WBBL preview: Big arrival to bolster Scorchers

Last season: 6-7 win-loss (1 no result). Finished fifth.

WBBL|09 Draft picks: Sophie Devine (New Zealand, pick 2 - retention pick), Danni Wyatt (England, pick 11, later withdrew)

Coach: Becky Grundy (new)

Squad: Sophie Devine (c) (New Zealand), Chloe Ainsworth, Charis Bekker, Stella Campbell, Piepa Cleary, Maddy Darke, Amy Edgar, Lisa Griffith, Amy Jones (England), Alana King, Lilly Mills, Beth Mooney, Taneale Peschel, Chloe Piparo.

Left to confirm: one overseas spot

In: Amy Jones (direct nomination, previously Thunder), Stella Campbell (Sixers), Lisa Griffith, Chloe Ainsworth

Out: Marizanne Kapp (drafted by Thunder), Maddy Green, Mathilda Carmichael (Sixers), Holly Ferling, Georgia Wyllie

Possible best XI: Beth Mooney (wk), Sophie Devine (c), Natalie Sciver-Brunt (rumoured), Amy Jones, Chloe Piparo, Amy Edgar, Alana King, Lilly Mills, Taneale Peschel, Piepa Cleary, Stella Campbell

Player availability: New Zealand begin a home series against Pakistan on December 3 which may impact Devine should the Scorchers make the final on December 2, while England have a tour pencilled in for India in December – dates TBC – which may force the Scorchers’ English imports to depart early. 

Danni Wyatt was drafted and later withdrew citing fatigue, but cricket.com.au understands the club have secured a big, BIG name replacement in England’s Natalie Sciver-Brunt, who may join the Scorchers for the second half of the season. Stay tuned for news from the club in the coming days.

Inside word with Becky Grundy

The Devine draft call: The biggest talking point leading into the draft was whether the Scorchers would use their retention pick of Kapp or Sophie Devine. They went with the latter, ensuring continuity in leadership, but had to bid farewell to Kapp as she was snapped up by the Thunder. 

"We obviously had an extremely difficult decision to make with Marizanne and Sophie and we wished that we'd be able to keep both of them but we knew that that wasn't going to be the case.

"Ultimately, it came down to the leadership of Sophie, being our captain and we felt like that's a really pivotal role in T20 cricket. And then being able to secure Amy outside of the draft, she just gives us some firepower and depth in the middle order, to be able to take the game deeper and make use of kind of the power surge."

Where will Devine bat: The drafting of Danni Wyatt meant Sophie Devine looked set to feature lower down the order. But Wyatt’s withdrawal means the New Zealander is likely to move up and down the order at different stages of the season, depending on the overseas players the Scorchers sign to replace Wyatt.

"She's predominantly opened for us and that's definitely still on the cards. Towards the back end of last season she batted at four and has currently been playing that role internationally as well. She brings that versatility for us, having done both roles within the last three to six months in various competitions. 

"It's just going to be a case of match-ups and where we feel like we can get the most out of her. We still haven't locked that in completely to be honest, whilst we're signing off on the replacement players for Danni."

Who takes the gloves: The Scorchers are blessed with not one but three wicketkeepers in their ranks in Aussie star Beth Mooney, England keeper Amy Jones and local Maddy Darke. 

"Beth will be our first choice keeper. We’ve got Amy Jones and Maddie Darke to slot into that role too (if needed), it's a really important role in T20 with how important taking wickets is. But part of Beth being at the Scorchers is her ability to have opportunity with the gloves so that she's ready to go at the next level too if anything happens to Alyssa Healy. That's where we'll start but we've got options there to be able to mix that up too."

Key to improving on last season: "We bowled really well (last season) and we've got a really good depth of talent there. 

"But we probably just failed to put enough runs on the board too many times and we weren't able to be consistent with that. We had a couple of players out of form, unfortunately, at the same time. 

"But that made it really important for us to nut down on our domestic players to make sure that they're really competitive at this level too. 

"Sometimes I've felt like we've had an over reliance on our overseas players and hopefully, we can change that this year. We often see that the overseas players count out each other across the competition, and it's the domestic players that make the difference."

Young player to watch: Grundy highlighted young wicketkeeper-batter Maddy Darke and new signing Chloe Ainsworth, a pace bowler who was part of Australia’s U19 World Cup squad as ones to keep an eye on.

"Maddy Darke's had an awesome start to the season for WNCL and she went away with the Australia A side (to the UK in June) as well. She didn't get an opportunity last year whilst on our list but I think she's someone that will hopefully make a name for herself in T20 cricket. And then Chloe Ainsworth also coming on to the list, she's a super exciting talent and we've seen that recently in the WNCL stuff."

Team to beat: "To be fair, with the draft coming in, I think it levels the playing field a little bit, which is what it's there to do. I think everyone's been able to build some really strong lists. It's hard to look past Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat, they're often strong year on year, and then Adelaide, they're the reigning champions. It's going to be a really tough competition."

WBBL|09 Team Guides

Adelaide Strikers | Brisbane Heat | Hobart Hurricanes | Melbourne Renegades | Melbourne Stars | Perth Scorchers | Sydney Sixers | Sydney Thunder

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