Clubs target India stars, but back-up plans essential

Shafali Verma and her India teammates are the hottest overseas property for WBBL|07, but Australia great and new Sydney Sixers list manager Lisa Sthalekar has cautioned Plans A, B and C will be essential this summer.

With the season locked in to run between October 14 and November 27, clubs are busy building their squads and securing international talent.

Continued quarantine requirements and conflicting international series are already providing obstacles; England’s tour of Pakistan through October means players from both squads will be unavailable.

That has forced a rethink for three of last year’s top four teams – champions Sydney Thunder, runners-up Melbourne Stars and semi-finalist Perth Scorchers – who fielded two England players apiece.

Currently, the only confirmed overseas signings for the upcoming season belong to the Scorchers, who have landed New Zealand’s Sophie Devine, South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.

The trans-Tasman bubble bodes well for a healthy contingent of Kiwis, and South Africa players – who currently have no conflicting engagements in October and November – have had a consistently strong presence in the league in recent years.

But it is the potential for Indian players to take part in the league for the first time since WBBL|04, given they will already be in Australia for the upcoming multi-format series ending October 11, that has many clubs excited.

A handful of India players were set to join the Big Bash last season, but were ultimately rendered unavailable when the BCCI scheduled women’s IPL exhibition matches at the same time.

Sydney Sixers appear to be leading the race to land the signature of 17-year-old Verma – who is the world’s top-ranked T20I batter and who hit 96 on Test debut against India late last month – alongside left-arm spinner Radha Yadav.

Sydney Thunder were linked to fellow opener Smriti Mandhana last season and could again be in contention to sign the elegant left-hander, while Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Poonam Yadav could also be in hot demand.

"(Shafali Verma) is on everyone's list, no doubt," Sthalekar told reporters on Thursday.

"She loves Australian conditions, we saw that in the T20 World Cup.

"Each club will have some vacancies and (there may be) an Indian player there that could fit that role ... I'm sure that they're picking up the phone and making those calls.

"It helps that they're in the country and they've already done the two weeks’ quarantine."

New Sydney Thunder WBBL list manager Alex Blackwell remained coy on which players her team would be targeting but made the point that strong local talent would be equally important, given the potential for last-minute hurdles to impact internationals.

That need for strong local talent has been reflected in recent signing news. On Thursday the Adelaide Strikers announced leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington had signed a new three-deal deal, while Hobart Hurricanes revealed they had lured all-time leading WBBL wicket-taker Molly Strano away from Melbourne Renegades.

"I think we always want to attract the best overseas players and we've certainly been in conversations with some very exciting prospects and will in due course, confirm those players," Blackwell said on Thursday.

"(But) it's not just about the overseas players, I think one of the strengths of Sydney Thunder is that they've developed and grown players from New South Wales and from country areas, and I think the core of the squad is fairly stable with a great mix of young players coming through."

Speaking following the release of the WBBL|07 fixture on Thursday, Cricket Australia’s head of Big Bash Alistair Dobson said he was confident overseas players would be able to arrive in Australia, despite recent reductions in the country’s quarantine caps.

"It’s inevitable there will be some hurdles but we have great experience from last year and we showed our ability to work closely with governments and players and different stakeholders to get players in," Dobson said.

"We’re really excited about some of the players being signed to WBBL teams.

"We understand the challenges but we’re hopeful of being able to work around it again. That said, it is an ever-changing landscape and we’ll have to be nimble and flexible."

Of course, nothing can be taken for granted in the COVID19 world; in recent months the ECB were forced to dramatically overhaul their international contingent for the inaugural season of The Hundred when the majority of Australia’s top players pulled out due to the proximity to their own international summer, Australia’s quarantine requirements, and fears flight caps could impact their ability to return home.

They were replaced with a host of Australia’s best second-tier WBBL talent – and the likes of Sthalekar, Blackwell and their fellow list managers may well watch The Hundred closely, with similar concerns in mind.

Sthalekar said she would ensure the Sixers had a raft of options up their sleeve to call upon, should any last-minute surprises occur.

"It’s tough to foresee the future isn't it … ideally New Zealand would be probably the next best (back-up) option," the Sixers and Australia great said.

"It's very hard to plan it and I think most clubs will have to try and have a Plan B and Plan C.

"So that's where we start to look at who hasn't been contracted. Firstly in Australia, you need to know what players are around who you could bring in, if there's an injury, as replacement players.

"And then also if (for example) we're looking at Indian players and we don't get the NOC (No Objection Certificates) for some reason, or something doesn't quite go to plan, who are we going to next?

"I think that planning will be part of my role as well."