'Stuff it': Hungry Harris spices up WBBL after snub

After Grace Harris’ record-breaking WBBL antics on Sunday, her sister and Brisbane Heat teammate Laura quipped, "You should get dropped more often".

But Harris insists her unbeaten 136no at North Sydney Oval wasn’t intended as a direct message to national selectors, who left her out of Australia’s XI during the recent T20I series against West Indies.

Right now, she is more concerned with getting her broken bat fixed ASAP – and she is mulling what to call the as-yet-unnamed piece of willow.

Harris was left out in favour of young gun Phoebe Litchfield – who struck an unbeaten 54 off 28 balls of her own on Sunday – with Australia keen to add a left-hander to their middle order.

But the 30-year-old Queenslander made a decent case for a recall as she hammered a record 11 sixes to post the highest individual score in WBBL history.

"The funniest thing (was) my sister, the first thing she said to me was ‘you should get dropped more often’.

"I was like, ‘thanks for that’. But it’s not really about that, I've just simply been focusing on the Heat and on my shape and my tempo in a batting innings.

"I've found my feet and my hands recently and I've been feeling really comfortable at the crease again.

"When you get in the zone, you just get in the zone.

"(But) I might have gotten a little bit of inspiration from Hayley Matthews recently in the Aus versus West Indies ... she did tear our Aussie bowling attack apart."

Harris was on 64 when she remarked that she might need a new bat, but ultimately said, "stuff it, I’ll hit it anyway".

Her handle snapped off as she hammered the very next delivery from Piepa Cleary – but the ball still cleared the boundary for a 72m six.

"(The handle) just clicked a little bit and I didn't want to be given out snicked off, if it clicked as the ball went past and I didn't hit the ball," Harris said of her original call for a fresh bat.

"But when I faced up, I just thought that it was probably hanging on ... when they do get that looser handle they are at their best, they're pinging.

"So I thought 'nah I'll still hit it for six, they've been going miles today so I'm going to keep using this bat as long as possible'."

A replacement was brought out and Harris went even bigger a ball later, smashing an 87m maximum.

But Harris, who famously names her bats after burgers, is eager to have her original piece of willow mended and returned to her kit bag.

She is also keen for input on the bat’s name, with two options on the table to join Zinger Stacker, Barbecue Angus and McNugget.

"It actually hasn't been named yet ... I was tossing up between McCrispy or McSpicy," Harris said.

"McSpicy is my mother's favourite burger and McCrispy because you want to hit the ball crisp, so it rolls off the tongue.

"Zinger Stacker (was the replacement), she's going well for me, she got a clean-up recently because in England she had a little bit of a shaky handle as well.

"I guess I'll be sending either McCrispy or McSpicy off to the shop to get fixed and it will be back in the kitbag next week."

Harris’ efforts led the Heat to their second win from as many matches this season.

Sister Laura is on the sidelines recovering from a calf injury, and will make Brisbane an even more imposing outfit when she does return.

Their next match is against the winless Sydney Sixers at North Sydney Oval on Tuesday night.

Weber WBBL|09 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	14	11	3	0	0	1.154	0	22
2 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	14	8	6	0	0	0.784	0	16
3 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	14	8	6	0	0	0.203	0	16
4 Sydney Thunder Women THU	14	7	6	0	1	0.298	0	15
5 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	14	7	7	0	0	-0.253	0	14
6 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	14	6	7	0	1	-0.597	0	13
7 Melbourne Stars Women STA	14	6	8	0	0	-0.779	0	12
8 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	14	2	12	0	0	-0.978	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points