If you were writing a brief history of WBBL03, you might not even mention Elyse Villani. She didn’t lift the trophy (Ellyse Perry), score the most runs (Prerry, again, with 552), hit the biggest hundred (Ashleigh Gardner’s 114 on the opening weekend v the Stars) or finish the season with the highest Strike Rate (Beth Mooney, at 144). And yet, there she is – at the top of the rankings, having hit almost as many runs as Perry, at a much better Strike Rate.

At Nos. 2 and 3, Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy also leapfrog Perry at No. 4 thanks to their superior Strike Rates. Mooney in particular will probably look back on this season with some disappointment, after the Heat were narrowly pipped to the semi-finals by the Strikers. (They say the table never lies, but in the battle for 4th place this year it is certainly being somewhat economical with the truth – the Strikers might have finished two points ahead, but only because the Heat lost their final match chasing a little too hard to up their Net Run Rate.) Nonetheless Mooney has taken the opportunity to underline her outstanding performances in the Women’s Ashes T20s and nail-down her spot at the top of the Aussie’s T20 batting order ahead of WWT20 in the West Indies later this year.

The highest-ranking non-international player was “Young Gun” Sophie Molineux at No. 13 – you’d have thought her chances of making WWT20 are pretty-much zero with the Southern Stars so chock-full of batting talent, but it will be interesting to see if they give her a go at some point in any one of the 500 warm-ups they have scheduled over the next few months.

Batting Ranking = Runs * Strike Rate

When: Friday @ 4.10am in the UK

Where: BT Sport

Adelaide Strikers

Batting

In Form

• Suzie Bates – After bombing in the first two editions of WBBL, coming 7th and last, the Strikers needed a big signing for WBBL03, and the New Zealand captain has not disappointed – scoring 420 runs at a Strike Rate of 110.
• Sophie Devine – Now in her 3rd season with the Strikers, Devine has had her best WBBL yet – posting 348 runs at 118.

Watch Out For

• Bridget Patterson – Patterson is 23 now, and dreams of playing internationally have probably long-since sailed – though as 33 year old Sarah Aley would testify, you should never say never – but coming in at 5, she has been making a good habit of hitting a useful quick 20 or 30, to finish the group stages with 213 runs at 112.

Bowling

In Form

• Amanda-Jade Wellington – With 16 wickets at an Economy Rate of 6.49, Wellington is the Strikers’ leading wicket-taker.
• Sophie Devine – Emphasising her all-round value, Devine is only 1 wicket behind Wellington, with 15 wickets at 6.29.

Watch Out For

• Megan Schutt – Schutt might not have taken as many wickets this year as she would have liked, but she has been by far the Strikers most economical bowler, with 11 wickets at 5.85, playing a crucial role in pegging-back the Strikers opponents in the PowerPlay overs.

Sydney Sixers

Batting

In Form

• Alyssa Healy – With 378 runs (including a century) at a huge Strike Rate of 141, Healy’s numbers mask the fact that she has been a bit hit or miss this season, with a couple of ducks in amongst a number of single-figure scores. However, she has come good at the right time, with 106 and 63 in Sixers last two group games against… the Strikers!
• Ellyse Perry – Perry has racked-up exactly 500 runs so far in WBBL03, in her usual manner – she starts slowly but makes up for it later. The trick is to get her out for 20 off 30 balls… or she’ll punish you with 50 off 40!

Watch Out For

• Erin Burns – Burns’ move from the Hurricanes to the Sixers seems to have worked out well for everyone… except the Hurricanes, who have really missed her! With 260 runs at 116, she has been a crucial backstop when the bigger names have struck-out.

Bowling

In Form

• Dane van Niekerk Marizanne Kapp Sarah Aley – With the Sixers two key bowlers (Dane van Niekerk, with 20 wickets; and Marizanne Kapp, with her unbelievable Economy Rate of 4.72) having both disappeared back to South Africa for international duty, there is a huge burden on Aley to perform in the post-season; but with 18 wickets at 6.37 she has shown that if anyone can step up, she can.
• Sarah Coyte – Coaxed out of retirement to replace Kapp, Coyte has bowled like she’s never been away – taking 5 wickets in two games, at an Economy Rate of 4.00.

Watch Out For

• Kim Garth – The Irish bowling all-rounder has mostly had to play second-fiddle to her more established team-mates in this WBBL, filling in her overs here and there, but has still managed to take 10 wickets – that’s (whisper it!) twice as many as a certain “Ellyse Perry” has chalked-up this season, and at a better Economy Rate (6.12 vs 7.08) too!

When: Thursday @ 4.10am in the UK

Where: BT Sport

Perth Scorchers

Batting

In Form

• Elyse Villani – The captain has led from the front this season with 481 runs at a Strike Rate of 134.
• Nicole Bolton – Has made her case for a return to the Southern Stars T20 side she was dropped from in 2016, with 440 runs at 101.

