Police say cricketer Brad Haddin was not the target of an improvised explosive device found outside his Sydney property.

A neighbour found the object on a nature strip in Tennyson Point about 3:15pm yesterday afternoon and alerted police.

It is understood the device was constructed from two butane canisters with a wick attached and that an attempt had been made to light it.



Superintendent John Duncan said Haddin was not deliberately targeted.

"At this point in time, we're investigating all particular avenues, but as I said, based on the positioning of the device, we believe there is no evidence to suggest it was actually targeting any particular individual or any particular premises," he said.

He said the item was "very much an amateur device".

"It was a small object ... very simple, very crude device," he said in a press conference.

"[Similar] items have been found in the possession of kids in the past."

The device was described by neighbours as two spray paint cans wrapped in a blue shirt.

"I pick up Brad's letters ... and I'd seen this blue thing ... I thought it was a T-shirt and a can," another neighbour, Margaret Harsas, said.

"So I went to pick it up and I realised it was a bit heavy so I put it down and left it and just picked up the letters."

Ms Harsas said police came to investigate the item shortly after she discovered it.

"There was quite a few police. They just said there's no alarm and don't worry about nothing," she said.

Police have urged anyone with information to contact them or Crime Stoppers.

The veteran wicketkeeper recently pulled out of the second Ashes Test against England, citing family reasons.

He was replaced by Peter Nevill, who took on the glove-work for the second Test at Lord's.

In 2012, Haddin's then 13-month-old daughter Mia was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer while he was in the West Indies and he had to make the heartbreaking trip home to be with his wife, Karina.