The Big Bash League (BBL) franchise Sydney Thunder is all set to make a massive announcement, with former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff set to join them as their head coach ahead of the 2026-27 season. Although a confirmation is still awaited, Code Sports are certain that Flintoff will take over the role after Trevor Bayliss.
Flintoff to kickstart new role in BBL with Sydney Thunder
Notably, Bayliss’ 5-year contract as the head coach culminated after inconsistent results in recent BBL seasons. While he helped the team to the final in 2024-25, the team finished last in 2023-24 and 2025-26. With Flintoff coming in as the frontrunner to take over the role as coach, he is set to kickstart his first coaching role overseas.
Previously, the former England all-rounder served as the coach in The Hundred with the Northern Superchargers outside of his current role with the England Lions as their head coach, where he led them on a tour of Australia last summer. The Lions will tour South Africa in December, which will most likely clash with his new BBL role. Flintoff has also worked briefly as England’s white-ball consultant alongside Matthew Mott.
While Flintoff’s only franchise coaching role speaks of his two seasons with Northern Superchargers in The Hundred 2024 and 2025, where they finished fourth and third, respectively, he will not continue in the role after failing to agree on terms. This came after the franchise was overtaken by new Indian owners, Sun Group, leading to it getting renamed as Sunrisers Leeds.
But with a new stint in his career, he would like to make use of his BBL experience, where he played one season with the Brisbane Heat in 2014-15. The former England player only featured in 7 matches, where he scored 74 runs at an average of 14.80 and a strike rate of 123.33.
Sydney Sixers recently appointed James Hope as their head coach ahead of BBL 2026-27. The former Australia white-ball all-rounder, who is currently serving as Punjab Kings (PBKS) bowling coach in IPL 2026, replaced Greg Shipperd, who was sacked halfway through his contract.
