The 2013–14 Sydney Sixers season was the club's third consecutive season in the Big Bash League (BBL).

Players

Squad

Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.	Name	Nat	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batsmen
45	Michael Lumb		(1980-02-12) 12 February 1980	Left-handed	Right arm medium	Overseas player
53	Nic Maddinson		(1991-12-21) 21 December 1991	Left-handed	Left arm orthodox
14	Jordan Silk		(1992-04-13) 13 April 1992	Right-handed	-
All-rounders
-	Sean Abbott		(1992-02-29) 29 February 1992	Right-handed	Right arm fast medium
10	Ravi Bopara		(1985-05-04) 4 May 1985	Right-handed	Right arm medium	Overseas player
21	Moisés Henriques		(1987-02-01) 1 February 1987	Right-handed	Right arm fast medium
72	Stephen O'Keefe		(1984-12-09) 9 December 1984	Right-handed	Left arm orthodox
49	Steve Smith		(1989-06-02) 2 June 1989	Right-handed	Right arm leg spin
26	Marcus North		(1979-07-28) 28 July 1979	Left-handed	Right arm off spin
99	Mark Cosgrove		(1984-06-14) 14 June 1984	Left-handed	Right arm medium
-	Ben Dwarshuis		(1994-06-23) 23 June 1994	Left-handed	Left arm fast medium
-	Charles Amini		(1992-04-14) 14 April 1992	Left-handed	Right arm leg spin	Rookie contract
Wicketkeepers
24	Brad Haddin		(1977-10-23) 23 October 1977	Right-handed	–	Captain
13	Daniel Smith		(1982-03-17) 17 March 1982	Right-handed	–
Pace bowlers
9	Trent Copeland		(1986-03-14) 14 March 1986	Right-handed	Right arm fast medium
8	Josh Hazlewood		(1991-01-08) 8 January 1991	Left-handed	Right arm fast medium
58	Brett Lee		(1976-11-08) 8 November 1976	Right-handed	Right arm fast
56	Mitchell Starc		(1990-01-30) 30 January 1990	Left-handed	Left-arm fast medium
33	Chris Tremlett		(1981-09-02) 2 September 1981	Right-handed	Right arm fast medium	Overseas Player
2	Josh Lalor		(1987-11-02) 2 November 1987	Right-handed	Left arm fast medium
Spin bowlers
67	Nathan Lyon		(1987-11-20) 20 November 1987	Right-handed	Right arm off spin
-	Shane Cassel		(1993-09-15) 15 September 1993	Left-handed	Right arm leg spin	Rookie contract

Transfers

In: Nat Name Role Previous team Jordan Silk Batsmen New player Sean Abbott All-rounder Sydney Thunder Ravi Bopara All-rounder New to BBL Marcus North Batsmen Perth Scorchers Mark Cosgrove Batsmen Sydney Thunder Ben Dwarshuis All-rounder New player Charles Amini All-rounder New player Trent Copeland Bowler Sydney Thunder Chris Tremlett Bowler New to BBL Nathan Lyon Bowler Adelaide Strikers Shane Cassel Bowler New player

Out: Nat Name Role Going to Daniel Hughes Batsmen Sydney Thunder David Warner Batsmen Sydney Thunder Kurtis Patterson Batsmen Sydney Thunder Jeevan Mendis All-rounder Uncontracted in BBL Ian Moran All-rounder Not re-signed Dominic Thornely All-rounder Not re-signed Luke Feldmen Bowler Not re-signed Sunil Narine All-rounder Not re-signed

Review

Sydney Sixers were much improved from the previous season's disappointing result. The club registered six wins from the eight in the group stage to qualify for the finals series. However, they lost in the semi-final against Perth Scorchers.

