Bringing the Heat: Brisbane's history of WBBL imports

Another Big Bash Draft is almost upon us as the league's eight clubs ramp up their preparations for Weber WBBL|10 by adding at least two overseas players to their list for the coming season.

From WBBL|10 onwards, clubs have also been able to sign an overseas player pre-draft to a multi-year contract, with Brisbane Heat securing South African allrounder Nadine de Klerk for this summer.

After nine seasons of WBBL, we're looking back, club-by-club, at every import that has turned out in the WBBL, memorable or otherwise.

History of overseas signings

WBBL|01: Kate Cross, Lauren Winfield-Hill

 

WBBL|02: Deandra Dottin, Smriti Mandhana, Lauren Winfield-Hill

 

WBBL|03: Deandra Dottin, Laura Wolvaardt

 

WBBL|04: Laura Wolvaardt, Sune Luus

 

WBBL|05: Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr

 

WBBL|06: Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr, Nadine de Klerk

 

WBBL|07: Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk, Poonam Yadav

 

WBBL|08: Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Danni Wyatt

 

WBBL|09: Amelia Kerr, Bess Heath, Mignon Du Preez, Sarah Glenn

 

WBBL|10: Marizanne Kapp

The players (sorted by matches played)

Amelia Kerr (New Zealand)

Seasons: WBBL|05 - WBBL|06, WBBL|08-WBBL|09

 

M 58 | Runs 854 | HS 34 | SR 117.47 | Avg 23.72

 

WKTS 62 | BBI 4-10 | Econ 4.42 | Avg 21.91

One of the most impactful WBBL imports, Amelia Kerr burst onto the WBBL scene as a 19-year-old bowling a triple-wicket maiden on debut. Kerr showed her abilities weren’t a fluke when she bettered her output from 14 wickets in WBBL|05 to 17 wickets in WBBL|06 on the way to a finals appearance that season. After taking a year off for her mental health, Kerr picked up from where she left off claiming her best-ever haul of 19 wickets in WBBL|08. In WBBL|09 she showed how dangerous she can be as a top-order batter smashing 355 runs for the season. 

Maddy Green (New Zealand)

Seasons: WBBL|05 - WBBL|06

 

M 28 | Runs 438 | HS 56 | SR 104.29 | Avg 17.52

Maddy Green was one of the Heat’s biggest contributors in their championship season in WBBL|05. A move to the top of the order paid off for Green finishing with 309 runs for the season – a total that was only behind Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen for most runs for the Heat. Highlights included a top score of 46 against the Renegades to get the Heat into the Final and high score of 56 against the Hurricanes. Green wasn’t as prolific in her second season contributing just 129 runs.

Deandra Dottin (West Indies)

Seasons: WBBL|02 - WBBL|03

 

M 23 | Runs 349 | HS 60 | SR 98.59 | Avg 20.53

 

WKTS 12 | BBI 2-13 | Econ 6.37 | Avg 31.83

Deandra Dottin came across to the Heat after playing the inaugural season with the Perth Scorchers. The West Indies star started strong punishing the Sydney Sixers with 60 not out. Her season however was overshadowed by a fractured cheekbone suffered in a sickening collision with teammate Laura Harris. She missed three weeks of the season and when she returned scored 51 In her first innings back after the incident. Dottin returned for WBBL|03 and was able to play out the full season having an impressive all-round campaign with 8 wickets and 171 runs.

Lauren Winfield-Hill (England)

Seasons: WBBL|01 - WBBL|02

 

M 21 | Runs 298 | HS 48 | SR 93.42 | Avg 21.29

The Brisbane Heat were the first WBBL side Lauren Winfield-Hill represented in the WBBL. In her first season she scored 239 runs with her high score of 48 a crucial knock to help the Heat overcome the Perth Scorchers. Winfield-Hill then came to the rescue for WBBL|02 when she cut her holiday in Australia short to replace the injured Deandra Dottin in the Heat’s squad. She ended up appearing in seven games, a cameo that yielded 59 runs. 

Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|03 - WBBL|04

 

M 20 | Runs 99 | HS 13 | SR 92.52| Avg 8.25

Laura Wolvaardt has made her name as a Striker but it was at the Heat where the South African started her WBBL career. However, her time at the Heat never really got going after she was dismissed for a diamond duck on debut against the Scorchers. She went on to score 99 runs from 14 innings across her two seasons at the club. 

Nadine de Klerk (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|06 - WBBL|07

 

M 18 | Runs 148 | HS 27 | SR 107.25 | Avg 16.44

 

WKTS 7 | BBI 2-11 | Econ 6.54 | Avg 24.3

South African Nadine de Klerk joined the Heat soon after her starring performance for her country against Australia in the semi-final of the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup. After debuting as a 20-year-old, de Klerk had moments of brilliance during her first stint at the Heat with her best performance coming against the Thunder where she claimed figures of 2-11 and her top score of 27. She failed to fire the following year taking four wickets and making double digits in just three out of seven innings. The Heat will be looking for de Klerk to get back to find her best having signed the allrounder as an international pre-signing. 

