Predicted finish: 7th — a bowling attack full of champions, but Darcie Brown’s injury and a new-look top order leave them short of the four
Last summer the Strikers missed the finals by one run. Needing three off the final ball against the Sixers at North Sydney Oval, they lost a tight run-out and finished sixth: three wins, four losses and three no results, one of them abandoned after a ball got lodged under the roller and damaged the pitch. Two of those losses were by a single run. It has now been two seasons without finals since the back-to-back titles, and the bad luck has carried into the pre-season, with Brown ruled out of the whole tournament a fortnight before the opener. I have them seventh.
The squad
The Strikers have 14 of their 15 list spots filled, with one still to be confirmed. Brown remains contracted but will not play this season.
Head coach: Luke Williams
Captain: Tahlia McGrath
| Batters | All-rounders | Bowlers |
|---|---|---|
| Laura Wolvaardt (SA) | Tahlia McGrath (c) | Megan Schutt |
| Maia Bouchier (Eng) | Ellie Johnston | Sophie Ecclestone (Eng) |
| Emma de Broughe | Amanda-Jade Wellington | |
| Maddie Penna | Anesu Mushangwe | |
| Bridget Patterson | Eleanor Larosa | |
| Ella Wilson | ||
| Darcie Brown (injured, out for season) |
Ins: Maia Bouchier (England, from Stars), Emma de Broughe (from Renegades)
Outs: Tammy Beaumont (England), Jemma Barsby (to Thunder), Tabatha Saville (uncontracted)
Brown is the loss that hurts. She was the club’s leading wicket-taker last season with 11, including a career-best 4-16 against the Hurricanes. A disc injury picked up on the Australia A tour of India has failed to settle, and her chance to push for an international recall through the Big Bash has gone with it. Ella Wilson, 22, has re-signed as cover. She was part of both title squads but had an injury-hit season last year.
Bouchier replaces Beaumont as Wolvaardt’s opening partner. She has 48 T20Is for England and reunites with Williams, her old coach at Southern Brave, but she was squeezed out of England’s T20 World Cup squad this year. She arrives with a point to prove.
De Broughe is a homecoming. Adelaide-born, she chose cricket over an international hockey pathway and was named the Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year in 2024. She has said she always wanted to play for the Strikers but never got the chance. Her WBBL numbers so far are modest: 280 runs at 18.67 from 19 games for the Renegades.
Barsby’s departure takes spin and lower-order runs with her, which makes Anesu Mushangwe’s return for a fourth season important. The leg-spinner took 16 wickets in the second title season.
Analysis
Strengths
The bowling still has real pedigree. Schutt and Wellington are two of the most successful bowlers the competition has seen, and Schutt arrives in form. She took 10 wickets at an average of seven in Australia’s ODI series against Bangladesh, passing 150 ODI wickets along the way.
The spin options suit Karen Rolton Oval. Ecclestone, Wellington and Mushangwe give McGrath three quality slow bowlers, plus Johnston’s part-time overs.
The leadership is settled. McGrath is Australia’s vice-captain and Wolvaardt is the reigning club champion. Eleanor Larosa also finished last season strongly, taking all four wickets to fall in the Sixers’ innings, three of them in the final over.
Weaknesses
The pace attack is thin without Brown. Schutt managed just five games and one wicket last season through injury. Behind her and McGrath, the seam overs fall to Larosa and Wilson, who are both still learning at this level.
The batting has to fix its middle order. Last season the Strikers too often relied on Wolvaardt and Beaumont at the top. Against the Scorchers the middle order collapsed in a one-run loss, and against the Sixers they slumped to 5-86 before Patterson and Wellington nearly dragged them home. Now Beaumont is gone, and de Broughe and Bouchier both have to prove they belong at the top.
Ecclestone also needs a better season. She took six wickets at 39.50 in her first summer in blue, more than double her average for the Sixers the year before.
Milestones to watch
- Amanda-Jade Wellington has played every game in Strikers history, 152 of them. She sits third on the all-time WBBL wicket list with 165. Seven more would match Molly Strano’s current tally of 172, and ten would take her to 175.
- Megan Schutt heads into the season on 150 WBBL wickets from 142 games, the most by a fast bowler. If she plays eight games she reaches 150 WBBL matches.
- Emma de Broughe and Maia Bouchier are in line for their first games for the club.
The draw
Ten regular-season matches: five at home and five away. But one home game is at Drummoyne Oval in Sydney, so only four are in Adelaide. Times are AEDT as listed in the fixture release. Check before match day.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Time (AEDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 31 Oct | Melbourne Stars (home) | Karen Rolton Oval | 3:40pm |
| Thu 5 Nov | Brisbane Heat (home) | Drummoyne Oval | 3:40pm |
| Sat 7 Nov | Melbourne Renegades (away) | Junction Oval | 3:40pm |
| Tue 10 Nov | Hobart Hurricanes (away) | Ninja Stadium | 7:10pm |
| Sat 14 Nov | Perth Scorchers (away) | WACA Ground | 7:10pm |
| Tue 17 Nov | Sydney Sixers (home) | Karen Rolton Oval | 7:10pm |
| Fri 20 Nov | Melbourne Renegades (home) | Adelaide Oval | 7:10pm |
| Sun 22 Nov | Brisbane Heat (away) | Allan Border Field | 3:40pm |
| Thu 26 Nov | Sydney Thunder (away) | North Sydney Oval | 3:40pm |
| Sun 29 Nov | Hobart Hurricanes (home) | Karen Rolton Oval | 3:30pm |
The Strikers open at home against the Stars, then face the toughest stretch of anyone’s season: four straight games outside Adelaide in ten days. Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart on a Tuesday night, then Perth. Coming back from that trip with two wins would be a good result.
The two games against the Heat, who were winless last season, are the ones the Strikers have to win. One of them doubles as a “home” game in Sydney.
The middle of the season brings them back to Adelaide for a Tuesday night against the Sixers and then the season’s showpiece: Friday 20 November against the Renegades at Adelaide Oval, the fourth year the club has hosted a WBBL night game there.
The run home is hard. After trips to Brisbane and Sydney, they finish at home against the defending champion Hurricanes in the final game of the regular season. If the Strikers need a win to make the finals, they will have to beat the team I have picked to finish top.
