Thunder sign Billings, wait for England call

The Sydney Thunder will be hoping England have their full complement of wicketkeeper-batsmen available for the Ashes this summer to free up Sam Billings for a return to the Big Bash.

The Thunder announced today that Billings has signed a deal to return for BBL|11, but it remains to be seen how his possible selection in England's touring party will impact his availability.

The 30-year-old was part of England's Test squad last week as a reserve wicketkeeper to Jonny Bairstow, with Billings called in while Jos Buttler was away for the birth of his second child.

He was also part of England's Test squad for their series against New Zealand earlier this year.

If all players were available, Billings would seemingly not be part of England's Ashes squad as the fourth in line to be Test gloveman behind Buttler, Bairstow and Ben Foakes, who is about to return to domestic cricket following a serious hamstring injury.

But if players are unavailable this summer due to injury or personal reasons – Buttler has expressed some reservations about travelling to Australia given the current quarantine requirements – it could see Billings get an Ashes call-up, which would effectively rule him out of action for the Thunder.

The KFC BBL will run from December 5 to January 28 while the Vodafone Ashes will begin on December 8 and finish on January 18.

England are also expected to bring a secondary Lions squad to Australia for a tour match in Brisbane on December 9-12, which could also impact Billings' availability for the Thunder in the early stages of the tournament.

Billings is the second Englishman to confirm his return to the Thunder for this season after Alex Hales, last summer's leading run-scorer, signed a new deal last week.

The pair will link up with former England coach Trevor Bayliss, who took over the Thunder job from Shane Bond earlier this year.

The Thunder have now signed 15 players for this season, all of whom were on their list last summer.

The major shock of the off-season has been their axing of skipper Callum Ferguson despite another strong season, with Usman Khawaja to take over the leadership of the side.

The other major off-season move was securing young gun Oliver Davies on a multi-year contract, while Hales, paceman Brendan Doggett and young wicketkeeper Baxter Holt have also signed new deals.

Kiwi speedster Adam Milne is not expected to be back and the Thunder may look to boost their bowling stocks with their third international selection.

Billings scored 260 runs at a strike rate of 142 last summer, the highlight being his innings of 83 from 48 balls against the Scorchers in Perth.

The right-hander has been on the fringes of England's T20 side in recent years and while an Ashes call-up may be beyond him, he has set his sights on winning a spot in their World Cup squad for the tournament in the UAE before the Big Bash.

"I think the most exciting thing about coming back to the Thunder is the group of young players that complement the older, experienced heads," he said.

"Hales is obviously a high-quality player and we have all seen what he can do.

"In my first experiences with Sydney Thunder last season there were obviously positive signs, but we didn’t finish where we wanted to, or could finish. There is no reason we can’t take another step forward and go close to the title."

Sydney Thunder BBL|11 squad (so far): Sam Billings (ENG), Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales (ENG), Baxter Holt, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain (three to be added)