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With Devchand announced as the final Stars signing, I've updated my Kim Garth speculation status to the following:

It seems plausible that Garth may still have to be classed as on overseas player. She would be best XI at any team, but the fit at the Scorchers isn't great this season. I think it would be better for all involved is she was able to sign as a local and play at the Hurricanes.
 

The Victorian

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The WBBL fixture has been released- a shame that the Sixers have the most games on FTA considering they are playing home games and their fans can actually go to the games 😢
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Grozzy

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I haven't been to a stand alone WBBL game, but I'll try to get to one of the double or triple headers at Sydney Showground.
 
It's more of a shame that, after initially touting an increase of 20 to 23 televised regular season games, this new fixture only delivers 21. Weirdly no mention of that in the official CA media release (although the cricket.com.au article is still running with an outdated footnote that promises 26 games).
 

The Victorian

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It's more of a shame that, after initially touting an increase of 20 to 23 televised regular season games, this new fixture only delivers 21. Weirdly no mention of that in the official CA media release (although the cricket.com.au article is still running with an outdated footnote that promises 26 games).
Yeah, it does seem this might be because of the rift between the broadcaster and CA.

Could the extra games be in the finals though?
 
News in that Duffin will sit out this season, so my Renegades are gonna have to sign up one more player (Anna Lanning, at a guess).

Yeah, it does seem this might be because of the rift between the broadcaster and CA.

Could the extra games be in the finals though?
It was meant to be 23 regular + 3 finals to take it to 26 all up, but they can only get to 24 now even with finals included.

Probably due to the season being a week shorter and now starting on the Sunday after the GF. More games therefore have to be played on a weekday/weeknight, which Seven were never going to show, regardless of a boardroom fight with CA.
 

The Victorian

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DOES
News in that Duffin will sit out this season, so my Renegades are gonna have to sign up one more player (Anna Lanning, at a guess).


It was meant to be 23 regular + 3 finals to take it to 26 all up, but they can only get to 24 now even with finals included.

Probably due to the season being a week shorter and now starting on the Sunday after the GF. More games therefore have to be played on a weekday/weeknight, which Seven were never going to show, regardless of a boardroom fight with CA.
Potentially could there be an extended finals yet to be announced?
 
Heather Knight in her post-series (ENG v WI) interview this morning said she, Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont and Sarah Glenn will be the other four English players coming over for the WBBL.

The absence of Wyatt (who left the England bubble early to go home for personal reasons) and Ecclestone would have opened the door for the latter two. Good opportunity for Glenn, who is very much the odd one out in terms of experience. I currently have her pencilled in for the Scorchers, but it does feel like more of a Thunder gambit, a la Dar last season.

Cricinfo also said in their post-match wrap: "Next up, the Big Bash for many of West Indies women..." which sounds fanciful. Matthews is their only announced signing and, if all other information is correct and contracts are honoured, there's just one vacant overseas slot to be filled now (or possibly zero, depending on the Garth situation).
 
Great news through this morning that Stafanie Taylor has re-signed for Adelaide. Unlike some of the English girls, she doesn't have much social media game so I was really starting to doubt if she had made the trip over. This addition keeps the Strikers well and truly in contention, though I'm not sure where it leaves Price and Penna in terms of selection.

With Jones and Glenn confirmed to the Scorchers, and Knight and Beaumont to the Thunder, just waiting on the Hurricanes to announce their final few local signings. Plus the Renegades are yet to reveal their replacement for Duffin (but we know it's Anna Lanning--she posted a customary quarantine Instastory from her Sydney Olympic Park hotel room yesterday).
 
Meg is always a game-to-game proposition with all the ailments she has going on these days. I wouldn't expect the start of the tournament to be an issue for her as much as the busy parts of the schedule that have 3 matches in 4 days etc.
 

