Nicola Carey’s brilliant unbeaten 66 was not enough to prevent the Hobart Hurricanes from slipping to a fifth consecutive defeat, but it carried a significant personal milestone: the 33-year-old all-rounder crossed 2,000 runs in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). Her career-best WBBL innings for the Hurricanes came against the Adelaide Strikers at Bellerive Oval on 10th November, in the 17th match of the 12th edition of the tournament.
Winning the toss, Adelaide Strikers captain Tahlia McGrath opted to bowl first. Carey, returning to lead the Hurricanes, anchored the innings with an unbeaten 66 from 53 deliveries, laced with nine boundaries. It was a composed, determined knock from a batter who had arrived 58 runs short of the 2,000-run mark, and it lifted Hobart to 138/5 in their 20 overs.
Nicola Carey’s innings was the standout feature of a difficult evening for the defending champions. Despite her half-century, the Hurricanes could not build enough pressure with the ball, and Adelaide Strikers chased down the target with four wickets in hand. The result extended Hobart’s winless run to five matches and left them at the bottom of the table without a point and on the verge of elimination.
For Carey, though, the match reinforced her value as the Hurricanes’ most reliable all-round performer. She now has 2,008 WBBL runs at a strike rate of 106.07 and an average of 21.13, with eight half-centuries in 126 innings across 151 matches. Her 66 not out was also her highest individual score for Hobart in the competition.
Carey began her WBBL journey with Sydney Thunder, making her debut on 6th December 2015 against the Sydney Sixers in Sydney. During her time with the Thunder, she scored 485 runs at an average of 16.72 and a strike rate of 109.48, including one half-century, while taking 62 wickets at 21.59 in 57 innings.
Her best bowling performance for Sydney Thunder remains one of the defining spells of her early career. On 3rd January 2016, against the Hobart Hurricanes at Hobart, she returned remarkable figures of 3.2-0-12-4. Sydney Thunder won that match by 26 runs, with Carey’s four-wicket haul proving decisive.
Carey moved to the Hurricanes in 2019 and made her debut for the club on 19th October against the Melbourne Stars in Melbourne. Since then, she has become central to Hobart’s identity in the WBBL. She is the franchise’s leading run-scorer with 1,523 runs at an average of 23.07 and a strike rate of 105.03, including seven fifties in 84 innings. With the ball, she has also taken more wickets than any other Hurricane, claiming 91 at 24.30 in 89 innings.
In the ongoing 12th edition, Carey has been Hobart’s leading run-scorer with 161 runs at an average of 53.66 and a strike rate of 128.80 in four innings. She has registered two half-centuries and has also taken six wickets at an average of 22, making her the Hurricanes’ second-highest wicket-taker so far.
Her overall WBBL record now stands at 153 wickets at an average of 23.20 and an economy rate of 7.28, alongside her 2,008 runs. Those numbers underline why she has become such an important figure for Hobart: a genuine all-rounder capable of shaping matches with both bat and ball.
The Hurricanes enter the tournament as defending champions after lifting their maiden WBBL title in the previous season. Led then by Elyse Villani, they defeated Sophie Devine’s Perth Scorchers by eight wickets in the final at Bellerive Oval on 13th December 2025. Villani retired from the tournament after that triumph, leaving Carey to take over the captaincy.
That transition has not yet translated into results. Five defeats from five games have left Hobart searching for momentum, but Carey’s form offers a clear reason for optimism. Her unbeaten 66 against Adelaide was her second fifty of the campaign and demonstrated the batting authority she can provide at the top of the order.
The Hurricanes will look to turn their campaign around when they face Georgia Redmayne’s Brisbane Heat in the 21st match at Bellerive Oval on 14th November, starting at 10:10 AM IST. For Carey, the focus will be on converting a personal milestone into a team revival.
I am Yash Tailor, and I believe work should be driven by passion. Therefore, after completing my Engineering, I chose to work in the Cricket industry, my passion. My goal is to reach a stage where I truly enjoy what I do and give my best to every task with energy and purpose.