Century Cricket Coaching in partnership with Cricket New South Wales in late November announced a groundbreaking affiliation and integration of junior talented players into their Thunder & Sixers Big Bash and Women’s Big Bash pathways.
Starting in December, the Sydney Thunder and Sixers commence two programs (T20 Youth Camps & Academies) that enables young aspiring cricketers the opportunity to immerse themselves into the high performance culture of their favourite New South Wales big bash franchises.
The T20 Youth Holiday Camps and T20 Development Academies offer a unique opportunity for aspiring young players aimed at developing and honing their T20 technical, tactical, physical and mental skills. These programs act as a Talent Identification and Skill Development progression for players who are looking to seriously develop their T20 skillsets in an environment that is done correctly with a watchful eye from each franchise’s High Performance unit.
The T20 Youth Clinics are 3 or 5 day programs run during the school holidays, and the T20 Development Academy, a year round development program running in school terms for 6 weeks per term.
Speaking of the 6-week Academies, Sam Konstas, Thunder ambassador says, “This is your chance to experience what it’s like to train inside a professional setup. Each term, we’re running 6-week programs built to help young players grow their game — technically, mentally, and physically!”
Steve Smith, Sixers ambassador says, ”What I love about this program is how close it feels to what we do in the BBL — there’s a big focus on decision-making, game awareness, and performing under pressure, not just technique”.
For the franchises, the ability to get a good look at and develop the next crop of talent from 10 – 16 years old before players transition into senior T20 academies, premier cricket or their fully fledged BBL/WBBL teams is a great advantage.
This program, not only provides aspirational players with a chance to mix it with local franchise coaches, players and support staff, but at the end, provides legitimate higher honours and specific talent Identification possibilities. Players involved in the T20 Development Academy programs are eligible to be selected by each franchise academy director in their own relevant age group franchise team, and will play against each other in the April school holidays in a T20 series, providing a genuine chance to players to represent their big bash team.
Each franchise will have their own respective hubs and headquarters around metro Sydney, with plans to scale and progress these into rural regions from season 2026/27.
This program is aimed to support the current structures, and enables clubs, rep associations and premier clubs to still flourish, while providing specific opportunities for aspirational players to engage and gain access to elite levels of T20 coaching and development through these franchises like never before.
Supporting the current franchise engagement programs aimed at community cricket and younger age brackets, these programs are aimed at serious and talented players in the 10 – 16 year old age bracket.
Registration for Academies are now open for both franchises:
Sydney Sixers Programs – CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Sydney Thunder Programs – CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
