England legend to thank for Redmayne's super stumping

Georgia Redmayne pulled off the stumping of the Weber WBBL season on Saturday night, and she has an England legend to thank for it.

Watching Redmayne dive down the leg side to collect a wayward delivery from pace bowler Nadine de Klerk, hold her balance and then execute the stumping in one lightning-fast motion, one person sprung to mind: Sarah Taylor.

The ex-England star, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest wicketkeepers to have ever played the game, sounded her appreciation of Redmayne's sharp work. 

The pair spent two months working together when they played for the Welsh Fire in The Hundred earlier this year.

"I quite enjoy (keeping up to the pace bowlers), it cuts down the angles a bit and if the bowler sends it down leg, it's less (distance) to move and more reactionary," Redmayne said following Saturday's victory over Melbourne Renegades.

"It's a challenge I really enjoy.

"During my time in England I did a lot of practice with it and learn from Sarah Taylor over there, and I really enjoyed that experience as well."

That work is paying off.

Redmayne is on track to surpass her own record for the second most successful season behind the stumps in WBBL history; in 13 matches she has executed 17 dismissals; 13 catches and four stumpings.

The record is held by former Thunder keeper Claire Koski who completed 28 dismissals in WBBL|01, while the next most successful seasons came from Beth Mooney (18 in WBBL|04) and Redmayne herself (18 in WBBL|06).

"It also shows our bowlers are putting the ball in the right place too,” said Redmayne. “You can only take what the bowlers deliver … but it is nice to be able to contribute with catches and stumpings."

While Alyssa Healy takes the gloves for Australia in all formats and Mooney is also a fixture of the Australia team, Redmayne continues to make a case to national selectors with her form with the bat.

She was included in the extended squad for the multi-format series against India but did not make her international debut; now as the WBBL's second leading run scorer, with 436 runs at 36.33 and a strike rate of 120.44, behind Mooney's 502 at 55.77 (SR 133.51), she makes a strong case for selection in the Ashes squad.

The Heat ended the regular season with a 43-run win over Melbourne Renegades on Saturday night, and will either finish the season third or fourth.

Either way, they will play Adelaide Strikers, who will also end the season either third or fourth depending on the result of Sunday's game against Melbourne Stars.

It was a welcome return to form for the Heat after a disappointing defeat to Sydney Thunder on Friday night, which cost Brisbane the chance of earning a home final.

"It was really important (to win) tonight, it doesn't change our finals (match-up) … but it's a great win going into finals to get a bit of confidence,” said Redmayne.

"Going into finals, it's the exact game you want."