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The Victorian

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Meg is always a game-to-game proposition with all the ailments she has going on these days. I wouldn't expect the start of the tournament to be an issue for her as much as the busy parts of the schedule that have 3 matches in 4 days etc.
I think the Aus team learned at the WC not to risk players. If they are injured or carrying something, rest them up. We have enough depth in Australian Women's cricket that an Australian Magoos Team would still beat most countries..
 
Hurricanes line up confirmed, see OP (Stalenberg in, but Garth not--I'm out of answers there). Gibson, like Vlaeminck, will miss the tournament through injury. I read an article before where coach Salliann Briggs said they didn't offer Heather Knight a contract because she didn't fit what they needed. It's always funny when people brag about how stupid they are (though in this case it's also partly spin, Knight was going to the Thunder regardless).

Still, what an incompetently compiled squad. Why would you want the captain of England leading by example, when you can have the three most unprofessional international cricketers imaginable as your overseas marquees. Little wonder the few talented young players that Tassie have are jumping ship. If the Canes win more than two matches, it'll be from teams resting half their line-up against them.
 
More good news through that, despite CA lowkey confirming Seven's coverage will only expand by one game to 24 rather than the initially slated 26, Fox Cricket are going to broadcast 12 extra games on top of that (the mid-week games at Blacktown).

So of the remaining 23 livestream-only games, I think about 17 of those are being played at the same time as TV games. Fairly close to what could be considered a realistic best-case scenario.
 

The Victorian

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More good news through that, despite CA lowkey confirming Seven's coverage will only expand by one game to 24 rather than the initially slated 26, Fox Cricket are going to broadcast 12 extra games on top of that (the mid-week games at Blacktown).

So of the remaining 23 livestream-only games, I think about 17 of those are being played at the same time as TV games. Fairly close to what could be considered a realistic best-case scenario.
What’s the extra Channel 7 game?
 

The Victorian

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Is this correct? According to this they are taking the Stars v Renegades game off Channel Seven to open the season.. If this is true I'm filthy...

 
Yes, several sources suggest the Renegades-Stars game on the first day has been moved from North Sydney (televised) to Hurstville (streamed), swapping with the Scorchers-Heat game.

The only other apparent fixture change atm is the Renegades-Stars game on Nov 15 being moved from Drummoyne (streamed) to the Showgrounds (televised), swapping with the Hurricanes-Heat game.

One of these changes is obviously to counter-balance the other. Maybe the reason for the initial change will be mentioned when it's officially confirmed/announced by CA.

What’s the extra Channel 7 game?
There has been no extra games added to Seven's broadcast schedule as a result of today's announcement. 24 games is what they had with the initial Sydney hub fixture. It's an increase from last year's 23.
 
Plenty of extensive previews are being churned out by the likes of cricket.com.au and 7Cricket, but there’s a fair bit of fence-sitting to sift through.

With biases front-and-centre for the record (see freshly updated avatar, though I’ve always kept it pretty real with the Gades in the past), I wanted to give my take as efficiently and boldly as possible, so here goes.

(Note: For each team, I’ve given a win-loss “projection” (sounds more scientific than a tip or prediction) while also highlighting four players by allocating them one of the following categories:
  • Value pick is a player who performs a key role for which a team is not well-equipped to replace.
  • Igniter is a player who has a track record of digging their teams out of trouble as a middle-order bat or as an extra bowling option.
  • Choice Fielder is the player each team wants patrolling the hottest spot on the ground.
  • Clutch is a player with a history of delivering in tight and/or high-stake contests.
End note)

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Adelaide Strikers
Of course Sophie Devine’s departure leaves a lot of runs to make up for, even if Laura Wolvaardt continues on from her T20 World Cup form, but winning high-scoring matches was never Adelaide’s strength anyway. Not only is Stafanie Taylor simply a better all-round cricketer than Devine—with a much better record in big games—she’s also a better fit for the Strikers. A second frontline spinner and another cool head were the missing pieces last year for a pace-dominant team that regularly crumbles under pressure.

