Panel of experts to pick first WBBL Team of the Tournament

A panel of experts has been selected to debate and select twelve players to make up the first official Rebel WBBL Team of the Tournament.

Joining cricket.com.au journalist Laura Jolly on the panel is Head of Big Bash Leagues Alistair Dobson, Australia Women’s Team Head Coach Matthew Mott, former Australian Captain Belinda Clark, former players Lisa Sthalekar (Seven Network) and Mel Jones (Fox Cricket) and ABC commentator Alister Nicholson.

The team will mimic WBBL playing conditions, with a maximum of three overseas players to feature.

The team should include a realistic mix of batters and bowlers, as well as a captain and a wicketkeeper.

With the seven remaining matches of the regular season set to take place this weekend, the panel will need to narrow down their selections before the team is announced next week in the lead up to the WBBL Finals weekend.

A look at the WBBL|05 runs tally gives a fair indication of the frontrunners in the batting stakes.

Beth Mooney (622 runs at 69.11) and Sophie Devine (593 runs at 74.12) have performed at a consistently high level throughout the tournament.

Selecting the bowling attack should prove a trickier task, with panellists likely to look beyond who’s simply collected the most wickets.

Whether wickets have been taken in the powerplay, and how economically bowlers have been performing is sure to spark plenty of debate among panel members.

The launch of the official Team of the Tournament joins the Player of the Tournament and Rebel Young Gun as accolades awarded to outstanding performers at the conclusion of the tournament.

"This will be the first season we name an official Team of the Tournament and it’s exciting to be able to recognise the best performed players in the competition in this way," Dobson said.

"We’ve got a good mix of panel members who have all watched a lot of WBBL and will have a close eye on the last round of matches in Sydney and Melbourne this weekend."

Six teams remain alive in the race to the WBBL Finals in what has been a hotly contested tournament so far.

The Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers have confirmed semi-final berths, with the Perth Scorchers, Melbourne Renegades, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder set to battle it out for the remaining two spots.

Fans can head to the @WBBL Instagram story to submit and share their WBBL Team of the Tournament.