Batting gains behind Sixers' 'Soph' switch

Overlooking Sophie Ecclestone with pick No.1 in the WBBL draft was a "tough call", general manager Rachael Haynes says, but one the club ultimately feels could be the key to returning to the top end of the table.

Many pundits had expected the Sixers to once again draft the world’s best spinner in Thursday’s draft – and continued to think so as Haynes started to say ‘Soph-’ into her microphone – but instead it was fellow Englishwoman Sophia Dunkley’s name read out first.

Ecclestone formed a dream all-star spin attack with Ashleigh Gardner and Amelia Kerr last season, picking up 11 wickets in her seven matches in magenta.

But ultimately, it was that depth of spin and the need to address their top-order batting that led the Sixers to turn to Dunkley, who has been in excellent touch in the shortest format in 2025.

The club missed the finals for the fifth time in six seasons in WBBL|10 and that was largely due to struggles in their batting department, with Alyssa Healy missing the majority of the season with foot and knee injuries and Erin Burns also out for the entirety of WBBL|10.

Ellyse Perry dominated with 424 runs, but their next highest scorer was Scotland ‘keeper Sarah Bryce – an associate rookie whose opportunity came thanks to Healy’s injury woes - who hit 169.

In WBBL|11, the Sixers will field a batting line-up containing Healy, Perry, Dunkley, Kerr and Gardner.

"It definitely was a hard decision," Haynes told cricket.com.au.

"Sophie Ecclestone is a world-class player, and we've absolutely loved having her at the club so it wasn't easy to let her go through.

"But I think the last couple of years, just with our batting, we really want to try and address it and just add a little bit more depth to that area.

"So to secure Sophia Dunkley, she's been in tremendous form for England so we're really excited to have her come and join the club and add to our top order." 

The Renegades meanwhile raised some eyebrows when they only drafted two players, and passed twice.

The reigning champions were thrown a late curveball ahead of the draft when their superstar pre-signing Hayley Matthews was forced to withdraw from the upcoming season due to impending shoulder surgery.

The Renegades re-drafted Deandra Dottin and Alice Capsey, but elected to wait to fill their third overseas slot.

"Coming off a winning season, we wanted to keep a bit of consistency with what we’re doing," Renegades T20 Performance Manager Wade Seccombe said.

"We had a hiccup coming into this with Hayley not being available … but we’re giving ourselves time to assess our squad, look where we’re at and see who is a player in form leading into the WBBL."

Perth Scorchers went into the draft determined to address their batting unit, following a series of serious collapses that thwarted their hopes of making the finals last season.

They had already recruited local Katie Mack from the Strikers, and on Thursday they went for a left-field selection with their second-round draft pick, selecting England’s Paige Scholfield alongside South Africa allrounder Chloe Tryon.

Scholfield was the first player selected in this year’s Hundred draft, going in the top price bracket and now she’ll appear in the WBBL for the first time.

The 28-year-old played a handful of matches for England against Ireland last year when their first-choice XI was unavailable, and was part of the England A squad on their tour of Australia earlier this year.

The Scorchers opted against retaining in-form England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones, with coach Becky Grundy explaining it came down to a matter of their salary cap. 

"Amy was on our shortlist, we did think someone would take her in platinum and the Stars needed a keeper as well ... we just weren't in a position to be able to retain her in that band," Grundy said.

"Once Jonesy had gone we knew Paige Scholfield ... just over the last 12, 18 months she's really come into the scene especially with the domestic stuff in The Hundred.

"She's super versatile, she can bat at three or in the middle order, excellent fielder and a really good human. 

"We didn't think Tryon would actually be available (in the silver band) so we felt fortunate there."