WBBL Team of the tournament

Meg Lanning Melbourne Stars 

560 runs @ 56, high score 90, strike rate 113.82, 4 x 57, 6 x 9

Most runs. Highest average. What can Megastar not do? Get her team to finals, it would seem. The Southern and Melbourne Stars skipper has been in prolific form throughout the tournament which, for the rest of her Melbourne outfit, came as a double-edged sword.

On the few occasions that Lanning didn’t make a significant score, the rest of her team failed to rally around; the next Stars batter in the runs ladder came in at 23^rd.

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Meg Lanning strides out against the Melbourne Renegades // Getty

One innings in particular highlighted the resilience of Lanning, the world’s best batter. Following a mighty collapse and humiliating defeat to cross-town rivals the Melbourne Renegades live on television at the MCG, the following day Lanning produced an innings of grit, determination and eventually free-flowing class. Treading carefully to start, after 12 overs Lanning was on just 19 having scored just one four. Eight overs later she departed the field unbeaten on 77, with nine fours and one six. The Stars, unsurprisingly, won.

Special mention for the opening spot also goes to the Scorchers’ Elyse Villani. Struggling for runs throughout most of the first half of the tournament and dropped from the Southern Stars T20 and ODI squads as a result, Villani responded in the best possible way, hitting unbeaten knocks of 72 and 43 in the final weekend to steer the Scorchers to an unlikely finals spot. Never a bad time to find some form.

Beth Mooney Brisbane Heat (wk)

400 runs @ 33.33, high score 64, strike rate 103.62, 4 x 40, 6 x 2

This has been a real breakthrough tournament for the Brisbane Heat keeper. The left-hander caught the eye early on for her dynamic partnership with explosive opener Grace Harris. At the halfway stage of the inaugural Rebel Women’s Big Bash League it was Harris however who was grabbing the headlines, namely for one innings in particular – the tournament’s first and only century, struck off 52 balls and including four sixes.

Mooney meanwhile was quietly (or not so quietly) going about her business and while Harris’ form dipped towards the second half of the tournament, Mooney’s didn’t. She struck four half-centuries in total, just one less than Lanning, and her strike rate remained over 100. Harris is unlucky to miss out, with the tournament’s only strike rate above 150, but it’s the combination of firepower and consistency that edges Mooney in.

Mooney also takes the gloves (although would make the team as a batter alone) but an honourable mention in the wicketkeeping stakes goes to the Thunder’s Claire Koski. While the modern keeper is expected to be a batting force in themselves, Koski is one of the old-school types, whose gloves do the talking. With 25 dismissals - 13 catches and 12 stumpings - Koski has nine more than any other keeper.

Charlotte Edwards Perth Scorchers

444 runs @ 44.4, high score 88*, strike rate 103.58, 4 x 61, 6 x 1

The England captain comes second only to her Australian counterpart in the runs tally stakes, and it was a second half rally that saw Edwards, and the Scorchers, rise to the top.

"It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” persisted the Scorchers opener early on. Now that Perth have edged into finals, Edwards could well be right. She has a knack of firing when it matters and no one would be surprised if this star-studded team now go on to win the whole thing. 

In the last eight innings, Edwards has racked up 354 at an average of 70.8 and, alongside her opening partner Villani, is firing at just the right time.

Ellyse Perry Sydney Sixers

400 runs @ 33.33, high score 67*, strike rate 93.67, 4 x 39, 6 x 4, 7 wickets @ 42.28, best bowling 2-11, econ 6.57

As with Edwards before her, Perry was another notable omission from the half-way team of the tournament. At this stage, the Sixers had one win from seven. Now, under Perry’s captaincy, they’re in the finals.

In the tournament’s penultimate weekend, Perry scored 236 runs at an average of 78.7. It’s not just the volume of runs either, it’s the way she goes about her business. Tall, elegant and relying on timing more than brute force, Perry is also happy playing second fiddle if another ‘in’ batter is doing their thing. She looked a bit out of sorts with the bat in the Sixers’ last couple of matches, but a win’s a win, and the Sixers, remarkably, are through to finals.

Perry’s bowling, of course, is also a potent addition to any team. While she didn’t break the bank with her wickets in the WBBL, her armoury of yorkers, bouncers and sheer pace can trouble the world’s best.

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Perry high-fives McGlashan after registering the Sixers' first win of the WBBL // Getty

Heather Knight (c) Hobart Hurricanes

347 runs @ 24.78, high score 74, strike rate 91.31, 4 x 29, 6 x 6, 17 wickets @ 15.52, best bowling 3-7, econ 5.63

The England vice-captain and Hobart Hurricanes captain narrowly, and perhaps controversially, missed out on the captaincy and selection in the halfway team of the tournament. With the Hobart Hurricanes qualifying easily for finals and Knight well placed in both the lists of runs scored and wickets taken, she’s now both in the side and wearing the armband.

Not that Lanning has done anything particularly wrong to relinquish the captaincy, but Knight’s has been outstanding. She’s commandeered a team lacking perhaps a superstar but full of bits-and-pieces players who have rallied around in remarkable fashion to become the first team to qualify for finals. 

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Knight has been a capable leader for the Hobart Hurricanes // Getty

Not only has Knight got the best out of her players, but her tactical game has been strong. While others perhaps have been guilty of plugging gaps too late or gifting batters easy singles for too long, Knight has been clinical and ruthless in her approach.

