Chris Lynn, the BBL’s all-time leading run-scorer, has confirmed his return to the Adelaide Strikers for a full season, marking his 15th campaign in the Big Bash League. The 35-year-old signed a one-year contract and is set to be available for the entire tournament.
Fresh from a sensational T20 Blast campaign in the UK, Lynn impressed by scoring 108 not out from 51 balls, including 11 sixes, to guide Hampshire to a semi-final victory over Northamptonshire.
Strikers Excited to Have Lynn Back
Lynn’s inclusion strengthens a top order that will feature Australia white-ball star Matt Short and potentially Test wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey, whose availability depends on the Ashes series schedule. Former Strikers captain Travis Head does not currently have a BBL contract but could return under the marquee player rule.
Lynn is just 45 runs short of becoming the first player in BBL history to reach 4,000 career runs. Speaking on his return, he said:
“𝑰’𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑶𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅.”
Lynn has yet to play a full season for the Strikers, with previous stints interrupted by short-term contracts and a hamstring injury last season. However, with the ILT20 now scheduled for early December, more overseas players are expected to be available for the later stages of the BBL.
Coach Paine on Lynn’s Impact
Strikers coach Tim Paine expressed his excitement over Lynn’s return:
“𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒏. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔.”
The Strikers have also strengthened their squad with young talent like Jason Sangha and Mackenzie Harvey, while overseas signing Jamie Overton will be available for the full season after taking a break from red-ball cricket.
Adelaide Strikers Squad: Hasan Ali (overseas), Cameron Boyce, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Mackenzie Harvey, Thomas Kelly, Harry Nielsen, Jamie Overton (overseas), Lloyd Pope, Alex Ross, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Henry Thorton, Luke Wood (overseas)
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