‘There’s no hangover from that’: Thunder players move on from record low, huge relief as former skipper cleared of serious injury

The headlines after last year’s record loss to the Strikers are ancient history for the Thunder who could welcome back a star player from injury in the coming days.

The Sydney Thunder have received a huge boost with scans clearing former skipper Jason Sangha of a fractured wrist, with the talented batsman on track to make his return for Saturday’s trip to Albury to face the Melbourne Stars.

Sangha will miss Tuesday’s match in Adelaide but that’s a small price to pay after there were fears he would be sidelined for the entire tournament having copped a knock to his left hand at training.

The right-hander played just five matches last season after he suffered a broken collarbone in the field, but his impending return is great news for the Thunder if he can replicate his form from two years ago when he averaged almost 50 with the bat.

Jason Sangha missed most of the last BBL season with a collarbone injury. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

“Jason was all clear with the scan, but it’s just badly bruised so we’re giving him some extra time to recover,” skipper Chris Green said after touching down in Adelaide.

“He’s not on the trip here to Adelaide but we’re hoping he’ll join us in Albury.

“I don’t think he’s far off from resuming business as normal.

“He had a secondary scan in Sydney when we got back from Canberra and he got the all clear from a fracture point of view.

“That was a big relief, not only for us, but particularly for him given his unfortunate circumstances last year.”

Tuesday’s clash comes nearly a year to the day since the Thunder were bowled out for just 15 against the Strikers which was a record-low score at the time, although that’s since been beaten by the Isle of Man who were rolled for 10 against Spain earlier this year.

Thunder players have moved on from that horror night that saw five batters dismissed for zero, with the men in green salvaging some pride with a much better performance against Adelaide just a few days after the embarrassing loss.

They actually won their next four games after that second defeat and reached the finals where they were eliminated by the Heat.

The Thunder have moved on from last year’s record-breaking loss to Adelaide. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Image

“We had our fan day on Sunday and I actually brought it up which brought a big groan from our members,” Green said when asked about the lowly total.

“I think we’ve come a long way from there.

“On the humorous side, that record has now been broken – fortunately or unfortunately depending on which way you look at it. I think it got obliterated based on the stats I saw.

“There’s certainly no hangover from that. We bounced back really well from that last year and went on a hot run.”

The Thunder couldn’t avenge that finals loss when they met the Heat last week in what was their first game of the season and Brisbane’s third.

They’ve had to wait another week because of the Perth Test, but Green says they’re ready to bounce back against a Strikers side featuring the always dangerous Matt Short.

Chris Green’s late cameo with the bat almost got the Thunder home against the Heat. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

“It’s been a strange start to the tournament because we seemingly started later than everyone and then we went straight into the week off,” he said.

“It’s given us a good chance as a group to reflect and process everything and spend more time together.

“The positives out of the first game are that we bowled really well and fielded well, but we just fell short in tough conditions with the bat.

“We needed some bigger partnerships, particularly from our top order, and perhaps we’d be having a different chat.”