The BBL 05 will begin from 18th December 2015 and go on until the finals on 24thJanuary 2016. The Big Bash League or BBL 05 has just got another hit of the West Indian flavor as Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell has joined Sydney Thunder. He is one of the many West Indians playing for various franchisees in BBL 05.
Andre Russell is a vital clog in the Windies limited overs setup as a dangerous lower order power hitter and a pretty handy medium pace bowler. Russell has played 51 One Day internationals, 1 Test and 34 T20 internationals for the West Indies and plays T20 cricket in every possible league around the globe.
Andre Russell has a strike rate of 130 in ODIs and over 160 in T20 matches. He has the capability of winning matches from impossible situations with his bat lower down the order and has shown that for the West Indies and for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. His pure all-rounder capacities allow teams to play an extra batsman or a bowler in their line up and give them better team balance.
“I’m excited about joining the club, I’ve seen the squad that (captain) Mike Hussey and Paddy Upton (coach) are putting together and it is very strong,” Russell said.
“I’m looking forward to playing in the same side as Jacques Kallis and Shane Watson, who are two of the most damaging all-rounders in the white ball game.
“I think this team can go all the way in BBL|05, and play some really exciting cricket while we do it.”
The Sydney Thunder team will welcome the explosiveness that Russell brings with his batting. The Thunders have had a difficult time scoring runs at more than a ball last season in BBL 04. They could not score at more than a run a ball in 3 of the 8 matches in last year’s tournament.
The live telecast of all BBL 05 matches will be shown on Network Ten in Australia andStar Sports network in India. As for those who are interested in watching the matches viaLive Streaming, download and install Live App of Cricket Australia or visit hotstar.com. The live scores and highlights of BBL 05 matches will also be available on bigbash.com.au.
Russell is also the Sydney Thunder second international signing water former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis. This makes Russell the 3rd pure all-rounder in the Sydney Thunder line-up after Shane Watson and Jacques Kallis.
The other players from West Indies to represent franchisees in Big Bash for year 2015-16 are Kieron Pollard (Adelaide Strikers), Darren Sammy (Hobart Hurricanes), Samuel Badree (Brisbane Heat), Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo (both of them for Melbourne Renegades).
Sydney Thunder BBL 05 squad:
Aiden Blizzard, Andrew McDonald, Jacques Kallis, Jake Doran, Patrick Cummins, Christopher Green, Ahillen Beadle, Jonte Pattison, Chris Hartley, Fawad Ahmed, Shane Watson, Mike Hussey (C), Usman Khwaja, Kurtis Patterson, Ben Rohrer and Gurinder Sandhu.
