COVID-19 forces reshuffle in WBBL marquee signings

With the embargo on Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) contracting finally lifted on Friday (July 17), a series of exciting signings are on the radar for the upcoming sixth season which was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic. There is a twist this time – in the marquee signings – thanks to the delay.



In a normal year, the player signings are done well before the announcement of the next year’s Cricket Australia (CA) national contracts which means cricketers contracted from the previous year get the luxury of themselves being called as ‘marquee’.



But with a reduction in the number of CA contracted players – 15 compared to 16 in the previous season – there is a shake-up in the marquee signings this year. Any player (local or overseas) who holds a national contract at the start of the WBBL signing period is considered a marquee. Like the previous seasons, each club can sign up to five ‘marquee players’, with a maximum of three of those from overseas.



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And it means the Strikers head into the contracting period with one more Australian marquee on their list than expected, while the Scorchers have one fewer. The development has left Adelaide Strikers with one more Australian marquee on their list than expected after Tahlia McGrath considered as a marquee after earning her first CA contract this year. The other two on the list are Megan Schutt and Suzie Bates (New Zealand). With Elyse Villani dropping of the CA list this year, Melbourne Stars got a replacement in Annabel Sutherland.



After Nicole Bolton too dropped from the CA list, Perth Scorchers have all their five slots left while young speedster Tayla Vlaeminck enjoys the marquee status for the first time in Hobart Hurricanes. Meanwhile, the marquee stars without a WBBL06 contract are Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney, Jess Jonassen and Sophie Molineux.



Although there are no restrictions on replacements of local players, teams are allowed to three replacements in case of oversees players (subject to marquee player restrictions) throughout the season. The season starts on October 17 and will run till September 25.



List of WBBL06 marquees:



Megan Schutt, Tahlia McGrath, Suzie Bates (Adelaide Strikers); Delissa Kimmince (Brisbane Heat); Nicola Carey, Tayla Vlaeminck, Hayley Matthews (Hobart Hurricanes); Georgia Wareham (Melbourne Renegades); Annabel Sutherland (Melbourne Stars); Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Marizanne Kapp, Dane van Niekerk (Sydney Sixers) and Rachael Haynes (Sydney Thunder).