Wondering which team to support in this season’s Weber WBBL? Let us help narrow your choice down to three.
Four of the ACT Meteors will switch the blue and gold for other colours: skipper Katie Mack returning to the reigning WBBL Champion Adelaide Strikers, fast bowler Gabby Sutcliffe has joined the Sydney Sixers, while allrounder Olivia Porter and wicketkeeper-batter Paris Bowdler will link up at the Sydney Thunder.
Mack has been one of the most prolific openers in the WBBL in recent years and will renew here partnership at the top of the Strikers batting order with South African international Laura Wolvaardt.
“I love Adelaide as a place, it’s a lot like Canberra but with a beach,” Mack told the Strikers website recently.
“The Strikers have always been a group of really good, fun, nice, easy-going people and it’s always really enjoyable being there and playing with them.”
Sutcliffe linking up with the Sydney Sixers has brought plenty of excitement and promise, with Australian star allrounder Ellyse Perry already a big fan.
“I've only heard really awesome things about her on the field but also off the field in her approach to the game. It's really nice to have someone like that come into the group, they always provide a lot of energy to the team and I'm really looking forward to getting to know her,” Perry told The Canberra Times.
Porter will be looking to add to her ten appearances for the Thunder last summer and an association with the lime green that goes back to WBBL|05.
Bowdler switched to the Thunder this season, after becoming one of the youngest players in WBBL history last summer.
The then 17-year-old was rushed in the Melbourne Renegades side as a replacement for ‘keeper Josie Dooley last November, and after making the drive from Geelong up to Ballarat to take her place in the squad, suddenly found herself standing behind the stumps about to keep wicket to the game's fastest bowler in South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail with Australian star Alyssa Healy on strike.
Bowdler said upon signing she was beyond excited to be joining the Thunder squad this year.
"The energy and the values of the Club really set the tone for what I want my cricket to be about. I can't wait to be a part of what's building here."
The Weber WBBL|09 season is set to kick off tonight as the Sydney Sixers take on the Melbourne Stars at North Sydney Oval.
Adelaide is in action on Saturday night, hosting the Stars at Karen Rolton Oval, while the Thunder start WBBL|09 by hosting the Sixers in the first Sydney derby of the summer.
The world's best T20 players are set to take the field this season including cricket superstars Meg Lanning, Tahlia McGrath, West Indian captain Hayley Matthews, New Zealand superstars Sophie Devine and Ameilia Kerr, and South African one-time ACT Meteors quick Marizanne Kapp.
WBBL|09 will conclude with a thrilling Finals Series in the last week of November, before the Final is played on Saturday, December 2.
This year's WBBL season promises to be one of the biggest yet, with teams playing more matches in their home markets than ever before across 45 action-packed days. View the full schedule below or online.
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Article by Brett McKay