Sydney Thunder chief executive Nick Cummins said the Big Bash League franchise had expressed its interest in "talking to" Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara but he conceded it was more likely they would headhunt a fast bowler from overseas.
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Sangakkara, 37, retired from international one-day cricket after Sri Lanka were skittled by South Africa in their World Cup quarter-final but, just like former Proteas all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who starred for the Thunder last season, Sangakkara had the skills, the fan base and charisma the Big Bash League teams craved.
Big Bash League teams are restricted to two overseas players and Cummins revealed the Thunder was still in the process of recruiting domestic players. If all went to plan, he said they would not look at recruiting an overseas batsman, although he would not deny Sangakkara had appeal.
"If I wrote down our batting line-up as we hope it would be, you'd probably see [Sangakkara] could be viewed as a luxury," he said. "We need to look at team balance. He's a top-three [or] four batsman and we have five top-three batsman and we'd have to ask if it is worth taking up a spot.
"Without disclosing our signings, having Usman [Khawaja] back [from injury], Aiden Blizzard and Jacques Kallis are batting well and Michael Hussey is there, so it's strong. But, in saying that, we've expressed our interest in talking to him."
While the Thunder recruited former Australia Twenty20 batsman Ben Rohrer from the Melbourne Renegades, Cummins said the expectation that fast bowler Gurinder Sandhu would be part of the national team's system next summer meant they needed to look at galvanising their pace attack.
"Gurinder, like Pat Cummins, is in the frame for international selection and we looked bare without those two last summer [when they were called up for Australia's one-day team]," he said. "We might need to look overseas."
English all-rounder Chris Woakes, who played two games for the Thunder in 2013, could be a player the Sydney team considered while 23-year-old West Indies paceman Jason Holder had made an impression on BBL scouts throughout the World Cup campaign.
Cummins said his organisation was optimistic former Test star Michael Hussey, who won praise for the way in which he led the team last summer, would bat on.
