England captain to skip Hurricanes' WBBL title defence

Hobart Hurricanes head coach Jude Coleman has revealed England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt will not feature for the reigning champions in Weber WBBL|12.

The superstar allrounder helped the club claim their maiden women's Big Bash title last summer as the organisation's marquee international signing.

But after an English summer forced to play as a specialist batter due to ongoing calf issues, Coleman confirmed Sciver-Brunt won't be a part of the Hurricanes' title defence.

"We have already heard from Nat Sciver-Brunt that she's not coming back this year at all to the tournament," Coleman told reporters in Hobart today ahead of WBBL|12 ticket launch on Thursday.

"It's a disappointing loss for us, but we completely understand. She's had a heavy English summer fighting injuries. She'll also have the WPL (Women's Premier League) in January, so it's really her only time to get some time at home with her son and wife."

Sciver-Brunt has been managing her calf since May, missing series against New Zealand and India, as well as three T20 World Cup group matches as she led England to the tournament's decider, which they lost to Australia by seven wickets.

It hasn't impacted her batting form however, as she averaged 113 striking at better than 140 in her four World Cup innings to finish the tournament as the third-highest run-scorer. After a brief layoff following England's heavy Test defeat to India at Lord's, the 33-year-old returned to the field last week with scores of 37 not out and 33 for Trent Rockets in England's Hundred competition.

Sciver-Brunt has been in sublime touch since the second half of last year's WBBL|11 campaign where she was instrumental in the season decider, scoring 35 runs in a match-winning 77-run partnership with the player of the final Lizelle Lee.

The right-hander also fired her highest WBBL score in eight years during the tournament with 81 off 48 balls against Perth Scorchers, one of her former teams.

Since last year's triumph in Bellerive Oval, Sciver-Brunt has dominated the fourth edition of the WPL in India as the tournament's third-highest run-scorer with 321 runs for Mumbai Indians.

Last summer was Sciver-Brunt's first WBBL campaign since 2023, when she contentiously signed as a replacement player for the Scorchers despite not entering the soon-to-be scrapped overseas player draft.

She had been granted permission by Cricket Australia to feature in that WBBL|09 season following a swift recovery from a knee injury. It was her third stint with Perth having previously played for the club in WBBL|03 and |05, while she also represented Melbourne Stars in WBBL|01, |02 and their run to the final in WBBL|06.

While Sciver-Brunt isn't expected to be in purple this season, Coleman said the Hurricanes were committed to securing the return of her England teammate, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, following her outstanding WBBL|11 campaign that yielded 432 runs with four half-centuries.

"Part of our strategy over the past three years (has been) to try and keep the internationals the same," Coleman said.

"Having Danni (Wyatt-Hodge) locked in for two years in a row made a huge difference. We'll be trying to do that again this year (and) trying to keep our internationals as consistent as we can.

"And our key (local) players like Molly (Strano), Heather (Graham) and Nicola (Carey), we'll be trying to keep them together as best we can."

This summer, Hobart's women's team will be seeking to become the first Hurricanes side to win consecutive Big Bash titles after their men finished third last season following their BBL|14 championship.

The club are yet to announce a new captain after Elyse Villani retired following their triumph over the Scorchers in last year's WBBL|11 final. 

The 43-game, 38-day WBBL|12 season begins on October 29, with a new champion to be crowned on December 5.