Photo Credit: Sydney Thunder
Sydney Thunder captain Jason Sangha has returned home after breaking his collarbone in last night’s hard fought KFC Big Bash League match against the Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium.
The 23-year-old injured himself when he dived in the field to save runs in a contest that went down to the second last ball.
Sydney Thunder’s physiotherapist Murray Ryan confirmed the X-ray that was taken in Melbourne this morning confirmed that Sangha had fractured his left clavicle [collar bone].
“Jason will see a specialist in Sydney within the next 24-48 hours to determine the next steps and his recovery timeline,” said Ryan.
Chris Green, who has been named Acting Captain, said he and his teammates were bitterly disappointed for their skipper.
“Our thoughts are with Jason,” said Green. “He’s a big part of this team as captain, and an even bigger part as a batter – we saw what he did last year in his damaging role in the top order. He’s a key to our batting line-up.
“The squad is thinking of him at this time because any injury is tough.”
Thunder travels this afternoon to Adelaide for its rematch with the Strikers after last Friday’s defeat.
Green said while they were disappointed to lose to the Renegades, he and his teammates could take numerous positives out of the match that would buoy them for the Strikers.
“It was a disappointing loss,” said Green of the nail-biting defeat to the Renegades. “But there was a lot of positives to take out of that game, particularly the character we showed in coming back from a disappointing last game loss at home to the Strikers.
“I thought the way we batted, particularly those guys in the middle – Rilee Rossouw, Alex Ross, and Ollie Davies – to get us to 174 on a good wicket was a very respectable total. A very defendable total.
“I think we bowled well. However, you’ve got to give credit where credit is due, Aaron Finch batted all the way through the innings. It’s hard to stop a set batter at the back end, but we fought all the way to the end, and despite the loss it gives us a lot of confidence going into our last game before Christmas.
“The fight was there; the determination was there. We prepared for this game as we did our last game, and we gave ourselves every opportunity to win. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn in our way.”
Green said while he and the team were aware their performance against Adelaide would be scrutinised on many levels, he said Thunder was best served by focusing on their job rather than being blinded by revenge.
“I think there is a lot of positives to take from this game and go forward into our next game against the Strikers where we must turn up and rectify that performance at Showground Stadium in front of our home fans.
“We’ve got some great support from it, and we appreciate it. However, I know turning up to Adelaide Oval it’s certainly a case of putting our game face on and get our second win.
“But we must keep the focus within. We don’t have to go out there and try to score 300 runs because we scored 15 against them in our last game.
“We just need to prepare the same way; control everything we can and put in the best performance we can. There were good signs against the Renegades, we just need to keep putting ourselves in positions to win.”
Sydney Thunder squad v Adelaide Strikers
Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Matthew Gilkes, Toby Gray, Chris Green (c), Alex Hales, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu.
Thunder play Adelaide Strikers at 7.15pm (AEDT) at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, 20 December. The match will be broadcast live by Seven, Fox Cricket and Kayo.
Sydney Thunder BBL|12 Squad
Head Coach: Trevor Bayliss
Contracted Players: Ben Cutting, Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras, Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner, Sam Whiteman.
Sydney Thunder BBL|12 Home Fixtures
Tue 13 Dec | Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars | Manuka Oval | 7:15pm
Fri 16 Dec | Sydney Thunder v Adelaide Strikers | Sydney Showground Stadium | 8:15pm
Tue 27 Dec | Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat | Sydney Showground Stadium | 7:15pm
Sat 31 Dec | Sydney Thunder v Hobart Hurricanes | Lavington Sports Ground | 3:30pm
Sun 8 Jan | Sydney Thunder v Sydney Sixers | Sydney Showground Stadium | 7:15pm
Fri 13 Jan | Sydney Thunder v Perth Scorchers | Sydney Showground Stadium | 6:30pm
Thu 19 Jan | Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Renegades | Manuka Oval | 7:15pm
Name of Author: Sydney Thunder
The Sydney Thunder is an Australian professional cricket team competing in the Big Bash League (BBL). Based at Sydney Showground Stadium, the Thunder, along with the Sydney Sixers, succeeded the New South Wales Blues from the defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.