Watch Out For

• Lauren Ebsary – The 34-year-old veteran has played a crucial role down the order for the Scorchers, with 155 runs at 117.

Bowling

In Form

• Katherine Brunt – The leading wicket-taker in WBBL03, with 22 wickets; and the lowest Economy Rate in the competition*, going at just 4.61 runs per over.
• Piepa Cleary – With 12 wickets and an Economy Rate of 6.02, her medium pace has kept things tight in the middle overs.

Watch Out For

• Nat Sciver – The England all-rounder hasn’t had a great WBBL with the ball, taking just 4 wickets at 7.78 – so she is due a performance, and she likes a big stage!

Sydney Thunder

Batting

In Form

• Rachel Haynes – The Southern Stars stand-in skipper might not actually be Meg Lanning, but she has been doing a pretty good impression recently – leading the Aussies as they retained the Women’s Ashes, and scoring 425 runs in WBBL, at a Strike Rate of 121.
• Alex Blackwell – The Thunder captain has been her usual solid presence in the middle order, making 329 runs at 99.

Watch Out For

• Naomi Stalenberg – She might have slipped slightly out of the limelight recently, with the emergence of Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner; but she has still made 226 runs at 115 in WBBL03, with a top score of 48.

Bowling

In Form

• Rene Farrell – With 17 wickets at 5.85, the semi-retired Southern Star (she quit ODIs but remains theoretically available for T20 selection) continues to show that whatever “it” is… she’s still got it!
• Sam Bates – The young left-arm spinner has had a break-out season for the Thunder, taking 16 wickets at 5.78.

Watch Out For

• Belinda Vakarewa – Vakarewa narrowly missed-out on Women’s Ashes selection this time, but she has had a good WBBL with 11 wickets at an impressive Economy Rate of 5.53 – is this her big chance to make a case to add to her 1 (so far) international cap?

——————–

* Minimum 10 overs bowled!

After the long World Cup summer, followed immediately by the Women’s Ashes, the English contingent at the WBBL was reduced to just 5 this season – so at (roughly) the half-way point in the season, how have they all been doing?

The leading English player this term has undoubtedly been Katherine Brunt at the Scorchers, who has taken 11 wickets at a very economical 4.78 runs-per-over – this ranks her 2nd overall in WBBL, behind only Dane van Niekerk with 16 wickets at 5.37.

Also at the Scorchers, Nat Sciver ranks 10th overall with the bat, having hit 197 runs at a Strike Rate of 132. (Though to put this in a little perspective, 8 players have scored over 50 runs at a better Strike Rate.) However, Sciver has been much less successful with the ball – she has bowled 22 overs in all (only one less than Brunt) but has taken just 2 wickets, conceding an expensive 9.45 runs-per-over.

Opening the batting with Suzie Bates for the Strikers, Tammy Beaumont has been a solid performer, averaging 24; whilst at the Stars, Georgia Elwiss has made herself a reliable presence in the middle-order, including a match-winning (and player-of-the-match-winning) 59* against the Renegades last weekend.

Finally, Lauren Winfield has had a bit of a nightmare with the Hurricanes, who are propping-up the table without a win so far. Winfield started the season opening the batting, but has subsequently slipped down into the middle-order – it doesn’t seem to have helped much though, and she currently averages just 9 with a top score of only 15.

Tammy Beaumont
Adelaide Strikers
Runs: 195
Highest Score: 46
Strike Rate: 98

Katherine Brunt
Perth Scorchers
Runs: 68
Highest Score: 29
Strike Rate: 81
Wickets: 11
Economy: 4.78

Georgia Elwiss
Melbourne Stars
Runs: 118
Highest Score: 59*
Strike Rate: 105
Wickets: 2
Economy: 7.94

Nat Sciver
Perth Scorchers
Runs: 197
Highest Score: 84
Strike Rate: 132
Wickets: 2
Economy: 9.45

Lauren Winfield
Hobart Hurricanes
Runs: 72
Highest Score: 15
Strike Rate: 80

JANUARY: Rachael Heyhoe Flint Died on 18th January – at which ground did she make her highest Test score of 179?

• The Oval

FEBRUARY: Who won the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Colombo?

• India

MARCH: Who was the highest run-scorer in the Rose Bowl ODI Series between Australia and New Zealand?

• Beth Mooney

APRIL: Rene Farrell announced her ODI retirement in March, after how many ODIs?

• 44

MAY: Which New Zealander scored 122 off 78 balls against Middlesex in the County Championship?

• Sophie Devine

JUNE: Who were the first team to win a match at the World Cup?

• New Zealand

JULY: Who ran out Sarah Taylor for 54 in England’s narrow World Cup semi-final win v South Africa?

• Dane van Niekerk

AUGUST: Lancashire won the Women’s County Championship, but who came second by just 1 point?

• Yorkshire

SEPTEMBER: The Western Storm won the Kia Super League – who was their leading wicket taker?

• Stafanie Taylor

OCTOBER: With the Women’s Ashes in progress, what was the series points score on the last day of October?

