The 29-year-old power-packed all-rounder from New Zealand Brooke Halliday joins the orange brigade at the Perth Scorchers for the remainder of the ongoing, 10th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). It will also mark her maiden appearance in the WBBL, provided she makes her debut for the Perth Scorchers this season.
“I’m quite fortunate that I get five or six days with the group beforehand, which is quite good when Sophie Devine’s the only person I know in the team. I think the WACA will be pretty cool to play at and then team-wise, I’m looking forward to playing the Sixers, just because they’re such a stacked team,” shared Brooke Halliday on getting used to the Scorchers set-up and also reveals the opposition, she is keen to play against.
She played a crucial role in New Zealand’s maiden T20 World Cup triumph, scoring 96 runs at a decent strike rate of 124.67 in five innings with the bat for her side. Her counter-attacking innings of 38 off 28 balls, in seemingly challenging conditions in the final against South Africa at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, took them close to the 160-run mark.
She made her international debut on 23rd February 2021 in an ODI against England at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. She has scored 794 runs at a strike rate of 72.24 and a decent average of 27.37 in 32 ODI innings. Her tally of runs includes six half-centuries so far. Her best performance with the bat for her side in the format came on 29th October 2024, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, when she scored a brisk 86 off 96 balls in the 3rd and final ODI of the recently concluded series. Her career-best knock unfortunately ended up in a losing cause for her side.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she has also picked up 7 wickets at an average of 27.85 and an impressive economy of 5.57 in 13 innings with the ball for her side so far.
Brooke made her T20I debut on 3rd March 2021 against England at Westpac Stadium, Wellington. She has scored close to 391 runs at a strike rate of 97.26 in 33 T20I innings. Her career-best performance with the bat for her side in the format, came in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final on 20th October 2024, against South Africa (38 off 28 balls) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Apart from her contributions with the bat, she has also picked up 7 wickets at an impressive average of 14.57 and a decent economy of 6.95 in 11 innings with the ball. Her best performance with the ball for her side in the format came on 22nd September 2024 when she returned with match figures (1.3-0-11-2) with the ball in the 2nd T20I at the Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay.
Brooke Halliday will be replacing the 31-year-old wicket-keeper batter from England, Amy Jones for the last three matches of the Perth Scorchers campaign in the league stages of the ongoing 10th edition of the tournament. Amy Jones will be leaving the WBBL 10, after their game against Sydney Thunder at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 15th November 2024. Her international commitments with England for their upcoming all-format tour to South Africa from 24th November 2024, is the reason why she’ll not be part of the Scorchers set-up towards the business end of WBBL 10.
The Sophie Devine-led Scorchers is currently 3rd in the points table with 8 points from six games, including four victories with four more games to go in their campaign in the league stages. The inclusion of the White Ferns all-rounder Brooke Halliday will play an important role in terms of adding the much-needed firepower in the Scorchers lower-middle order. Apart from her exploits with the bat, she can also be very handy with the ball, courtesy of her knack for picking crucial wickets in crunch situations for her side.
(Quotes sourced from cricket.com.au)
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