Predicted finish: 8th — a new captain and a strong spin group, but too many match-winners have moved on
Last summer the Heat made the wrong kind of history. They became the first team in WBBL history to go a whole season without a win: nine losses and a washout against the Sixers. It was also the club’s first wooden spoon. This was a side that had reached the previous two Finals and made seven straight finals series. Injuries to Jess Jonassen and Grace Harris, and Jemimah Rodrigues leaving early, gutted them. The squad for WBBL|12 is younger and lighter on stars, and I have them last.
The squad
The Heat have 14 of their 15 list spots filled. The last contract was held back for a domestic player from the T20 Spring Challenge and is still to be confirmed.
Head coach: Mark Sorell
Captain: Georgia Redmayne
| Batters | All-rounders | Bowlers |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Redmayne (c, wk) | Grace Harris | Lucy Hamilton |
| Mikayla Wrigley (wk) | Jess Jonassen | Sarah Glenn (Eng) |
| Annie O’Neil | Charli Knott | Grace Parsons |
| Lucy Bourke | Orla Prendergast (Ire) | Bonnie Berry |
| Sianna Ginger | Lily Bassingthwaighte |
Ins: Orla Prendergast (Ireland), Sarah Glenn (England, full season after a replacement stint), Grace Parsons (returns after missing WBBL|11)
Outs: Nadine de Klerk (South Africa), Jemimah Rodrigues (India), Chinelle Henry (to Hurricanes), Nicola Hancock (to Thunder)
That outs list is the story. De Klerk, Henry and Hancock were the three players most capable of clearing the rope in the back half of an innings. Rodrigues was the club’s first-round draft pick. The Heat chose a different path this year: under the new direct-signing rules they took only two overseas players.
Prendergast is the headline recruit. She made the Team of the Tournament at this year’s T20 World Cup in England, scoring 181 runs at a strike rate of almost 126 and taking six wickets. She is the club’s first Irish player and can open the batting and the bowling.
Glenn was one of the few bright spots last season after coming in as cover for de Klerk. She missed England’s World Cup with a broken thumb, so she arrives fresh and available for all ten games.
Parsons is the quiet gain. The leg-spinner took 12 wickets at 20.58 in WBBL|10, including 3-10 in the Challenger. She sat out last summer for medical reasons, then took 17 wickets as Queensland won the WNCL title.
Analysis
Strengths
The spin stocks are the best in the league on paper. Jonassen, Glenn and Parsons give Redmayne a left-arm orthodox and two leg-spinners, with Harris and Knott’s off-spin as back-up. Allan Border Field tends to slow up as the game goes on, which suits them.
There is genuine class at the top. Harris and Lucy Hamilton were both part of Australia’s T20 World Cup win this year, and Hamilton has since made her Test debut. Knott warmed up with 94 from 64 balls for Queensland against Bangladesh.
The leadership is a fresh start. Redmayne has scored 2,174 runs in 87 matches for the club and led Queensland after Jonassen stepped down. She becomes only the fifth captain in Heat history.
Weaknesses
The firepower has gone. Last season no Heat batter passed fifty in the first three games, and that was with de Klerk, Henry and Rodrigues on the list. Harris now carries the hitting almost alone, with Prendergast and O’Neil asked to step up.
The pace attack is young. After Hamilton and Prendergast, the seam overs fall to Ginger, Berry and Bassingthwaighte, who have limited WBBL experience between them. Losing Hancock to the Thunder hurts.
The warm-up form was not encouraging. At the Spring Challenge the Heat were bowled out for 90 by the Sixers and for 129 chasing 140 against the Strikers. Their only win came against the ACT Meteors.
Milestones to watch
- Jess Jonassen is the WBBL’s all-time leading wicket-taker with 185. Fifteen more would make her the first player to 200, and she is coming back from the shoulder surgery that ended her WBBL|11.
- Grace Harris needs 52 runs to reach 3,000 in the WBBL. Five games would take her to 140 matches.
- Orla Prendergast and Grace Parsons both bring up firsts: Prendergast her first game for the club, Parsons her first since WBBL|10.
The draw
Ten regular-season matches: five at home and five away. But the last home game is at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide, so only four are at Allan Border Field. The club lists Queensland times; they are converted to AEDT below to match the other previews. Check before match day.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Time (AEDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 30 Oct | Sydney Sixers (home) | Allan Border Field | 7:10pm |
| Sun 1 Nov | Sydney Thunder (away) | Drummoyne Oval | 3:40pm |
| Thu 5 Nov | Adelaide Strikers (away) | Drummoyne Oval | 3:40pm |
| Sat 7 Nov | Hobart Hurricanes (home) | Allan Border Field | 7:10pm |
| Thu 12 Nov | Melbourne Stars (away) | Junction Oval | 3:40pm |
| Sat 14 Nov | Hobart Hurricanes (away) | Ninja Stadium | 3:40pm |
| Thu 19 Nov | Sydney Thunder (home) | Allan Border Field | 7:10pm |
| Sun 22 Nov | Adelaide Strikers (home) | Allan Border Field | 3:40pm |
| Wed 25 Nov | Melbourne Renegades (away) | Junction Oval | 7:10pm |
| Sun 29 Nov | Perth Scorchers (home) | Karen Rolton Oval | 12:00pm |
The Heat get the spotlight early. They host the Sixers under lights on the second night of the season, a chance to move on from last summer in front of a home crowd.
Then comes a quick double in Sydney: the Thunder on Sunday and the Strikers four days later. The Strikers game is technically Adelaide’s home fixture at Drummoyne. The Strikers, my seventh-placed side, are the opponent the Heat must target; the third-placed Thunder are a tougher ask.
The middle of the season is brutal. The defending champion Hurricanes, my pick for top spot, at home and then in Hobart a week later, with the Stars in Melbourne in between. Three losses there would not surprise.
The run home at Allan Border Field is the best chance to build momentum: Thunder on a Thursday night, then the Strikers on a Sunday afternoon. A trip to the Renegades and a late-morning finish against the Scorchers in Adelaide close the season.