• Australia 4 – 2 England

NOVEMBER: Who recorded their first ever ODI victory over New Zealand on November 5th?

• Pakistan

DECEMBER: Who replaced injured Heather Knight as captain of Hobart Hurricanes in WBBL?

• Corinne Hall

A job advertisement uncovered by Martin Davies of Women’s Cricket Blog appears to confirm that the Kia Women’s Super League is set to be thrown under the juggernaut of the new Men’s City T20 in 2020, with the last edition of the competition coming in 2019.

The recruitment ad for a “Head of New T20 Operations”, posted to the ECB Careers web site, states (emphasis ours):

“For the first time in this country, this will be a domestic competition that involves teams not based on the existing county structure. 8 newly formed teams will play 36 games over a 5 week period, with many of the top English and overseas cricketers competing. Each team will have a designated Home Venue, which will be one of this country’s leading cricket grounds. ECB is also exploring launching a women’s competition running in parallel with the same format and the same team brands. Some games in the women’s competition are likely to be played at different venues to the men’s games.“

Other runes also point in a similar direction: back in September we observed that Kia’s sponsorship of the Super League had been extended only until 2019, allowing the ECB room to manoeuvre the competition out of existence at that point; and it was also noted at the time the TV contracts were announced that although “a” women’s T20 competition was part of the deal, the exact details appeared to have been kept deliberately vague.

There is no doubt that the model the ECB is pursuing has been unbelievably successful in Australia, where the WBBL is now arguably the highest-profile women’s team-sport competition on the planet, with attendances and TV audiences far exceeding English football’s Women’s Super League for example.

However, this is not the first but the second shake-up the women’s game will have undergone in the space of 5 years, and there will be losers as well as winners, even if the City T20 overcomes the reservations of those serious cricket fans who (with good reason) remain highly sceptical of the entire concept, in a country where a smaller proportion of the population (and a far smaller proportion of the cricket-watching population) lives in the cities around which the competition will be based.

The most obvious loser would be the Loughborough Lightning, who would basically be Alderaan in this scenario to the City T20’s Death Star. (If you don’t understand this reference, please refer to your nearest 8-year-old child… or 40-year-old man… but basically, Alderaan didn’t come out of the encounter in too healthy a state!!)

The Surrey Stars would also be in the firing line, with a London franchise more likely to head to Lords than The Oval.

But in the case of the franchises which would likely survive in all-but-name (the Southern Vipers, Yorkshire Diamonds and Lancashire Thunder) the actual people involved – coaches… managers… marketing staff – many of whom have worked extremely hard (in some cases unpaid) to grow the Kia Super League, would find themselves thrown out into the cold – all their efforts for nothing.

And what of the fans, who have built loyalties to “their” teams? These allegiances grew notably even between KSL-01 and KSL-02, judging by the colours on show at Finals Day in 2017; and the increased TV coverage next season looked set to build upon that by reaching into even more living rooms.

But will the little girl who buys a Loughborough Lightning shirt in 2018 be able to exchange it for a Birmingham one in 2020?

Will she even want to?

That is the question the ECB have to ask themselves now.

The ECB have announced the fixture list for the new “Super-Sized” Kia Super League, with sides playing each other both home and away in 2018, extending the season to 32 matches, compared with just 17 this year.

The competition begins at the County Ground in Taunton, with the Western Storm playing the Yorkshire Diamonds on Sunday July 22nd; and concludes just over a month later, on Bank Holiday Monday August 27th, at the County Ground in Hove with the now-familiar 3-team Finals Day.

The season will feature 8 double-headers with men’s T20 Blast matches, at venues including Headingly, Old Trafford and (for the first time) Edgbaston, which will host Loughborough Lighting v Western Storm, on same bill as Birmingham Bears v Lancashire Lightning.

The TV schedules on Sky are “TBA” but we’d assume that it will be at least the 8 double-headers, plus the opening fixture and Finals Day.

Double Headers

Friday July 27 @ Headingley – Yorkshire Diamonds v Lancashire Thunder & Yorkshire Vikings v Birmingham Bears

Sunday July 29 @ Taunton – Western Storm v Loughborough Lightning & Somerset v Middlesex

Tuesday July 31 @ The Oval – Surrey Stars v Lancashire Thunder & Surrey v Glamorgan

Friday August 3 @ Old Trafford – Lancashire Thunder v Western Storm & Lancashire Lightning v Leicestershire Foxes

Tuesday August 7 @ Old Trafford – Lancashire Thunder v Surrey Stars & Lancashire Lightning v Durham Jets

Wednesday August 8 @ The Ageas Bowl – Southern Vipers v Yorkshire Diamonds & Hampshire v Somerset

Tuesday August 14 @ Hove – Southern Vipers v Surrey Stars & Sussex Sharks v Glamorgan

Wednesday August 15 @ Edgbaston – Loughborough Lightning v Western Storm & Birmingham Bears v Lancashire Lightning