Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma headlined the platinum-round picks in the second Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) overseas draft. Rodrigues reunited with Jess Jonassen after being Brisbane Heat’s first pick while Deepti was Melbourne Stars’ first pick.
Rodrigues and Jonassen are already team-mates at Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and Trinbago Knight Riders (WCPL), while Deepti played with Stars’ captain Meg Lanning for London Spirit in the title-winning women’s Hundred recently.
Melbourne Renegades, who had pick three, went for Deandra Dottin in the platinum category. Dottin only recently reversed her international retirement and was picked in the West Indies squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. As a result, Hayley Matthews, who was pre-signed by Renegades, was allocated a gold category as their second-round pick. Interestingly, they resisted temptation to draft in India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who has played for them in the past, with their spin stocks on a high following Sophie Molienux’s availability.
Heat drafted in Shikha Pandey as their pick No. 15, and that meant Nadine de Klerk, their pre-draft signing, was allocated the silver category. It will be Pandey’s maiden WBBL season, although she has played club cricket in Queensland alongside a few of the Heat players. She has been reunited with her Delhi Capitals and TKR team-mates, Rodrigues and Jonassen.
Stars also selected wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia as their third pick, having kept the retention pick card in their pockets for Alice Capsey, who was drafted in by Renegades.
D Hemalatha‘s familiarity with Beth Mooney at Gujarat Giants in the WPL also helped in her getting drafted with Perth Scorchers, who allocated the platinum category to their pre-signed captain Sophie Devine. Amy Jones, who was part of their squad last year, was selected in the gold category.
Strikers’ third pick, in the last round, was Ireland allrounder Orla Prendergast. She bats in the middle order and bowls seam, recently also captaining Ireland in the ODIs against Sri Lanka. While Strikers passed their pick in the second round, the third and fourth rounds saw five teams pass their turns.
“We think she is a superstar allrounder,” Strikers captain Tahlia McGrath, who was at the draft table, said of Prendergast. “She hasn’t played a lot of overseas leagues but has a bright future. We played against her in Ireland last year and has a lot of talent. [I] can’t wait to see what she has for the franchise in blue.”
With Amelia Kerr pre-signed by Sixers as a gold-category pick, they could have a potent spin-bowling combo with Ecclestone. Northern Superchargers top-order bat Hollie Armitage rounded up the draft for the side coached by Charlotte Edwards.
The presence of six Indians is the most for an edition of the WBBL.
How the WBBL draft played out
Hobart Hurricanes: Danni Wyatt, Chloe Tryon, Lizelle Lee (retained) Sydney Sixers: Sophie Ecclestone (retained), Amelia Kerr (pre-signed), Hollie Armitage Melbourne Renegades: Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews (pre-signed), Alice Capsey Melbourne Stars: Deepti Sharma, Marizanne Kapp (pre-signed), Yastika Bhatia Sydney Thunder: Heather Knight (retained), Shabnim Ismail, Chamari Athapaththu (pre-signed), Georgia Adams Adelaide Strikers: Laura Wolvaardt (retained), Smriti Mandhana (pre-signed), Orla Prendergast Brisbane Heat: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Nadine de Klerk Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine (pre-signed), Amy Jones, D Hemalatha
