The Hobart Hurricanes led by skipper Elyse Villani had a forgettable campaign in the 9th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) as they finished 6th on the points table with 13 points from 14 games including six victories, seven defeats, and one washed out game last season.
The Hurricanes signed the likes of former South African opening batter Lizelle Lee, destructive all-rounder Chloe Tryon, and the veteran opening batter from England, Danielle Wyatt-Hodge in the overseas draft on 1st September 2024. The landmark 10th edition of the WBBL will commence on 27th October 2024 and conclude on 1st December 2024.
The England women’s team will tour South Africa for a three-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series and then a one-off Test Match at the Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein. The series will commence on 24th November 2024 and will conclude on 18th December 2024.
Due to national commitments, most of the England and the South African players involved in the series will miss the latter half or rather the business end of the tournament. For the same reason, the Hurricanes have roped in the 37-year-old White-Ferns veteran opening batter Suzie Bates as Danielle Wyatt-Hodge’s replacement for the business end of the landmark 10th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
Bates is back 💪
🇳🇿 Suzie Bates has been signed by the @HurricanesBBL as a Replacement Overseas Player. She will replace Danni Wyatt-Hodge towards the end of the tournament. #WBBL10 pic.twitter.com/BzXIpYpVRg
— Weber Women’s Big Bash League (@WBBL) October 9, 2024
“Bringing Suzie into our WBBL squad just made sense as soon as we saw she was not selected in the draft we thought she would be the perfect replacement for Danni once we knew her availability,” said the Hurricanes General Manager of High-Performance Salliann Beams on the addition of a like-for-like replacement in the squad.
Suzie Bates was a part of the Sydney Sixers franchise for the 8th and 9th editions of the tournament. She scored 491 runs at a strike rate of 100.20 and an average of 20.45 in 27 innings. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat for the franchise came on 15th October 2022 against the Adelaide Strikers at the Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay. She scored an unbeaten (82* off 67 balls) half-century at a strike rate of 122.38. She was also awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational match-winning knock.
Hobart Hurricanes Squad for WBBL 10 (so far):
Suzie Bates, Nicola Carey, Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Lizelle Lee, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Tabatha Saville, Amy Smith, Lauren Smith, Molly Strano, Rachel Trenaman, Chloe Tryon, Elyse Villani, Callie Wilson, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
The Hobart Hurricanes will kick-start their campaign in the landmark 10th edition of the tournament on 28th October 2024 against Sydney Thunder in the 4th match of the tournament at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart from 12:40 PM IST.
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