Team news, key match-ups, TV and streaming information, weather forecast, odds, form rundown, umpire appointments, start times, venue and squad lists for the first game of the new BBL campaign
Sydney Thunder take on Brisbane Heat in the second game of the 2021-22 Big Bash season, the 11th BBL campaign in all.
The game is scheduled for a 7.15pm local time start. That's 8.15am GMT.
The game will be held at the Manuka Oval, Canberra.
Two teams who are pretty evenly matched, in reality. Sydney Thunder finished one place above Brisbane Heat last year but then lost when it mattered as they came head-to-head in The Challenger to end their campaign.
Thunder possess the firepower of Alex Hales, whose record in this competition has been astounding for the last couple of seasons, while Brisbane have Mujeeb Ur Rahman in their ranks on the back of a fine T20 World Cup.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the clash will be the presence of new head coaches in each dugout: Trevor Bayliss for Thunder, having replaced Shane Bond, and Wade Seccombe for Heat, although he will still have Darren Lehmann by his side.
New captains as well: Callum Ferguson was released by Thunder and was due to be replaced by Usman Khawaja, although the left-hander was promptly called up to Australia's Ashes squad. Chris Green will skipper in his absence. Heat have given the reins to Jimmy Peirson to allow Chris Lynn the space to focus on his batting.
Sydney Thunder stand-in captain Chris Green (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
It's hard to look past the hulking presence of Hales at the top of Sydney's order, but the role of Ben Cutting gives this fixture a bit of extra spice.
The allrounder was a Brisbane stalwart for years and seemed destined never to leave, only to depart in acrimonious circumstances. After joining Thunder, he quickly opened up on the manner of his departure.
"There is still a couple left in management who were making the decisions and are probably the reason five or six of us did walk away," he said last year.
"Walking into my meeting at the end of the season and being told a few things that probably I didn’t think were true, it was disappointing."
Speaking this week, however, he insisted that such disappointment was behind him and that life had moved on. He also suggested that Lynn, his longtime former teammate, would be even more dangerous this season without the captaincy.
Needless to say, Thunder will hope that prophecy doesn't come true on Monday night.
Greg Davidson and Anthony Wilds will be the standing umpires for this one.
Temperatures hovering around 20 degrees during this one, though with a decent chance of showers.
Sydney Thunder: Sam Billings, Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Baxter Holt, Usman Khawaja, Saqib Mahmood, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain, Sam Whiteman
Brisbane Heat: Tom Abell, Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Max Bryant, Tom Cooper, Ben Duckett, Liam Guthrie, Sam Heazlett, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne (Nathan McSweeney), Chris Lynn, Michael Neser (Cameron Gannon), Jimmy Pierson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Will Prestwidge, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson (Hugo Burdon), Jack Wildermuth
Chris Lynn has handed over the captaincy (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Sydney Thunder: Alex Hales, Sam Whiteman, Ollie Davies, Sam Billings, Alex Ross, Ben Cutting, Daniel Sams, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Tremain, Tanveer Sangha
Brisbane Heat: Chris Lynn, Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Ben Duckett, Jimmy Peirson, Tom Abell, Jack Wildermuth, Xavier Bartlett, Mark Steketee, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Cameron Gannon
Sydney Thunder are a best priced 5/6 with Bet365 to win their opener, with Brisbane Heat available at 10/11 with Sky Bet.
Thunder look short on batting, having not replaced Callum Ferguson before losing Usman Khawaja to Australia's Ashes squad. Heat are strong, with Chris Lynn no doubt the key.
Sky Sports have bought the rights for the competition through to 2025, and they will broadcast all 61 games in the UK.
Fox Sports and Seven Network both have television rights in Australia: subscription broadcaster Fox show every game, while free-to-air Seven will simulcast 45 matches.
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra will have ball-by-ball radio coverage of the tournament for UK listeners.
Where can I watch the competition elsewhere in the world?
North America: Willow
MENA: beIN Sports
Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport
Indian Subcontinent: Sony
New Zealand: Sky Sport
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