As Sydney Thunder prepares for Saturday's KFC Big Bash League match against the Hobart Hurricanes, Head Coach Shane Bond made it clear his players control their team's BBL|09 destiny.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Thunder, with Ulladulla's Matt Gilkes in the squad, start tomorrow's match (Saturday) at Sydney Showground Stadium in fifth position after being defeated during the week by the Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
Gilkes, against the Stars, top-scored for the Thunder with 41 runs which included two maximums and one boundary.
Prime's television commentary team were critical of Gilkes and suggested he needed to give his captain Callum Ferguson more of the strike.
Meanwhile, while the Thunder has lost some nail-biting matches, Bond conceded the team must complete the job and win in front of their home crowd.
"We're in a position now where we're under some pressure," he said. "We're back with the pack.
"We've played a number of teams who are above us on the table leading the race. Now we're up against teams who are in-and-around us, so we must win. This game against Hobart is extremely important.
"Our destiny is in our own hands. We have two games against Hobart, one against the Renegades, two against Perth and one against the Sydney Sixers. We'll be scrapping it out against all of them - we just need to get better in some areas."
Bond said Thunder were made to pay in their last hit out against the Melbourne Stars at the MCG for not scoring enough runs after being sent in to bat.
"Our last performance was disappointing," he said. "We were 20 runs light with the bat . The MCG is a ground where [when] you bat first it's always tougher because the conditions get a little easier in the second innings.
"We're doing some good stuff and that's a familiar message which is getting frustrating. But we haven't been quite good enough."
Meanwhile, Liam Hatcher has been approved by the Technical Committee to join the squad as a Local Replacement Player for Ollie Davies who is a part of Australia's under-19 World Cup team's campaign.
Under the tournament rules, Hatcher must be named in the final 12 player squad that's announced at the toss.
Sydney Thunder BBL Squad vs Hobart tomorrow Saturday, January 11
Callum Ferguson (C) (12)
Liam Bowe (27)
Jonathan Cook (50)
Brendan Doggett (35)
Matthew Gilkes (22)
Alex Hales (6)
Liam Hatcher (19)
Usman Khawaja (18)
Chris Morris (24)
Arjun Nair (7)
Alex Ross (49)
Daniel Sams (60)
Chris Tremain (20)
Sydney Thunder plays it's next match at Sydney Showground Stadium against Hobart Hurricanes on Saturday January 11 at 6.10pm.