John Hastings: “It is nice to be back in Sydney”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Australia pace bowler John Hastings will be don a Sydney Sixers jersey in the 2018/19 Big Bash League (BBL) as he signed a one-year deal with the franchise.

Hastings had been with the Stars for seven seasons and even captained them in the most recent edition of the BBL.

However, his side finished last on the standings after winning just two of their 10 games. In those matches, Hastings took 10 wickets at an average of 28.70.

Hastings admitted that he is excited about returning to north Sydney, which is the area he grew up in.

“It is nice to be back in Sydney actually, it brought back a lot of nice memories walking through that NSW cricket office,” he was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. “I’ve got an opportunity to come back and play with a lot of close friends of mine, Stevie O’Keefe was best man at my wedding and Moises Henriques and I played a lot of cricket together as juniors and Pete Nevill is one of my good mates as well.”

The 32-year-old added that he is looking forward to reuniting with his former Victoria coach Greg Shipperd.

“The relationship we’ve had over the years is great, he’s almost been like a father to me in a sense,” Hastings said. “I went down (to Melbourne) as a 21-year-old kid so for me I really sort of made my way and he helped shape the man I grew into.”

Meanwhile, Sixers general manager Jodie Hawkins revealed that she hopes South Africa superstar AB de Villiers will be interested in joining the franchise.

De Villiers stunned the cricketing world when he announced his retirement from international cricket last week.

“We hope we’ll be in a pretty good position if he wants to come out,” Hawkins told AAP. “From a family point of view, we feel we offer a pretty attractive package in Sydney and he’s previously stated his love for the SCG.

“We’re very keen to have him, should he want to come out, but we also realise he said he’s keen to play domestic cricket in South Africa.”