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WBBL launches tomorrow

December 4, 2015
Category: WBBL,
WBBL launches tomorrow

The inaugural Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) begins tomorrow with the Melbourne Stars playing host to Brisbane Heat at Junction Oval in the first two fixtures of the competition.

The WBBL consists of eight teams which are inline with the KFC Big Bash League; Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Strikers, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Strikers and Sydney Sixers.

The WBBL is aiming to inspire girls to take up cricket and increase participation at the grassroots level.

Melbourne Stars

Saturday’s fixture will feature the number one-ranked T20 and One-Day International batsman, Stars’ captain Meg Lanning. The skipper is a delight to watch bat and is also tactically one of the best players in the game. In the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) Lanning averaged 76 this season and will be looking to take her form into the shorter format of the game.

The Stars’ line-up also includes Kristen Beams who represents the Southern Stars and featured in their successful Ashes campaign. Beams is an attacking leg-spinner who took seven wickets at 28.71 in the WNCL and in the Ashes showed she can score late order runs if required.

The Melbourne Stars also have strong overseas players in England’s Natalie Sciver, South Africa’s Mignon du Preez, New Zealand’s Morna Nielsen and Hayley Jensen (who has signed as an international replacement).

Sciver is an attacking all-rounder who is coming off a good T20 Ashes campaign. She averaged 33.50 with the bat from three innings, including her highest T20I score of 47. With her right-arm medium pace she claimed six wickets at the miserly average of 10.17.

South African’s captain, du Preez, is an exciting T20 player who has 55 international caps to her name in the format and is averaging 22.02 with a high strike rate of 95.85 in the format.

The Stars’ first Kiwi signing is left-arm orthodox bowler Nielsen who has played 36 T20s for the White Ferns. Nielsen has a good average at 18 with the ball and has best figures of four wickets for ten runs.

To complete their international line-up the Melbourne Stars have signed all-rounder, Jensen. She has played nine T20s for New Zealand, averaging 24 with the bat and has taken seven wickets at 22.14.

Brisbane Heat

Brisbane Heat are looking at being a strong side with several Southern Stars representatives; Holly Ferling, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Grace Harris, Beth Mooney and recently internationally retired Jodie Fields.

Fast-bowler, Ferling will be opening the bowling as she looks to get the Heat’s competition off to a flyer. Still only 19, Ferling has played in seven T20s for Australia and picked up five wickets at 20.60.

All-rounder Jonassen has had a good start to her season averaging 33 with the bat and taking seven wickets at 26.29 for Queensland in the WNCL. She also played an important role in the Southern Stars Ashes campaign, putting in a match-winning performance in the sole Test scoring 99 and 54 and picking up a wicket as she was named Player of the Match.

Kimmince is an all-rounder who has a top T20I score of 43 and has taken seven wickets at 15.42 for Australia. She was selected for this winter’s Ashes tour but had to pull out due to a back injury, which led to the debut of her state teammate Harris.

Brisbane Heat also have one of the most exciting up and coming young players in Harris who made her international debut in August against Ireland and then played in the three T20 matches as part of the Ashes series. Harris currently has a batting average of 24.75 with a top score of 39 not out and has taken three wickets at 24. Harris is known as one of the biggest hitters on the Australian domestic circuit and is certainly one to watch in the WBBL.

Mooney is likely to open the batting and might do so with fellow Yorkshire team mate Lauren Winfield and can also take the gloves for the Heat if required. Mooney had a respectable WNCL as she averaged 30.60 and recorded eight dismissals as she kept for Queensland due to injury to former Southern Stars captain Fields.  

Two England players have signed for the Heat; top-order batsman Winfield and opening fast-bowler Kate Cross.

Despite having a tough international summer, Winfield, the Yorkshire captain led from the front with her county as they won the Women’s County Championship. Across the 50 over and T20 competitions Winfield accumulated 381 runs at an average of 76.20. In the T20 format her top score was an unbeaten 53 which included five fours.