Alex Blackwell Sydney Thunder

380 runs @ 47.50, high score 45, strike rate 99.47, 4 x 25, 6 x 1

The experienced Southern Stars vice-captain and Sydney Thunder captain is another in the side with a strong leadership pedigree. Akin to the Adelaide Strikers’ Brad Hodge in her ability to remain calm under pressure no matter what comes her way, Blackwell draws comparisons to another male player but for different reasons – James Faulkner. While Faulkner may be better known as ‘the finisher’ in the cricket world, Blackwell’s claims are probably stronger.

Blackwell has remained unbeaten in half of her 14 innings in the WBBL and has a healthy strike rate of 100. Add to that the fact that Blackwell has 13 catches from 14 matches, four higher than the next best, this erstwhile patroller of extra-cover is a safe pair of hands that would be welcome in any side.

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Alex Blackwell reaches out to carve the ball through the covers // Getty

Sara McGlashan Sydney Sixers

346 runs @ 31.45, high score 79, strike rate 126.73, 4 x 32, 6 x 10

When it comes to impact players, the Kiwis appear to have a bit of a monopoly. Both Sara McGlashan and Sophie Devine each hit ten sixes throughout the tournament. McGlashan’s final innings, in which she scored 79no off 58 balls including four sixes (and a dubious four-cum-six) on a pitch whose slow outfield necessitated over-the-top hitting, saw the New Zealand veteran’s clean striking at its finest. It was also an innings which single-handedly steered the Sixers into the finals.

McGlashan fares pretty well for runs in total, but it’s her ability to take the game away from the opposition which makes her a must in any side. Devine however has a strong claim to the best over, smashing 26 runs, including three sixes, in the final over of the Sixers’ win over the Melbourne Stars. It was a three-minute blitz which propelled the Kiwi to an unbeaten knock of 47 from 15 balls. 

However McGlashan’s average, run tally and having two innings containing four sixes makes her the more consistent impact player, and the spot is hers. Did we mention too that the Sixers have, incredibly, reached finals.

Morna Nielsen Melbourne Stars

18 wickets @ 11, best bowling 3-12, econ 5.21

Another New Zealander to keep an eye on in this year’s World Twenty20. Nielsen missed four matches when she returned across the Tasman to fulfil her own domestic duties, but still managed to claim 18 wickets in 10 innings, placing the slow left-arm orthodox player third on the wickets ladder. An understated personality, Nielsen just gets on with it.

Her bowling average of 11 is the best of any bowler to have bowled more than ten overs, and her ability to take key wickets has put her team in a winning position on many an occasion.

Molly Strano gets an honourable mention in the spinners division, as the flighty off-spinner also picked up 18 wickets across the tournament while playing in a team that was firmly rooted to the bottom of the WBBL ladder. Strano’s 5-15 against the Melbourne Stars was also the tournament’s first and only five-wicket haul and her knack of churning out performances when the lights, and cameras, are upon her should serve her well in the growing spectre of women’s cricket.

It wasn’t long ago that Australia was deemed a spinner’s graveyard, but in both the men’s and women’s Big Bash editions this season, spinners have thrived. Watch out for the likes of young guns Amanda Wellington, Maisy Gibson and Sophie Molineux as ones to watch in the future.

Marizanne Kapp Sydney Sixers

14 wickets @ 15.14, best bowling 4-18, econ 4.24

Teams need strike bowlers, but there’s also a need to strangle the opposition for runs. When it comes to keeping a lid on things, South African international Marizanne Kapp is the best going. In 14 matches Kapp kept her economy to just 4.24 across 50 overs bowled. Astonishing stats in a T20 comp.

The Hurricanes’ Julie Hunter comes in a close second and with a couple more wickets she only misses out narrowly, having lead the Hurricanes bowling attack maturely and effectively throughout. However Kapp had to contend with defending some meagre totals for much of the WBBL, and when she was able to unleash, produced displays of remarkable discipline combined with some potent strike bowling. Don’t mess with a fired up South African.

Watch: Kapp captures three in menacing spell

Veronica Pyke Hobart Hurricanes

22 wickets @ 12.54, best bowling 3-19, econ 5.41

The veteran left-arm seamer has teamed up effectively with Hunter to get the Hurricanes off to the best possible starts with ball in hand, and while Hunter was at the other end busy stemming  runs, Pyke was skittling through batting line-ups.

Pyke, captain of Cripps Tasmanian Roar but who stepped aside to allow Heather Knight to take the reins at the Hurricanes, nevertheless proved a leader in the bowling attack, topping the wicket-charts with 22 from her 14 appearances. A left-arm medium pace bowler, it’s not the pace that does it, but as is often the case in the women’s game, it’s the pin-point accuracy and devious late swing that gets them in the end.

Fellow left-arm seamer and young gun Lauren Cheatle from the Sydney Thunder was turning heads early on with some majestic bowling spells and again was tough to overlook. The youngster just misses out to Pyke on this occasion but a call-up to the Southern Stars squad to take on India later this month is just reward for a breakthrough season for another young fast-bowling Australian blonde.

Rene Farrell Sydney Thunder

21 wickets @ 14.04, best bowling 4-18, econ 5.51

Farrell is the kind of player that’s often overlooked, going about her business while others bask in the limelight. The Southern Stars and Sydney Thunder bowler has formed an indomitable seam partnership with Cheatle and with 21 wickets for not many is a big reason the Thunder are where they are now.

Used both as a potent opening bowler and tricky at the death, Farrell is a reliable pair of hands for Blackwell to throw the ball to when the situation arises – watch out for her should the going get tough for her team in finals.