The first match of the campaign began against cross-town rivals Sydney Thunder at home (Sydney Cricket Ground). Sixers won the toss, electing to field. They were able to restrict the Thunder to 166 runs, with Usman Khawaja scoring 66. Sixers chased down the runs with 10 balls to spare. Player of the Match, Nic Maddinson expertly guided the Sixers to victory with 61 runs.^[1]

The second match was a very lopsided encounter. After sending the Melbourne Stars in, the Sixers were unable to restrict their opponents total effectively. The Stars scored 200 runs which proved very difficult to chase down. The Sixers ended with a total of 9/123 by the end of the allotted 20 overs.^[2]

The Sixers went on a two-game winning streak, defeating Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers on the road. After losing both tosses, the Sixers were able to firstly restrict the Heat to 7/136 when chasing the 140 runs posted by the Sixers,^[3] and then successfully chase down the Strikers 7/149 with 5 balls to spare.^[4]

The Sixers fifth match of the tournament proved to be one of the most exciting in BBL03, with the game going to a super over. However it was not meant to be for the Sixers. The club lost this game in heartbreaking fashion after only being able to conjure up one run from their super over. Scorchers all rounder Adam Voges picked off the run with a boundary from the first ball of Brett Lee's super over. The game itself was a thrilling one for the spectators with many twists and turns. The Scorchers began proceedings horrifically losing two wickets without score from the first over of the game by Brett Lee. A superb 129 run partnership between Simon Katich and Sam Whiteman steadied the ship before Whiteman was eventually bowled by Lee in the eighteenth over. Voges then guided the Scorchers to a total of 153. In reply, the Sixers had trouble of their own keeping wickets in hand. With regular opener Michael Lumb out for the game, Stephen O'Keefe partnered Nic Maddinson at the top of the order. Both looked to move the scores on but fell cheaply. Then when Moises Henriques and Marcus North both returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorers the Sixers were 4/20. Scorchers bowler Tim Behrendorff was the destroyer with 3/21 from his four overs. Steve Smith and Jordan Silk did some rebuilding of their own before Silk gifted Voges an easy return catch. Smith continued scoring runs and looked in fine form as he reached his half century. The Sixers seemed like they would now easily make the runs. However, the game turned on its head once more when Dan Smith attempted to play a reverse sweep only to scoop the ball to fine leg. With the Scorchers eyeing off the Sixers tail-enders, Steve Smith took it upon himself to finish the game. A mistimed shot of the bowling of Yasir Arafat saw him caught at short third man by Voges with the Sixers 7/131. Lyon quickly departed and the Scorchers looked destined to win. However, the nineteenth over by Thomas saw some big hitting by Lee and Chris Tremlett leaving the Sixers with just 7 runs of the final over by Arafat to win. Neither side could quite find the slice of luck to get the win in ordinary time. With Lee out bowled, Tremlett faced the final delivery needing two runs to win. He dug out the ball from Arafat who couldn't quite hold onto out bumping it out to cover. The Sixers scampered through for a single leaving the scores tied. The Sixers super over was disastrous as Steve Smith was out bowled from the first ball attempting a low-percentage lap sweep. Henriques soon followed caught in the gully region for a pair of ducks for the night. Their super over ended at 2/1 from four balls. The one run scored by Maddinson was easily surpassed by the Scorchers as Voges flicked Lee's first ball through the leg side for a boundary.

The Sixers then returned to the winners circle, going on a three-game streak. They defeated Hobart Hurricanes at home, Melbourne Renegades at Docklands Stadium and Sydney Thunder at Stadium Australia on their way to finishing second on the ladder.

In a rain-affected final against soon-becoming-rival Perth Scorchers, the Scorchers fell 6 runs short of the 54-run target set by Scorchers according to the Duckworth–Lewis method. The semi-finals loss saw them bow out of the tournament. The result means they did not qualify for the 2014 Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Champions League Twenty20

As the Sydney Sixers finished seventh in the 2012–13 Big Bash League season, they did not qualify for the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 tournament. This means they are unable to defend their title that they won in 2012.

Big Bash League

References

External links

• Official site