Cross has played four T20s for England and picked up three wickets at 27.66 with her best bowling coming in a series against New Zealand this year when she took two wickets for 27. Cross will share the new ball with Ferling which should give the Heat a good start in the field with two top international bowlers.

Melbourne Renegades

The other Melbourne side looking to make a mark in the WBBL is the Renegades, who kick off their campaign on Friday 11th December against Hobart Hurricanes at the Aurora Stadium in Launceston. Their squad will be led by ‘Super-mum’ Sarah Elliott who made her return to cricket this season following the birth of her second child.

Elliott is a top-order batsman who had a good WNCL season for Victoria averaging 45.50 with the bat and picked up seven wickets at 21.43 with her leg break bowling.

On the international front, the Renegades will be looking to England all-rounder Danni Wyatt, New Zealand wicket-keeper Rachel Priest and South-African batsman Dane Van Niekerk.

Wyatt is known as an explosive batsman and had a good county season with Nottinghamshire. She scored 429 runs at the impressive average of 47.67 and took nine wickets at 25.67 from her ten matches. Her two high scores for the season came in a single day as she made 89 and then 102 in two T20s. Wyatt is also a very athletic fielder and her opponents should be wary of running quick singles to her.

Priest is an established member of the White Ferns’ T20 side and has 56 T20I caps to her name. She is in top form for both New Zealand and Wellington Women of late, scoring two big centuries and two half centuries in the past month. Her top knocks include a 157 which she scored in a comprehensive New Zealand victory over Sri Lanka.

Dane Van Niekerk is an opening batsman for South Africa and is also a useful leg-spinner who has picked up 39 wickets at 17.74 in T20Is. With the bat, Van Niekerk has an impressive T20 high score of 90 not out off just 66 balls which included 13 fours and a six against Pakistan.

Adelaide Strikers

On the 8th January the Melbourne Stars will play their fifth home game which is against the Adelaide Strikers at the Junction Oval.

The Adelaide Strikers is looking like a strong side particularly as most of their squad is the same as the South Australian Scorpions’ which competes in the WNCL and are this year’s winners and thus allows continuity between the formats.

The Strikers boast two Southern Stars players in bowler Megan Schutt and allrounder Sarah Coyte.

Schutt was the leading wicket-taker in the WNCL with 14 wickets at 17.35 and best figures of four for 42 which came in the State’s first match of the season against New South Wales, the team which had held the title for 10 years.

Coyte has played 42 T20s for Australia and picked up 46 wickets at an average of 19.56 with her best bowling coming early on in her career in a T20 match against India where she took four wickets for just five runs. Batting in the middle-order for the Scorpions this WNCL season she has made 174 runs at an average of 29.

The Strikers have also signed two overseas players; wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor and New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine.

Sarah Taylor has just completed her second season with South Australia and was named Player of the Final in the WNCL. Taylor is one of the most exciting and innovative batsmen around. She is also recognised as one of the best in the game behind the stumps. Sides will have to watch out for any leg-side stumpings, a skill she has seemed to hone in international cricket.

Devine has been in great form for her state side Wellington Women in three fixtures this season. She scored an unbeaten 53 and an unbeaten 162 off just 105 deliveries which included ten fours and ten sixes in matches against Northern Districts Women. This means she currently has an impressive average of 215 this season. With the ball she has also been in good form and has taken seven wickets at just 4.43 runs.

Sydney Sixers

The other state with two teams in the WBBL is New South Wales which will see the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder lock horns as they look to be the dominate team in the state.

The Sydney Sixers’ first match in Melbourne will see them play the Renegades at the Junction Oval on the 8th of January.

The Sixers’ squad features Southern Stars players Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and recently retired Lisa Sthalekar.

Australian superstar Perry will captain the side and look to continue her impressive form from the WNCL when she topped the run tally, amassing 403 runs at the remarkable average of 67.17.  The all-rounder has played 69 T20Is, taking 67 wickets at an average of 19.53 and has a batting average of 22.50. Perry is always a prized wicket and will certainly be so in the first WBBL as she is a player who can easily take the game away from the opposition with both bat and ball. 

