee players', with a maximum of three of those from overseas. Marquees were defined as any overseas player, or a local player who holds a Cricket Australia national contract at the start of the WBBL|07 signing period.[3]
Personnel changes made ahead of the season included:
- English marquees Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont did not re-sign with the Thunder in anticipation of a clashing schedule with national team duties.
- South African marquee Shabnim Ismail initially re-signed with the Thunder but withdrew from the tournament due to injury.
- Indian marquee Smriti Mandhana signed with the Thunder, returning to the league after previously playing for the Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes.
- Indian marquee Deepti Sharma and English marquee Issy Wong signed with the Thunder, marking their first appearances in the leagues.
- Rachel Trenaman departed the Thunder, signing with the Hobart Hurricanes.
- Corinne Hall signed with the Thunder, departing the Hobart Hurricanes.
- Having planned to miss the opening weeks while on parental leave, Rachael Haynes announced she would only be able to re-join the team later in the tournament pending sufficient changes to state border closures.[4]
Changes made during the season included:
- Emily Smith was signed as a local replacement player, replacing Tahlia Wilson (leg injury) for one game on 16 October 2021.[5]
The table below lists the Thunder players and their key stats (including runs scored, batting strike rate, wickets taken, economy rate, catches and stumpings) for the season.[6][7]
| No. | Name | Nat. | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | G | R | SR | W | E | C | S | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | |||||||||||||
| 29 | Corinne Hall | 
|
12 October 1987 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 10 | 90 | 83.33 | – | – | 1 | – | |
| 15 | Rachael Haynes |
|
26 December 1986 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Captain, Australian marquee |
| 4 | Anika Learoyd |
|
14 April 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg spin | 11 | 92 | 78.63 | 0 | 15.50 | 1 | – | |
| 36 | Phoebe Litchfield |
|
18 April 2003 | Left-handed | Right-arm leg spin | 13 | 263 | 109.12 | – | – | 9 | – | |
| 81 | Smriti Mandhana | 
|
18 July 1996 | Left-handed | Right-arm off spin | 13 | 377 | 130.44 | – | – | 4 | – | Overseas marquee |
| All-rounders | |||||||||||||
| 58 | Sammy-Jo Johnson |
|
5 November 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 11 | 146 | 125.86 | 10 | 7.66 | 1 | – | |
| 33 | Kate Peterson |
|
3 December 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 7 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 10.33 | 3 | – | |
| 14 | Olivia Porter |
|
14 November 2001 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 24 | Deepti Sharma |
|
24 August 1997 | Left-handed | Right-arm off spin | 13 | 211 | 106.56 | 13 | 7.15 | 8 | – | Overseas marquee |
| Wicket-keepers | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Emily Smith |
|
19 January 1995 | Right-handed | – | 1 | 5 | 125.00 | – | – | 0 | 2 | Injury replacement |
| 21 | Tahlia Wilson |
|
21 October 1999 | Right-handed | – | 12 | 178 | 81.65 | – | – | 3 | 2 | |
| Bowlers | |||||||||||||
| 34 | Samantha Bates |
|
17 August 1992 | Right-handed | Left-arm orthodox | 13 | 2 | 66.66 | 12 | 5.76 | 2 | – | |
| 25 | Hannah Darlington |
|
25 January 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 13 | 60 | 105.26 | 16 | 6.38 | 4 | – | Acting captain |
| 12 | Jessica Davidson |
|
3 May 2003 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 2 | Lauren Smith |
|
6 October 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 13 | 41 | 105.12 | 4 | 8.66 | 3 | – | |
| 8 | Issy Wong | 
|
15 May 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 13 | 56 | 155.55 | 9 | 7.27 | 2 | – | Overseas marquee |
Ladder
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perth Scorchers (C) | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 0.649 |
| 2 | Melbourne Renegades (CF) | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 18 | −0.149 |
| 3 | Brisbane Heat (EF) | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 0.517 |
| 4 | Adelaide Strikers (RU) | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 0.707 |
| 5 | Melbourne Stars | 14 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 12 | −0.385 |
| 6 | Hobart Hurricanes | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | −0.258 |
| 7 | Sydney Thunder | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 10 | −0.301 |
| 8 | Sydney Sixers | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 9 | −0.704 |
- The top 4 teams advanced to the knockout phase
Fixtures
editAll times are local
Adelaide Strikers
7/140 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
