A pair of mighty blows wasn't enough for Dan Christian to give the Sydney Thunder the win in his return to professional cricket.

The 41-year-old allrounder and Thunder assistant coach agreed to put his pads on once more to help the BBL side, who are facing an injury crisis after the horror collision between Cameron Bancroft and Daniel Sams in Perth on Friday.

In doing so, he joined an elite group of players who played in the BBL in their 40s, including Brad Hodge, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed and the late Shane Warne.

Appearing at the Gabba on Monday night against the Brisbane Heat, themselves struggling after losing three on the bounce, the Wiradjuri man showed he had lost none of this touch, launching two massive sixes into the crowd.

In the 19th over, Christian, who last played in BBL12 before announcing his retirement, launched Australian ODI quick Xavier Bartlett 92 m over backward square, before top edging a sweep two balls later off the same bowler over wide fine leg for another maximum.

It prompted former Australian 'keeper Brad Haddin to exclaim: "It's like he's never left."

His unbeaten 23 off 15 deliveries pushed the Thunder to a competitive 8-173 after they had slumped to 7-129.

With the ball, Christian was his typical, accurate self, delivering a series of slower balls and cutters as he finished with figures of 1/25 off his four overs.

He dismissed the dangerous Nathan McSweeney, fresh from his appearances for the test side.

However, he was unable to stop the Heat, who having been stuck needing 121 off the final 10 over, got there with more than an over to spare in a boundary bonanza.

Max Bryant (72 off 35) and Matt Renshaw (48no off 33) blasted an extraordinary 108 off 51 balls for the fourth wicket to end the Heat's three match losing streak.

Christian was one of the few to escape punishment, as Wes Agar (1/61 off 3.5) and Chris Green (0/42 off 4) went the distance.