Sydney Thunder have filled their vacant head coach role by appointing former Black caps speedster Shane Bond on Monday. Bond, who was working as an assistant coach at Brisbane Heat previously alongside his former teammate Daniel Vettori, has signed a three-year deal at Thunder. The franchise had recently parted ways with former coach Paddy Upton, who led them to the title in the fifth edition. Following the victorious campaign, Thunder endured two ordinary seasons which prompted a change.

"The chance to lead a programme at a club which is full of great people on and off the field was very appealing," Bond said. "I want to win trophies and have a squad of players and coaches that other teams are envious of. There's some exciting young players in the Thunder squad as well as some experienced old bulls, if we can blend that together we'll have a successful team”.

"I'm looking forward to getting to Western Sydney and meeting the players and everyone in the organization. The supporters are very passionate in Sydney and hopefully we can play some good cricket for them to get behind." former New Zealand speedster Shane Bond told.

Sydney Thunder General Manager Lee Germon believes that Bond has the right attributes to be a successful head coach with his experience. "He is widely regarded as one of the worlds leading bowling coaches and I have no doubt he is ready and equipped to be a head coach," Germon said.