Daniel Sams is getting used to life in the spotlight.
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One needn't look too far in search of the Sydney Thunder fast bowler at Manuka Oval on Wednesday night.
He'll be the guy in the gold cap while his Sydney Thunder teammates don the regular lime green with a black brim in their clash with the Melbourne Renegades.
But it's his prowess with the ball which is turning more heads - that skill set opened the door for Sams to earn the golden arm cap as the Big Bash League's leading wicket-taker.
Sams' 17 scalps have him two clear of Melbourne Stars sensation Harris Rauf.
"It's nice to be the leading wicket-taker in a professional sports tournament," Sams said.
"But, in the end it comes down to doing nothing differently. If I get no wickets - or 17 - nothing changes.
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"I just plan to go into the next game and try to keep the runs down. If wickets come from that, then that's great.
"We've been playing good cricket throughout the entire tournament.
"Some things, however, haven't gone our way and there's been times when we haven't stepped up and taken opportunities - we could easily have some more wins.
"We just need to keep sticking to our game; keep playing some good cricket and I'm sure we'll grab those moments when they present themselves."
The Thunder have made three changes to their 13-player squad for the Renegades clash with Jay Lenton, Gurinder Sandhu and Nathan McAndrew drafted in.
Missing from the squad are Canberra export Matt Gilkes, Liam Hatcher and Chris Tremain - but the home side isn't the only one making a reshuffle.
Andrew Fekete comes into the winless Renegades outfit at the expense of all-rounder Nathan McSweeney.
"Melbourne Renegades are a quality team that has potentially underperformed," Sams said.
"They've had to change their line-up a little bit because Aaron Finch and Kane Richardson are in India.
"So it will be a little bit different with [Shaun] Marsh opening, but we'll be ready, we'll have all of our plans in place."
BIG BASH LEAGUE
Wednesday: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Renegades at Manuka Oval, 6.10pm. Tickets from Ticketek.
Thunder squad: Callum Ferguson (c), Liam Bowe, Jonathan Cook, Brendan Doggett, Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Jay Lenton, Nathan McAndrew, Chris Morris, Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu
Renegades squad: Dan Christian (c), Cameron Boyce, Tom Cooper, Andrew Fekete, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Mohammad Nabi, Samit Patel, Will Sutherland, Beau Webster, Jack Wildermuth
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