110 (19.2 overs) |
- Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
- Broadcast by Seven Network and Foxtel
- At 19 years and 264 days, Hannah Darlington (Sydney Thunder) became the youngest player to captain a team in a WBBL match.[10]
Perth Scorchers
2/186 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
9/105 (20 overs) |
- Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
- Broadcast by Seven Network and Foxtel
Melbourne Stars
7/108 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
5/96 (20 overs) |
- Melbourne Stars won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
Melbourne Renegades
5/142 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
8/133 (20 overs) |
- Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
Sydney Thunder
5/133 (20 overs) |
v
|
Melbourne Stars
8/114 (20 overs) |
- Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
Sydney Thunder
6/146 (20 overs) |
v
|
Hobart Hurricanes
8/109 (20 overs) |
- Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Seven Network and Foxtel
Sydney Thunder
7/143 (20 overs) |
v
|
Brisbane Heat
5/144 (18.2 overs) |
- Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Seven Network and Foxtel
Adelaide Strikers
4/176 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
6/158 (20 overs) |
- Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
Perth Scorchers
2/184 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
1/21 (2.3 overs) |
- Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to bat.
- No further play was possible due to rain.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
Sydney Sixers
6/94 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
4/96 (15.2 overs) |
- Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Seven Network and Foxtel
- Brisbane Heat qualified for finals.
Melbourne Renegades
4/175 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
2/171 (20 overs) |
- Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
- Smriti Mandhana (Sydney Thunder) equalled the WBBL record for most runs scored in an innings.[11]
- Sydney Thunder were eliminated from finals contention.
Sydney Thunder
5/162 (20 overs) |
v
|
Brisbane Heat
9/153 (20 overs) |
- Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
Hobart Hurricanes
5/147 (20 overs) |
v
|
Sydney Thunder
9/143 (20 overs) |
- Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bat.
- Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
Statistics and awards
edit- Most runs: Smriti Mandhana – 377 (10th in the league)[12]
- Highest score in an innings: Smriti Mandhana – 114* (64) vs Melbourne Renegades, 17 November 2021[13]
- Most wickets: Hannah Darlington – 16 (equal 5th in the league)[14]
- Best bowling figures in an innings: Deepti Sharma – 3/13 (4 overs) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 31 October 2021[15]
- Most catches (fielder): Phoebe Litchfield – 9 (4th in the league)[16]
- Player of the Match awards:
- Samantha Bates, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Issy Wong – 1 each
- WBBL|07 Team of the Tournament: Hannah Darlington[17]
- WBBL|07 Young Gun Award: Phoebe Litchfield[18]
- Alex Blackwell Medallist: Smriti Mandhana[19]
References
edit- ^ "WBBL broadcast boost as schedule rejig completed". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Hannah Darlington named captain for WBBLI07". Sydney Thunder. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "Lock it in: all the final squads for WBBL|07". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Thunder skipper Haynes set to miss WBBL|07". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Tahlia Wilson set to miss opening match". Sydney Thunder. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ^ "Players | Sydney Thunder - BBL". www.sydneythunder.com.au. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 - Sydney Thunder Women Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "WBBL07 Standings". Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ Women's BBL Standings, ESPN Cricinfo
- ^ "Teenage Darlington becomes youngest WBBL captain". cricket.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021. Reference states "19 years and 262 days" in regards to the date of appointment, which was 2 days before Darlington officially performed the role of captain in a WBBL match.
- ^ "WBBL round-up: All-round Harmanpreet trumps Mandhana's 114 while Mooney, Devine lead Scorchers' domination". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Official WBBL|07 Team of the Tournament revealed". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Tournament's leading players honoured with WBBL awards". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- ^ "Tremain and Brown shine at Cricket NSW Awards". Cricket NSW. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