Mignon du Preez (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|09

 

M 17 | Runs 382 | HS 61 | SR 123.62 | Avg 23.88

Mignon du Preez came to the Heat as a direct nomination and was a massive coup for the club. Du Preez had 93 games of experience from stints at the Stars and Hurricanes when she arrived at the Heat and she put it on show for her new club. She made it 60 twice and made it past double digits in all of her innings except three showing her consistency. She’s still yet to win a WBBL title, unable to help get the Heat over the line against the Strikers in last season’s final.

Bess Heath (England)

Seasons: WBBL|09

 

M 16 | Runs 171 | HS 51 | SR 123.02 | Avg 15.55

he Heat picked up Bess Heath with pick 19 in the inaugural WBBL draft ahead of WBBL|09.  It was Heath’s second WBBL season after she played seven games for the Stars in WBBL|08. It was productive season for the middle-order batter, scoring a WBBL half-century against the Hurricanes and scoring a respectable 171 runs from her 16 appearances. 

Danni Wyatt (England)

Seasons: WBBL|08

 

M 13 | Runs 263 | HS 52 | SR 128.92 | Avg 20.23

 

WKTS 7 | BBI 2-11 | Econ 6.54 | Avg 24.3

Danni Wyatt joined the Brisbane Heat after a three-year hiatus from WBBL following her 55 appearances for the Melbourne Renegades from WBBL|01 to WBBL|04. She missed the Heat’s first two games of the season and started slow before finding her feet with 34 from 29 balls against the Scorchers. She made back-to-back scores of 52 in the final game of the regular season and semi-final, but the Heat fell short of a spot in the WBBL|08 final.

Poonam Yadav (India)

Seasons: WBBL|07

 

M 13 | WKTS 10 | BBI 3-17 | Econ 6.64 | Avg 28.1

Signed to fill the place left by Amelia Kerr ahead of WBBL|07 expectations were high for the diminutive leg-spin bowler. She had a fast start taking four wickets in her first two matches against the Scorchers. It was four games later when she struck again to land her best figures of 3-17 against the Thunder. 

Smriti Mandhana (India)

Seasons: WBBL|02

 

M 12 | Runs 89 | HS 40 | SR 94.69| Avg 11.13

Smriti Mandhana arrived at the Heat in WBBL|02 to much fanfare as the first Indian player to suit up for a WBBL team. Expectations were high for the Indian superstar batter but Mandhana struggled in her first season. Managing just 89 runs from 10 innings. However, she delivered a game-winning knock against the Hurricanes where she held on for 40 off 33 to get the Heat over the line. She was then ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL injury when fielding against the Renegades. 

Anneke Bosch (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|07

 

M 10 | Runs 46 | HS 14 | SR 85.19 | Avg 11.75

 

WKTS 2 | BBI 1-12 | Econ 7.00 | Avg 38.5

WBBL|07 was the first and only season for South African allrounder Anneke Bosch. Bosch debuted against Scorchers where she reached her highest score of the season. She wasn’t able to capture the form she’d shown for her national team in the WBBL.

Sune Luus (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|03

 

M 9 | Runs 27 | HS 17 | SR 87.10 | Avg 6.75

 

WKTS 5 | BBI 2-16 | Econ 7.06 | Avg 25.4

South African allrounder Sune Luus played just the one season of WBBL and it was for the Brisbane Heat. Luus had more success with the ball than the bat in her nine games with the Heat taking five wickets. Luus struggled with the bat only managing a top score of 17 against the Renegades in her final game.

Jess Kerr (New Zealand)

Seasons: WBBL|08

 

M 9 | WKTS 6 | BBI 2-17 | Econ 6.17 | Avg 30.83

The older sister of Amelia Kerr played alongside her sibling at the Heat for WBBL|08 in nine of the team’s games that season. Appearing at the start of the season to fill in for the delayed Pooja Vastrakar and Danni Wyatt, she was a handy inclusion taking six wickets in nine matches. She picked up her best figures on debut against the Sixers.

Pooja Vastrakar (India)

Seasons: WBBL|08

 

M 7 | Runs 32 | HS | SR 177.78 | Avg 16.00

 

WKTS 2 | BBI 1-20 | Econ 8.16 | Avg 77.5

After missing the start of the tournament Pooja Vastrakar’s season never really took off. She struck twice with the ball claiming wickets against the Strikers and Hurricanes and with the bat she made 32 runs.

Sarah Glenn (England)

Seasons: WBBL|09

 

M 5 | WKTS 6 | BBI 4-23 | Econ 7.53 | Avg 21.33

Sarah Glenn signed on as a replacement player to cover the absence of Amelia Kerr at the start of WBBL|09. The leg-spinner had the best possible start taking four wickets in a close win over the Melbourne Renegades. She was relatively quiet for the rest of her stay, taking two more wickets when the Heat met the Stars in their fourth game of the season.