The inaugural WBBL Draft has taken place, with 17 overseas players finding homes for the tournament’s ninth edition.
South African Marizanne Kapp was the first player selected and will don the lime green of the Sydney Thunder this year after the Perth Scorchers opted not to retain the superstar all-rounder, prioritising the leadership of captain Sophie Devine.
Here is what your club had to say on their selections at the draft table.
Adelaide Strikers
Laura Wolvaardt – South Africa (retention) – 11
Dani Gibson – England – 14
After winning the title in BBL|08, “the key for us was to retain the majority of or local players while welcoming both Laura and Dani to our group,” head coach Luke Williams said.
The Strikers will welcome back South African ace Laura Wolvaardt, who has been “a pivotal part of our team for three years now”.
“She offers us that flexibility having batted in the middle order for South Africa and done that really well in T20 cricket … More than likely she‘ll be up the top for us.”
England international Dani Gibson will make her WBBL debut with the Strikers, with the pace bowling all-rounder recently making her debut for England through the 2023 Ashes series.
“Dani is a multi-faceted player that looks like she‘s continuing to improve so we’re excited to add Dani to our squad,” Williams said.
“(She is) adaptable in different phases with the bat, the ball and in the field as well.”
Brisbane Heat
Amelia Kerr – New Zealand – 6
Bess Heath – England – 16
While it was a “no-brainer” to retain star leg-spinner Amelia Kerr, the Heat passed on retaining her sister Jess, captain Jess Jonassen explained.
“Any team that picks up Jess (Kerr) is going to get a lot of benefit, not only on the field but off it. Sad to see both her and Danni (Wyatt) and Pooja (Vastrakar) as well. They‘ve provided a lot of entertainment and value to our group as well,” Jonassen said.
“We knew the players we wanted to keep … It was a matter of seeing how things played out and sussing out the areas within our team that we wanted to add too and Bess Heath will be a great addition to our team, as well as our signing tomorrow.”
Hobart Hurricanes
Shabnim Ismail – South Africa – 5
Bryony Smith – England – 13
The Hurricanes shored up both ends of their order with their two draft selections. by taking a “genuine wicket-taker” in Shabnim Ismail as their platinum selection. Fresh off a hat-trick recently in The Hundred, Ismail is one of the fastest bowlers in the world and will move to her third WBBL club.
Smith, the off-spin bowling all-rounder, has played a handful of matches for England since making her international bow in 2018. The 25-year-old caught the attention of the Hurricanes after some excellent recent displays in The Hundred, which included knocks of 70, 64 and 48 for Trent Rockets.
“We like her style of play. She‘s (Smith) an attacking top order bat and that’s what we need.” Hurricanes coach Jude Coleman said.
“We think we‘ve got a really strong top order who can bat around that style.”
Melbourne Renegades
Hayley Matthews – West Indies – 3
Harmanpreet Kaur – India – 9
The Renegades welcomed back familiar faces to their squad by “getting two world class all-rounders”, captain Sophie Molineux said.
“We‘ve always known that Harman is a great competitor and she was that for us two years ago when she was player of the tournament. It’s hard to look past someone of her ability, she’s great, she was great at the Renegades, as a leader and we’re really excited to get her back in Red.”
“The big one with Hayley is leadership. She took over as captain for the last part of the season last year and the girls really got along well with her so to get her back in, her batting, bowling and fielding speaks for itself, she was player of the IPL tournament so we‘re very happy to get our hands on her again.”
Melbourne Stars
Alice Capsey – England – 4
Maia Bouchier – England – 12
The Stars were desperate to retain English teen Alice Capsey with their first selection.
“We wanted Alice to be back with the Stars. When we realised we could secure her at Platinum, we thought that was the best thing to do so we grabbed her when we could,” Stars GM Blair Crouch said.
The Stars also welcomed back Maia Bouchier back to the club after playing in the WBBL|07 competition and becoming a regular member of England’s T20 squad since her debut in 2021.
“Maia was fantastic for us in WBBL07, but she‘s come on significantly as a player since then, she’s been able to hold down a spot in the England team and she’s going to really add to out middle order which is what we’re after.” Crouch said.
The Stars didn’t rule out adding a third overseas signing closer to the competition, insistent on backing in their young domestic talent, including the hopeful return of Meg Lanning.
“We‘re fortunate here to have the best cricketers in the world who happen to be Australian. We’re luck to be able to build a domestic list with those players in mind and then you’re just adding skillets that you don’t necessarily have with the overseas players.
“We‘ll now get to work to see who might be appropriate to bring in as a third overseas player or we might just keep it to two.”
Perth Scorchers
Sophie Devine – New Zealand (retention) – 2
Danni Wyatt – England – 10
Choosing between their two star all-rounders was always going to be “incredibly difficult” Scorchers coach Becky Grundy said.
“We flipped from one to the other for a period of time,” she added before ultimately settling on Devine citing her leadership and captaincy role that she has held over recent seasons.
“Two world class players who helped us lift our first championship but ultimately it came down to leadership and the captaincy. It‘s such a crucial role in T20 cricket in particular, that’s ultimately what split the two,” Grundy said.
“We‘re sad to lose Marizanne.”
But, Grundy is confident the Scorchers have the depth in their domestic players to cover the loss of Kapp and her contribution with both bat and ball.
The retention of Devine meant the Scorchers’ opening partnership remaining intact, yet Grundy insisted it could still be tinkered with to ensure all her batters “fit together” having recruited English star Danni Wyatt to bolster the batting stocks.
“I cant see Beth Mooney moving from opening so we have a decision to make between Danni and Sophie,” Grundy said.
Sydney Sixers
Chloe Tryon – South Africa – pick 7
Jess Kerr – New Zealand – pick 17
The injury to premier spinner and retention selection Sophie Ecclestone “threw a spanner in the works” and prompted the Sixers to rethink their plans on the eve of the draft, Sixers assistant Rachael Haynes sent.
The Sixers sprung the biggest surprise of the day, selecting South African Chloe Tryon as a platinum selection but as Haynes explained, their draft selections were about trying to fill the hole that Ecclestone had left them as best as possible.
“We had to address a few roles that we wanted to fill, one of those the number six finishing role with the bat who can also offer some overs and who can give us that left arm orthodox option so that‘s where Chloe Tryon comes into the mix,” she said.
“We tried to replace Ecclestone‘s powerplay overs too so Jess Kerr’s got an exceptional record in that phase of the game … she will have a big role to play for us.”
Sydney Thunder
Marizanne Kapp – South Africa – pick 1
Heather Knight – England – pick 8
Lauren Bell – England – pick 15
Holding all the aces with the number one pick, the Thunder secured the prized South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp with their first selection in a boost across all facets of the game for the Thunder hoping to bounce back.
“To have someone like her (Kapp) on your team who offers so much with both bat and ball and is a leader in her own space and can help out all our young players so I‘m really excited to play with her,” batter Phoebe Litchfield said.
Welcoming back England skipper Heather Knight along with rising quick Lauren Bell rounds out a successful draft hand for the Thunder.
“The fact that we had two really good selections early doors for both rounds reflected in the players that we got,” Litchfield said.
“Belly offers a lot with the ball, with her swing and compliments the top well with Marizanne. I‘m really excited.”
