He played the last 11 games of the season and made 357 runs at 51.00, striking at 140, including four half-centuries. He made a career-best 95 not out in the final game of the home and away season before scoring 53 not out in the Qualifier against Sydney Sixers to help Scorchers bank a home final which they won against Brisbane Heat.
But despite one of his best-ever BBL seasons, and being third all-time on Scorchers’ career runscorers list, the depth of top-order batting at Scorchers saw Bancroft look elsewhere for more long-term contract security. He was courted by a number of clubs but has landed at Thunder where he looks set to play alongside Warner again despite the pair’s strained relationship dating back to the Sandpaper incident in Cape Town in 2018 when the pair were Test opening partners. They have since opened the batting together for Australia in the 2019 Ashes but the Sandpaper incident and long-term fallout still casts a shadow over the pair.
“I’m really excited for my next chapter in the BBL with the Hurricanes,” Hatzoglou said.
“I’m one of those players whose career has followed a more non-traditional path to get to the point I’m at now, so I’m just really thankful for every opportunity that comes my way.
“Watching from afar over the past couple of seasons, it is obvious that the Hurricanes have pretty much all the right ingredients within their program already. I’m looking forward to coming in, getting to know some of the guys and the staff a bit better, and contributing whatever small part I can to hopefully the ultimate on-field success.”
Hatzoglou has been playing in the T20 Blast in England for Glamorgan recently after being drafted in as an overseas replacement for Australia quick Michael Neser.
Sydney Thunder BBL 13 squad: Cameron Bancroft, Ollie Davies, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Nathan McAndrew, Blake Nikitaras, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner
Hobart Hurricanes BBL 13 squad: Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Nathan Ellis, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade