Billings will link up with his team in Canberra on Boxing Day as the Thunder prepare to face the Melbourne Renegades at Manuka Oval that night.

But Thunder coach Shane Bond says the English international will be kept on ice until December 29's date with the Melbourne Stars in Canberra.

International commitments kept the 29-year-old from joining the Thunder for the opening stages of the competition but now Billings looks set to be in for the long haul.

Billings, who was selected by Pune in the Abu Dhabi T10 draft overnight, spent two seasons with the Sydney Sixers before joining the Thunder.

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"It's only fair to give him a few days to get his legs under him and let him do some training. He'll be available on the 29^th," Bond said.

"He'll just slide in for Baxter [Holt], Baxter has done a really good job for us but obviously Sam is a quality international player and he will fit into that middle order for us.

"It just adds more depth to a quality batting line-up that we've got at the moment. We haven't fired on all cylinders with the bat, and when we do, we look forward to putting some massive runs on the board.

"We've been able to win a couple of games when we haven't quite been as perfect as we want to be.

"I thought the bowling performance in the last game was really good, and our best batters haven't quite fired a shot yet.

"It's really good, we're just getting better and better. It's good to have Adam [Milne] and Ollie [Davies] come in and do well. It's not an easy team to pick, we've got good depth across our squad and everyone is fit.

"Sam is about to join us as well, so there is a real confidence within the group that we've got all bases covered. All going well, we can be there at the business end of the tournament."

Holt has long been regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in the Thunder camp having bounced back from an injury riddled campaign last summer.

Now he is set to pick Billings' brain in a bid to elevate his game.

"I've got enough confidence in my game that if I go out and do my thing, I'll do my job as best as I can do it," Holt said.

"I've had a lot of backing with the support staff, they back my ability. It's just up to me to go out and enjoy competing the best I can do. If I can do that well enough, that's all I need to do.

"[Billings] has got an incredible wealth of experience. As much of that as I can get off him will be outstanding. He'll add so much more power and strength, not only to the batting line-up but the whole team. His experience will be an incredible thing to have around."