WBBL 08 Team of the Tournament announced; Jess Jonassen named captain

Press Release: Cricket Australia

The WBBL|08 Team of the Tournament, as voted by the eight Club head coaches, has been announced today.
 
Of the 12 players selected, all but one boast international experience, while six have previously played in a winning WBBL Final.

This season’s winners of the Golden Bat and Golden Arm also earned selection. Beth Mooney enhanced her status as the best batter in WBBL history by scoring 434 runs to take out the Golden Bat. Two players shared the Golden Arm award, with a career-best 23 wicket campaign for Ashleigh Gardner matched in the final game of the regular season by Megan Schutt.  
 
The announcement of the Team of the Tournament comes on the first day of Australian Cricket’s inaugural Women and Girls Week. Each day of the week will celebrate a particular group of female participants in our game. 
 
The  WBBL|08 Team of the Tournament is:

After becoming the first player to pass 4000 WBBL career runs, Mooney is selected to open in the Team of the Tournament. She is joined by the Heat’s Georgia Redmayne, who takes the gloves after snaring a League-best 11 dismissals this campaign. Alyssa Healy, who made her fifth WBBL century for the Sixers this season, bats at first drop.
 
The side features a power-packed middle order, with Gardner joined by fellow Australian all-rounder Annabel Sutherland. Gardner backed up her bowling form with a 339-run season, while Sutherland stood out for the Stars with 304 runs and 21 wickets.
 
They are followed in the order by two comeback heroes – Sixers’ Erin Burns and Heat’s Amelia Kerr. Both earn a place in the Weber WBBL|08 team of the tournament after missing the entirety of WBBL|07. Burns’ finishing prowess saw her 294 runs come at the exceptional strike rate of 147, while Kerr scored 243 runs and took 19 wickets with her leg spin.
 
Heat captain Jessica Jonassen leads the side and forms a spin bowling duo with the Strikers’ Amanda-Jade Wellington. Jonassen was once again the bedrock of the Heat attack with 20 wickets for the season, while Wellington equaled her own record for the best figures in a WBBL innings with 5-8 against the Melbourne Renegades.
 
However, in the final game of the regular season that record was surpassed by Schutt, who took 6-19 against the Thunder to finish as joint Golden Arm winner. She forms a new ball partnership with Heat quick Nicola Hancock, who took a career-best 22 wickets in Weber WBBL|08.
 
Hurricanes spinner Molly Strano was named 12th, with her 18-wicket campaign taking her to a WBBL record 137 career wickets.

Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia’s General Manager, Big Bash Leagues, said:

“Congratulations to all 12 players selected in the Weber WBBL|08 Team of the Tournament.
 
“The side is stacked with powerful batting and skilful bowling and would be competitive against any opponents worldwide.
 
“The announcement of this side also coincides with the beginning of Women and Girls Week, which celebrates the contribution of women at all levels of the game. What better way to begin the week than recognising the outstanding performers from the WBBL|08 season.”
 
WBBL|08 Team of the Tournament selection panel: Jonathan Batty (Stars), Charlotte Edwards (Sixers), Trevor Griffin (Thunder) Simon Helmot (Renegades), Daniel Marsh (Hurricanes), Shelley Nitschke (Scorchers), Ashley Noffke (Heat), Luke Williams (Strikers)