The Women's Big Bash League is back for its second run through and this means that the best kiwi women's cricketing talent are in Australia, preparing to bring their fantastic White Ferns form to the WBBL02. For those who been living under rock, the WBBL runs alongside the Big Bash League, offering women's cricket the chance to continue to work its way to a point of equality. 

We enjoyed a strong presence in England's Super League and while there could probably be a few more kiwi ladies in the WBBL, the fact that this is Australia's competition meaning that they restrict overseas players and rely more on local talent only gives us a sprinkling throughout the WBBL. That sprinkling is of the highest quality though and given how the likes of Amy Satterthwaite and Suzie Bates have been dominating in the past 12 months, there's no reason to think that they can't take the WBBL by storm.

Satterthwaite will once again line up for Hobart and while she's enjoying the best patch of form of any kiwi cricketer at the moment, it'll be interesting to see if she can transfer that form from 50-over cricket to T20 cricket. Three centuries in a row against Pakistan came after Satterthwaite led all runs-scorers in a series against South Africa as well as finishing up as the best bowler. Heading into the WBBL, Satterthwaite has 12 wickets in five one-day games for Canterbury along with two 50+ scores.

Most importantly, Satterthwaite can bat in the top-four and bowl 4 overs of quality medium pace. Satterthwaite has a T20I average of just 19.13 with the bat but she strikes at 88.60 and has a T20I bowling average of 22.90, meaning that if Hobart are going to enjoy some success, they'll need Satterthwaite to lead the way.

Bates is back for Perth and while she hasn't quite enjoyed the same 2016 as Satterthwaite, Bates has a better T20I record and is still carrying form into the WBBL02. Bates has taken a wicket in each of her last three one-day games for Otago, along with a 98 in her last outing and her T20I strike-rate of 107.09 will ensure that Perth is a must-watch team with Bates opening the batting. 

A T20I batting average of 26.92 is very handy, as is her bowling average of 23.11 and in very similar fashion to Satterthwaite, we're highly likely to see Bates contribute strongly in every game as she'll open the batting and bowl her 4 overs. 

Sophie Devine will be just as fun to watch as the two greats (Satterthwaite/Bates) and she'll line up for Adelaide. Devine's coming off a 75* in her last one-day game for Wellington and she's also striking over 100 (114.69) in T20I with the enviable average combo of 24.39 with the bat and 15.82 with the ball. 

There's a chance Devine could be promoted to open the batting thanks to her powerful stroke-play, however I'd expect Devine to come in at No.3 or No.4 after the openers have taken some oopmh off the new-ball. Both Devine and Bates strike at over 100 and between them they have 15 T20I half-centuries.

Melbourne Renegades are the only team with two kiwis in their squad with Rachel Priest down to captain the team, with support from the experienced seamer Lea Tahuhu. Tahuhu will more than likely open the bowling for the Renegades, although in T20 cricket the most threatening bowler can often be saved for the middle stages or for the death and with a T20I average of 18.16, Tahuhu sits in that highly threatening bracket.

Tahuhu could open the bowling and Priest will definitely open the batting for the Renegades, also keeping wicket. Priest doesn't have the best average (16.97) in T20I cricket, however she's ensures that we've got three kiwi women in the WBBL02 who strike at over 100, with Priest owning a strike-rate of 107.86. 

Priest is coming off a 50 in her last one-day outing for Canterbury, along with a 48* in her last T20 game for Canterbury. 

Finally, Melbourne Stars have Morna Nielsen on their books and she's a low key star to keep tabs on. Nielsen doesn't have a big name like Satterthwaite, Bates or Devine but last season she took 18 wickets at an average of 11 in 10 matches in WBBL01 and she's got a T20I average of 18.36 along with the stingey economy-rate of 4.80rpo.

The opening weekend is nothing short of hectic with games from Saturday all the way through to Tuesday, before we regroup with the next games starting next Friday. That'll give me a nice window to run through how our White Ferns have gone in the opening round of games and who's taking the WBBL02 by the scruff of the neck, I'm fairly confident in saying that I guarantee one of the kiwis in the WBBL02 will dominate.

Saturday

Hobart vs Perth: Satterthwaite vs Bates.

Adelaide vs Melbourne Renegades: Devine vs Priest/Tahuhu.

Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars: Ft. Nielsen (Stars).

Sunday

Adelaide vs Melbourne Renegades: Devine vs Priest/Tahuhu.

Hobart vs Perth: Satterthwaite vs Bates.

Tuesday

Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne Stars: Ft. Nielsen (Stars).