'Underperforming' Canes out to emulate Tassie success

Elyse Villani is determined to see Hobart Hurricanes finally translate Tasmania’s domestic one-day dominance into the Weber WBBL this season, after recommitting to the club for another two years.

The Tigers have won three consecutive Women’s National Cricket League titles, but despite fielding a very similar group in the Big Bash, they have made the WBBL finals just once in the past seven seasons.

While the presence of international players in the 20-over tournament of course has a significant bearing on the strength of the competition, Villani said she still believed the Hurricanes had failed to reach their own expectations in recent seasons.

"I'm really passionate about looking to make the Hurricanes better," Villani, who has signed a new two-year contract with the club, said on Tuesday.

"I feel like we've underperformed for the last couple of years, I feel like we've got a great core list together and it's just a great opportunity to actually change the narrative around the Hurricanes.

"We've already started having some really good conversations around (improving) and I feel like we're really clear on our processes in our 50-over game down here, and it's about trying to get that clarity as much as possible in the T20 game and finding out what our identity is as a Hurricanes team.

"There's obviously a lot more pressure moments, the game's shorter, so you've got to adapt a lot quicker. But we're certainly not shying away from those conversations."

Batting was one area where the Hurricanes struggled for consistency in WBBL|09, and Villani said she was determined to lead from the front in that department this season.

She was the Hurricanes’ second leading run scorer last season behind Lizelle Lee, scoring 324 runs at a strike rate of 116, and was 12th overall in the league runs tally – but the pair had little support, with no other Hobart batter inside the top 36.

"I thought (my season) was all right, I didn't think it was outstanding, I also didn’t think that it was terrible, it was probably somewhere in the middle," Villani said.

"I feel like I'm capable of more. I want to set the tone at the top of the order, as the captain as well, it's really important for me to perform first and foremost.

"We've been working on our power hitting in the preseason, which will put us in great stead both in the T20 competition but also in the Tigers space as well.

"The power hitting is a really big thing, but I'm just managing that as well. I feel like I've got some power but there's no point having good power unless you're making good decisions as well.

"And as much as I can, I’m looking to score around the whole ground, just so that it makes it easy to manipulate fields and have really solid all-round plans to different bowling types.

"I feel like I made some really good starts last year, but it's about transferring those starts into bigger, match-winning scores."

Villani spent the winter at home in Hobart after going unselected in the WPL auction and The Hundred draft, but she is among a host of Tasmania and Hurricanes players who will warm up for the season at the T20 Max in Brisbane next month.

There, the 34-year-old will be looking to implement the work put in during the preseason.

"I think there's about seven games, so that's seven opportunities to practice what we've been implementing in the preseason," she said.

"I know that there's actually quite a few Hurricanes girls going up to it.

"It's just a great opportunity to explore and really push the envelope a little bit.

"It's one thing to do it in the nets and on the training track, but any games that you get an opportunity to practice that in is paramount to setting yourself up for the season."

The Hurricanes are among four WBBL clubs who have yet to reveal if they will take advantage of the new signing provision which enables each club to recruit one overseas player for up to three years outside of the draft.

But the club emerged as a big winner from the draft lottery last month, securing the first pick which ensures they will get first dibs on the best overseas talent available come draft night.

Villani said preliminary discussions were being held while the club waited for the list of draft nominees to be finalised, but indicated a middle-order batter would be high on the priority list.

"Ultimately, you want to go for the best available talent and also combining that with what's really important for our list needs," she said.

"So once we've finalised our list, then we'll be making sure that we top it up where we see opportunities with the internationals."