Erin Burns pulls out of first leg of WBBL07 for personal reasons

Sydney Sixers allrounder Erin Burns will miss the opening rounds of WBBL07 for personal reasons. Having recently played for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, Burns had to spend much of last month in hotel quarantine before returning to her home in Sydney.



Alongside wife Anna, the couple are expecting their first child later this summer.



“Erin asked to delay her arrival into the tournament this season to spend some time at home with family and that is something that we were 100 percent behind,” Cricket New South Wales's acting head of female cricket, Clare Crewdson said. “The well-being of our players and staff is always our number one priority, as has been the case here."



Burns, who was part of Australia's victorious 2020 ICC T20 World Cup squad, is hopeful of joining the team ahead of the second leg of the tournament in Perth.



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Burns is an important member of what is a revamped Sixer's squad that includes the Indian duo of Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav.



“Erin is an important part of the Sixers’ squad and we had planned for her to join us in Hobart but that has now been effected by the current border restrictions around the country. We are working on a plan to have her re-join the team soon,” Crewdson concluded.



Ellyse Perry will lead the side that includes four other members of Australia's squad for the multi-format series again India - Alyssa Healy, Stella Campbell, Ashleigh Gardner and new recruit Maitlan Brown.



The two-time champions are set to play five matches in Tasmania, including the opening game of WBBL07 against last year's finalists Melbourne Stars on Thursday (October 14).