Trevor Bayliss has been given another chance as Sydney Thunder coach, re-signing with the last-placed club on a one-year deal.
Thunder confirmed on Monday that Bayliss would stay in charge for a fourth straight season, as the club fights to return to the BBL finals.
With Bayliss at the helm, Thunder made the finals in 2021-22 and 2022-23, before winning only one game last summer and finishing last.
“I’ve been here three years and there is probably a little bit of unfinished business,” Bayliss, who won the 2019 ODI World Cup with England said. “We’ve been working towards something over the last few years.
“With that and some of the recruitment we’ve done this year, we should be in a good position to win a number of games. Our ambition should be to win the tournament.”
Thunder have also signed to play four games at Sydney Showground next summer, an increase from the three they played last summer. They had come as a result of a previous deal, which required the club to play two games a summer in Canberra. That will drop to one in 2024-25.
The Showground wicket came under fire from the likes of Ricky Ponting last year, but Bayliss said it was important the club remain in western Sydney.
“I’m a western Sydney guy, I’m still involved with the Penrith club out here in the west of Sydney, and there’s a lot of interest in Sydney Thunder,” he said. “There are always people going to the games from out this way and asking questions about the club.
“Through Thunder being part of western Sydney and closer to where they live, rather than having to go to the SCG they can get along to a Thunder match and watch their own team play high-class cricket.”
Thunder have made an early player signing ahead of next season, bringing in Wes Agar as part of a trade deal with Adelaide Strikers. One of the big interests will be whether David Warner returns to the club with his previously deal having expired at the end of the 2023-24 season.