Thunderstruck: The Thunder's history of WBBL imports

The Big Bash Draft is almost upon us as the league's eight clubs ramp up their preparations for a milestone season of the Weber WBBL. Clubs will add at least two overseas players to their list for the tenth season of the competition at the draft on September 1.

In a new measure introduced this off-season, clubs have also been able to sign an overseas player prior to the draft on a multi-year contract. The Sydney Thunder locked in last season's Player of the Tournament Chamari Athapaththu on a three-year deal using the new rules.

After nine seasons of the WBBL, we're looking back, club-by-club, at every import that has turned out in the tournament, memorable or otherwise.

History of overseas signings

WBBL|01 - Stafanie Taylor

 

WBBL|02 - Harmanpreet Kaur, Stafanie Taylor 

 

WBBL|03 - Harmanpreet Kaur, Rachel Priest, Stafanie Taylor , Fran Wilson 

 

WBBL|04 - Harmanpreet Kaur, Rachel Priest, Stafanie Taylor 

 

WBBL|05 - Rachel Priest, Nida Dar, Shabnim Ismail

 

WBBL|06 - Tammy Beaumont, Shabnim Ismail, Heather Knight

 

WBBL|07 - Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Issy Wong 

 

WBBL|08 - Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones, Lea Tahuhu, Chloe Tyron

 

WBBL|09 - Marizanne Kapp, Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, Chamari Athapaththu 

 

WBBL|10: Chamari Athapaththu

The players (sorted by matches played)

Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)

Seasons: WBBL|01 - WBBL|04

 

M 58 | Runs 1041 | HS 68 | SR 101.26 | Avg 26.69

 

WKTS 46 | BBI 3-23 | Econ 6.53 | Avg 18.63

Stefanie Taylor was the only import for the inaugural season and was one of the most impactful in the competition. The West Indian allrounder helped her side to the inaugural final and was deemed the most valuable player for the Thunder that season. She went on to play another three seasons with the club with her next best the WBBL|04 campaign where she was named in the Team of the Tournament after taking 19 wickets for the season. 

Rachel Priest (New Zealand)

Seasons: WBBL|03 - WBBL|05

 

M 43 | Runs 898 | HS 58 | SR 126.12| Ave 21.90

New Zealand wicketkeeper Rachel Priest made her way to the Thunder after some time with the Melbourne Renegades. Priest slotted in nicely and still holds the club record for most dismissals as a keeper with 33. Her best season was in WBBL|04 where she took out the club’s MVP award. Priest played some crucial innings for the side as a powerful hitter, her high score of 58 coming against the Strikers.  

Harmanpreet Kaur (India)

Seasons: WBBL|02 - WBBL|04

 

M 35 | Runs 713 | HS 64 | SR 116.89 | Avg 35.65

 

WKTS 12 | BBI 4-27  | Econ 7.53 | Avg 18.83

Indian superstar Harmanpreet Kaur started her WBBL career and spent three consecutive seasons with the club. Her impact was felt from the beginning with her best figures taken against the Stars in her second game. She was deemed the club’s most valuable player in WBBL|02 for her six wickets and 296 runs. Kaur had a slower WBBL|03 but was right back to her best the next season smashing two fifties and a score of 45 in her first four games on her way to 310 runs. 

Heather Knight (England)

Seasons: WBBL|06 & WBBL|09

 

M 30 | Runs 730 | HS 83 | SR 120.66 | Avg 36.50

 

WKTS 15 | BBI 3-4 | Econ 7.02 | Avg 19.20

Heather Knight was an integral part of the championship-winning season earning a spot in the Team of the Tournament and the club’s MVP award. She made the most runs and took 15 wickets in an impressive all-round season on the way to the title. She returned for WBBL|09 as captain and helped take the club to the Eliminator.

Shabnim Ismail (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|05 - WBBL|06

 

M 29 | W 24 | BB 3-10 | Econ 5.73 | Avg 24.33

South African fast bowler Shabnim Ismail made her way to the Thunder after starting her WBBL career at the Renegades. She took 10 wickets in her first season and made impression against her old side taking 3-14. Her fiery spell at the start of the WBBL|06 final, where she took the key wickets of Meg Lanning and Elyse Villani, helped the Thunder clinch the title. 

Tammy Beaumont (England)

Seasons: WBBL|06 & WBBL|08

 

M 28 | Runs 403 | HS 77* | SR 102.28 | Avg 16.12

Tammy Beaumont was added to the playing list alongside countrywoman Heather Knight ahead of WBBL|06 to bring some experience to a young line-up. She played in the championship that same year where she opened the batting. She returned for WBBL|08 and made her two top scores in Thunder colours, a half-century in the Sydney smash and 77 not out against the Scorchers. 

Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)

Seasons: WBBL|09

 

M 15 | Runs 552 | HS 80 | SR 127.19 | Avg 42.46

 

WKTs 9 | BBI 3-20  | Econ 6.84 | Avg 27.22

After going undrafted Chamari Athapaththu was signed as an injury replacement player and only found her way into the team because Marizanne Kapp was unwell. In her debut Athapaththu made sure selectors would have to keep picking her, scoring a 39-ball 52 and taking three wickets. It proved enough to keep her place in the side and she went on to have an unbelievable season, scoring 552 runs and taking nine wickets to go on and be named Player of the Tournament. 

Marizanne Kapp (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|09

 

M 14 | W 10 | BB 2-23 | Econ 7.41 | Avg 37.40

Marizanne Kapp was the first player to be selected in the international player draft and went to the Thunder after the Scorchers decided to not use their retention pick on the South African. Kapp didn’t reach the heights of previous seasons in the competition but still had 10 wickets and a high score of 27 with the bat. 

Smriti Mandhana (India)

Seasons: WBBL|07

 

M 13 | Runs 377 | HS 114* | SR 130.45 | Avg 34.27

Smriti Mandhana put in one of best seasons at her third WBBL club taking out the MVP award and leading run scorer in WBBL|07. She scored two half-centuries and made club history with her unbeaten 114 runs which still stands as the highest score for a Thunder player. 

Deepti Sharma (India)

Seasons: WBBL|07

 

M 13 | Runs 211 | HS 44* | SR 106.57 | Avg 35.17

 

WKTS 13 | BBI 3-13 | Econ 7.16 | Avg 24.77

Indian allrounder Deepti Sharma has played just one season in the WBBL and her start came when she signed alongside Indian teammate Smriti Mandhana. Sharma made her presence felt with back-to-back three-wicket hauls against the Stars and the Hurricanes. From the middle order she finished with a total of 211 runs with a high score of 44 not out. 

Issy Wong (England)

Seasons: WBBL|07

 

M 12 | WKTS 9 | BBI 2-19 | Econ 7.28 | Avg 32.33

English fast bowler Issy Wong made her WBBL debut as just a 19-year-old. The young gun impressed in her 12 games where she took nine wickets, her best performance coming against the Stars. She was only called on to bat five times and shocked her teammates when she smashed six sixes on her way to 43 runs from just 17 balls against the Strikers. 

Amy Jones (England)

Seasons: WBBL|08

 

M 11 | Runs 210 | HS 53 | SR 103.45 | Avg 26.25

Amy Jones had spent some time at the Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers before she came across for a single season. She put in some good performances in the top order scoring one half-century and a 44 not out, finishing on a respectable 210 runs.

Nida Dar (Pakistan)

Seasons: WBBL|05

 

M 11 | Runs 99 | HS 43 | SR 89.19 | Avg 12.38

 

WKTS 13 | BBI  2-15 | Econ 6.88 | Avg 16.92

Nida Dar holds a special place in the WBBL as the first woman from Pakistan to play in the competition. She only played the one season showing off her wares as middle-order batter and spin bowler. It was with the ball that she excelled, taking wickets in eight out of 11 games including best figures of 2-15. While she didn’t see as much success with the bat, she did score an impressive 43 against the Scorchers.

Chloe Tyron (South Africa)

Seasons: WBBL|08

 

M 10 | Runs 97 | HS 32 | SR 96.04 | Avg 12.13 

 

WKTS 5 | BBI 2-14 | Econ 6.27 | Avg 18.80

After two seasons at the Hurricanes Chloe Tyron signed for the Thunder ahead of WBBL|08 for her experience as an allrounder. She didn’t have too big of an impact for the club taking five wickets and scoring 97 runs in the middle order. 

Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand)

Seasons: WBBL|08

 

M 9 | WKTS 4 | BBI 3-31 | Econ 7.00 | Avg 38.50

Lea Tahuhu came across to the Thunder after becoming synonymous with the Renegades in the earlier seasons of the competition. She didn’t have as much of an impact at her new club but had a breakthrough moment with three wickets against the Heat. 

Fran Wilson (England)

Seasons: WBBL|03

 

M 6 | Runs 50 | HS 46 | SR 125.00 | Avg 16.67

Fran Wilson was signed for WBBL|03 to fill the spot of Harmanpreet Kaur who missed the end of the season due to international duty. It was a tough start for Wilson who after not batting in her first two games, couldn’t get going when called upon. She however finished her season on a high with a score of 46 against the Scorchers crushing eight fours in the process. 

Lauren Bell (England)

Seasons: WBBL|09

 

M 2 | WKTS 1 | Econ 7.14 | Ave 50

Lauren Bell was picked up with pick 18 at the international draft but was held out of the side by the in-form Chamari Athapaththu. From her two appearances she took just one wicket against the Melbourne Stars.