Healy will be the wicketkeeper for the Sixers and will be looking to replicate her form from the WNCL when she scored 316 runs at the impressive average of 52.67. Healy has a strong strike rate of 109.04 for Australia in T20s and a high score of 90.

The Sixers have signed three international players in South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, New Zealand batsman Sara McGlashan and England all-rounder Laura Marsh.

Kapp is an experienced T20 player having played 40 games for South Africa and has a batting average of 18.30 and has taken 36 wickets at 16.02.

McGlashan is an established member of the New Zealand squad having recently played her 200th match for her country, with 68 of those being T20Is. She has a top score of 84 and averages 17.55 in the T20 format.

Marsh was part of the NSW Breakers WNCL squad and picked up nine wickets at 24.77 with her right-arm offbreak bowling. She is also a solid, mid-order batsman.

Sydney Thunder

State rivals, Sydney Thunder, have one Melbourne fixture which is against the Renegades and will be held at the Etihad Stadium on the 9th January.

The Thunder will be captained by Southern Stars batsman Alex Blackwell and she will be joined by fellow Australian internationals Erin Osborne and Rene Farrell.

Blackwell made her Australian debut in 2003 and has played 206 matches for her country including 79 T20Is. She had a good WNCL season, making two centuries and averaging 55 and will be hoping her form and experience can bring the Thunder success.

Off-break bowler, Osborne, who has played 52 T20s for Australia and picked up 44 wickets at 22.88 will also be hoping her experience can help the Thunder in their first WBBL campaign.

Farrell adds further experience to the Thunder’s line-up with the fast bowler having represented Australia in 43 T20Is. In this format she has taken 46 wickets at just 19.82 runs for the Southern Stars.

On the overseas front the Thunder have signed the exciting West Indian captain and all-rounder, Stefanie Taylor. She has played 65 T20s for the West Indies accumulating 1874 runs at 36.03 and has picked up 56 wickets at 16.37.

Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers

With no fixtures scheduled for Melbourne the Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers might not play here in the first WBBL. This will depend on where teams finish in the table and then where final matches are played.

However, neither team should be overlooked. The standout players for the Hurricanes are Julie Hunter (Australian opening fast bowler), Heather Knight (England opening batsman), Amy Satterthwaite (New Zealand opening batsman) and Hayley Matthews (West Indies all rounder).

The Perth Scorchers have signed two of the leading run scorers in this year’s WNCL in captain Nicole Bolton and Elyse Villani, both were part of the Southern Stars’ successful Ashes campaign.

The Scorchers have also signed four international players; England fast-bowler Katherine Brunt, England captain and top-order batsman Charlotte Edwards, New Zealand captain and top-order batsman Susie Bates (who will miss some of the tournament due to New Zealand duties) and explosive West-Indian batsman Deandra Dottin (who will replace Bates.)

With at least eleven matches to be played in Melbourne across three venues, choose your side, Stars or Renegades, and come and support them at the MCG, Etihad Stadium and Junction Oval.

Fixtures in Melbourne

5th December Melbourne Stars v Brisbane Heat at Junction Oval
5th December Melbourne Stars v Brisbane Heat at Junction Oval
2nd January Melbourne Stars v Melbourne Renegades at Melbourne Cricket Ground
3rd January Melbourne Renegades v Melbourne Stars at Melbourne Cricket Ground
8th January Melbourne Renegades v Sydney Sixers at Junction Oval
8th January Melbourne Stars v Adelaide Strikers at Junction Oval
9th January Melbourne Renegades v Sydney Thunder at Etihad Staium
9th January Sydney Sixers v Adelaide Strikers at Junction Oval
9th January Adelaide Strikers v Sydney Sixers at Junction Oval
10th January Melbourne Renegades v Sydney at Sixers Junction Oval
10th January Melbourne Stars v Adelaide Strikers at Junction Oval

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