Sydney Thunder coach Shane Bond won't name his final XI for Tuesday night's KFC Big Bash League opener against Brisbane until the 11th hour, but all signs point to former Kinross quick Chris Tremain taking his place in the electric greens' side.
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Leading into this summer's ninth edition of the tournament Tremain inked a three-season deal to return to the franchise he began his career at all those years ago, the burly, 28-year-old quick one of a handful of recruits Bond added in somewhat of an overhaul.
After being named in Bond's 13-strong squad for Tuesday night's opener against the Heat, Tremain is likely to take his place in a three-pronged pace attack alongside fellow tearaways Daniel Sams and Nathan McAndrew, both of whom also travelled to Brisbane on Monday.
Our goal is to win the tournament, and we think we have the squad capable of doing it.
- Thunder coach Shane Bond
With the likes of Usman Khawaja, Englishman Alex Hales and Jason Sangha all heading to Brisbane on Monday as well Bond's side will be a bumper one, thanks to his shrewd recruiting following the departures of Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Chris Jordan and of course Shane Watson.
"We have a fantastic squad," Bond said.
"Our goal is to win the tournament, and we think we have the squad capable of doing it.
"It's always nice to be in a position where it doesn't matter who - out of the 18 in the squad - you put on the field, you feel as though you're capable of winning games."
Bond pointed to that depth and the squad's versatility as key factors in their 2019-20 campaign, the Thunder will look to improve on last summer's sixth finish, although that's hardly a genuine reflection considering they were just one point adrift of the top four.
The tournament itself provides a unique opportunity for that in itself by shifting to a five-team finals series, a positive move in the Thunder mentor's opinion.
Thunder skipper Callum Ferguson shared his coach's sentiments before boarding the plane for Brisbane, pointing to the Yeoval-born Tremain as a crucial pick-up after returning to Sydney from the Melbourne Renegades, where he won last summer's title.
The Thunder go into the tournament-opener with plenty of confidence too after scoring back-to-back trial victories over the Sydney Sixers late last week. The tournament opener starts at 7.10pm (AEDT) at The Gabba.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
