Sam Billings Signs Three-Year Deal with Sydney Thunder

The England Wicket Keeper Batter Sam Billings has become the first player to sign a multi-year contract for the BBL. He signed a three-season deal for the franchise Sydney Thunder ahead of the other T20 leagues in UAE and South Africa.

Sam Billings Signs Three-Year Deal with Sydney Thunder

Billings was part of the Sydney Thunder in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons before playing for the Brisbane Heat in the next two seasons. During the BBL 2023-24 season, he was one of the overseas players to leave the tournament early to play in ILT20.

According to the contract, the player must commit to the entire BBL including the finals of the 2025-26 season.

 

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SA20 league will overlap with the dates of BBL which starts in January, while the ILT20 begins earlier for the upcoming season which creates even more clashes between the dates.

While speaking about joining Sydney Thunders, Sam Billings said, “I love Sydney and in particular Western Sydney and the chance to come back to a family club that is so connected to their members and fans and the people from the area was too good an opportunity to ignore.”

How BBL New Contract Rule Works?

In April, Cricket Australia introduced a new rule that allows clubs to directly sign one overseas player at a time for up to three years, allowing players to skip the uncertainty of the draft and negotiate directly with a club of their choice.

But the rule comes under one certain condition, players signed to a multi-year deal are required to be available for the entire season including finals, which was designed in part to help mitigate the loss of international players to rival T20 leagues, particularly in the men’s

Big Bash competition. Such direct signing will receive one of the existing salary bands(Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze) or at a negotiated price above the Platinum rate, which was $110,000 last WBBL season.