#KiwiWBBL03 Preview
Suzie and Sophie struck by Strikers swag
Women's Big Bash League cricket is back folks and if you're reading this you don't need to hear me hype up WBBL because you already know how sublime this competition is. Especially when Aotearoa's best cricketers play major roles in their respective WBBL teams and WBBL03 is even funkier than it has been in the past few versions as we've had a few kiwi transfers, thus stacking some teams with immense kiwi vibes.
With that in mind, there's only one team to start with and that's Adelaide Strikers as they have snatched Suzie Bates away from Perth Scorchers. Bates will join Sophie Devine, giving Adelaide two of the best all-rounders in the world and possibly one damn fine reason to make Adelaide Strikers your WBBL team; Bates and Devine could open the batting together.
Bates is most likely going to open, while Devine can bat anywhere so it will depend on where the Strikers coaches see Devine as having the greatest influence. Devine is coming off a mammoth WBBL02 campaign in which she hit a century and averaged 38.57, while striking at a brutal 135sr. That was the highest strike-rate of any notable run-scorer last season and Bates is no snail either, knocking around at 92.53sr, plus on top of that we have Devine's recent run of form in UAE for Aotearoa and that the Bates x Devine opening combo was in full effect vs Pakistan.
We know they can both offer plenty with the ball as well and Bates took 13w @ 26.53avg/6.57rpo last time, although Bates hasn't bowled as much over the past 12 months as she has in recent years. This will add a funky wrinkle to following the Strikers as neither Bates or Devine will be front-line bowlers, they are definitely capable of doing a job however and I'll be following their bowling contributions closely.
Bates' departure from Perth is off-set by a slice of luck in Meg Lanning suffering a shoulder injury, thus opening the door for young White Ferns all-rounder Thamsyn Newton to be signed as a replacement. Every kiwi player in WBBL03 will be of great interest to me, yet Newton is a wee bit different as she's younger than the other kiwis and isn't quite as established as them or the other international signings.
This is more a case of Newton being given a platform from which she can launch an WBBL career and take her general cricketing career to new heights. First up will be getting game time for Perth and then Newton will be tasked with powerful hitting down the order along with taken wickets/restricting runs with the ball.
Newton's inclusion is just as exciting as any other player taking part in WBBL03 as we're seeing the wave of young women's cricketers start to ascend to greater heights. There will be many more young kiwi cricketers in WBBL, best believe that and Newton is the start of the next wave.
Rachel Priest has also made a switch, moving from Melbourne Renegades to Sydney Thunder and Priest will be looking for a far better WBBL than she had last season. Priest averaged 18.78 in WBBL02 and has recently been dropped from the White Ferns, so she's not exactly in red-hot form and will be looking to get back on track. The Thunder do have Harmanpreet Kaur and Stafanie Taylor who are among the world's best players on their roster, which will ease the pressure on Priest, while Rachael Haynes and Alex Blackwell are also key Australian players.
On the flipside, such talent could also make it hard for Priest to get consistent game time at the top of the order for Sydney. This will require Priest scoring a bunch of runs and hopefully the competition within the Thunder squad brings out the best of Priest.
Holding it down for Sydney Sixers is Sara McGlashan, who creeps under the radar as she's no longer a White Ferns player but does a great job for Sixers in WBBL. McGlashan was the leading kiwi run-scorer in WBBL02, averaging 24.50 which may not seem like a lot but as McGlashan finished 8th in runs, she chipped in with runs throughout the tournament without a massive score.
Chuck in a strike-rate of 100.29 and McGlashan is the perfect job-doer, playing her role within a Sixers team that are current WBBL champions. If you love a kiwi job-doer, McGlashan is the player to rally behind and her experience will once again be crucial as the Sixers look to defend their title.
If the low-key McGlashan ain't your buzz and you're not enticed by a resurgent Priest or up and coming Newton, your WBBL03 fandom decision will come down to Adelaide Strikers vs Melbourne Renegades. The Renegades bid farewell to Priest and have lured Amy Sattertwhaite away from Hobart Hurricanes, with Satterthwaite joining seamer Lea Tahuhu in the Renegades roster; Renegades and Strikers both have two kiwis who will play a lot of WBBL03 cricket.
Tahuhu was solid last season with 9w @ 31.33avg/5.75rpo and she'll play a key role in offering some x-factor with the ball. How Tahuhu finds a way to influence games will be an interesting narrative as she may be asked to do a job up front with the new-ball, or during the middle stages, or at the death, or perhaps chipping in at all the various stages. Tahuhu knows Satterthwaite well and the new recruit just happens to have been named Renegades captain as well, so this could lead to Satterthwaite bringing the best out of Tahuhu.
Not only is Satterthwaite captain of Renegades, she's also the kiwi MVP from last season. Satterthwaite finished 7th in wickets with 15w @ 20.73rpo/6.91rpo and she did so in 13 games, which was the fewest games of players who had more wickets than Satterthwaite. Casually, Satterthwaite also averaged 46.14 with the bat, striking at 110.61sr and this saw her finish 11th in run-scoring with an average that was higher than all of those who scored more runs than her.
Satterthwaite is a WBBL beast. We know that her batting is world-class and her bowling is nicely suited to WBBL as she keeps her spin tight while batters are trying to smack her around.
This is a major signing for the Renegades and it gives kiwis a tough decision in who to support when Renegades and Strikers play against each other, plus as they are all-rounders, there will be plenty of kiwi-on-kiwi crime not only in this game but also in the entire WBBL03.
The prospect of Bates and Devine lining up in the same batting unit is too much for me though and this has me leaning towards the Strikers as the team that I'm most excited to follow. If they are opening the batting, then this will go nek-level and I'll also place following Newton's journey over at the Scorchers up in second place to the Strikers funk.
Of course, I'll be following all the #KiwiWBBL funk closely and I promise youz that I'll be serving all sorts of WBBL content. Hit one of the ads to show your support, that's an easy way to make a donation to the cause.
Peace and love 27.