Phoebe Litchfield named in the Sydney Thunder squad for the weekend fixtures

Teen sensation Phoebe Litchfield has been named in the Sydney Thunder squad for their weekend fixtures in the sixth season of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). Thunder will play Adelaide Strikers on Saturday (November 1) and will face the defending champions Brisbane Heat on Sunday (November 2) at the Sydney Showground Stadium.



Sydney Thunder will be looking to get their WBBL06 off to a start after their first two matches against Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars were washed out. The match against the Sixers was abandoned after the toss and only four overs of play was possible in the second.



Litchfield showed lot of promise during her debut season in WBBL05 having scored a match-winning fifty against the Heat. She finished the tournament with 187 runs from 11 matches. After being not part of the squad for the first two games, she has joined the side in the WBBL Village post the completion of school exams.



“Last year, I was lucky enough to score runs and hopefully this year I can do the same,” Litchfield said. “But teams are going to have plans to me, and I think that’s just about being able to adapt to that and find other ways to score.”



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17-year-old Litchfield believes she will have to be herself and stick to her natural game in order to succeed this season.



“If I ramp a shot, some people don’t do that, but I do it,” she said. “It’s just about being your own batter, trying to take the game on and be yourself.”







On Sunday (November 1) morning, hard-hitting allrounder Sammy-Jo Johnson will take on her former team, defending back-to-back champions Brisbane Heat, for the first time.



Thunder head coach Trevor Griffin said they won’t underestimate either of their opponents during the weekend fixtures even though both the Strikers and the Heat have went through a lot of changes in personnel ahead of the season with players moving to other clubs during the trading window.



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Beth Mooney, the highest scorer of WBBL05 left the Heat to join Perth Scorchers while ace allrounder Sammy-Jo Johnson moved to the Thunder. The Strikers also suffered due to the player movement having lost New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine to the Scorchers.



“There has been a lot made about Brisbane Heat losing Beth Mooney and Sammy-Jo joining us, but they still have quality cricketers within their side,” Griffin said. “While we won’t underestimate them or the Strikers, we’re very much focussed on our skills and doing the job.”



“You have to do that because there’s no easy game in this competition. Last year the Strikers proved the quality they have in within their group by making the play-offs."



27-year-old Johnson was a key member of the Brisbane Heat side that won back-to-back to titles in 2018 and 2019. Griffin is impressed by the way she has been able to fit in with the Sydney based outfit and said she will be focussed on the job when they take on their old teammates on Sunday.



“It’s always interesting and fun when you play against your old team. But Sammy-Jo is very focussed on what she needs to do for Sydney Thunder,” Griffin concluded.



Syndey Thunder Squad: Rachael Haynes (c), Samantha Arnold, Sam Bates, Tammy Beaumont, Hannah Darlington, Saskia Horley, Shabnim Ismail, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Heather Knight, Anika Learoyd, Phoebe Litchfield, Lauren Smith, Gabby Sutcliffe, Rachel Trenaman, Tahlia Wilson.