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Brisbane Heat
A bigger impact from Grace Harris and Maddy Green with the bat is not fanciful thinking, though it won’t be enough to fully cover for the loss of Beth Mooney. Georgia Redmayne still has to perform that anchor role at ~75% of Mooney’s capacity before the Heat can even begin to dream about a three-peat. Doesn’t sound like much of an ask when it’s put that way, but we should all know SuperBeth made it look a lot easier than what it actually was.

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Hobart Hurricanes
Maybe the ‘Canes are saving some wise overseas signings for a year that isn’t wrecked by injury (Vlaeminck, Gibson) from the jump. Hayley Matthews has been terrible on and off the field for the better part of two years now. She has to get it together for Hobart to have a shot at putting up something respectable.

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Melbourne Renegades
With the return of the Mad Satter’s captaincy, the Renegades have no right to win the title. I have them on the brink of a third-straight semi-final finish, assuming plenty of dodgy spin-friendly wickets and a fit Tahuhu (that latter of which is in doubt). Without her, middle-overs Maito is left to spearhead the pace attack, supported by no-speed Leeson and the untried Neale.

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Melbourne Stars
To be clear, Elyse Villani—like her leadership replacement—has no throwing arm to speak of, but her safe hands ensured she was the least wasteful Stars fielder in last season’s two-win campaign. Fast-forward twelve months to a suddenly robust Melbourne Scums line-up, boasting a longer batting order (which has always been a bit overrated in T20 cricket) and greater experience (which hasn’t), multiple things would have to go drastically wrong for this team to lose more often than not.

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Perth Scorchers
A bowling unit of first-change specialists and competent part-timers, with only Peschel in recent years threatening to develop into something more dependable. The Scorchers are therefore likely to rely heavily on imported leg-spinner Sarah Glenn (the second-youngest player in the squad at 21yo) who is the same age as absent English teammate Sophie Ecclestone but is yet to chalk up similarly significant international miles on the learning curve.

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Sydney Sixers
It isn’t too simple to attribute last year’s sudden losing streak to Perry’s injury, though the Sixers would have still been able to scrape enough wins together down the home straight if not for also having to simultaneously deal with van Niekerk’s interrupted run.

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Sydney Thunder
Allow yourself to be surprised if Phoebe Litchfield is among the Thunder’s top-three run-scorers this season, let alone the entire league, regardless of the unreasonable expectations placed on her that we both might’ve read during the past week. Combined with the fellow young talent of Darlington, Trenaman, Wilson and co., this team has the brightest upside in the comp, but consistent performance at any age in the world’s best league should not be assumed nor taken for granted.
 
Btw I should also add that, with it taking placing entirely in Sydney, I'm forecasting a 0% chance of each team getting a result in all 14 of their games. So everybody's w-l record will actually be w-l-nr, but my crystal ball can only do so much.

Could be off to a slow start with the first two days of the tournament not looking promising, weather-wise.
 

corbies

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Great stuff Teen Wolf.

You're right about the previews from 7cricket. You read them and afterwards you think every team has recruited brilliantly and is going to win the comp. Ellyse Perry has spoken about it in the past saying the next progression in women's sport is that there becomes a level of criticism. Not so much of women's sport as a whole (there's still plenty of that s**t) but of underperforming players, teams and performances.

I was reading Trent Copeland's preview of the Sixers and he was writing that Darke, Campbell and Silver-Holmes are three of the most talented young cricketers in the country but I was thinking they'll barely get to play a part for the side like usual. On that sort of note I'd be interested in a best xi for each team if you want to do some more preview stuff :)
 
Plus the Renegades are yet to reveal their replacement for Duffin (but we know it's Anna Lanning--she posted a customary quarantine Instastory from her Sydney Olympic Park hotel room yesterday).
Now with more Instastory evidence (this time from the official WBBL account), it looks like big sis has actually got her to come back to the Stars as a train-on/replacement player, if my eyes weren't deceiving me. It's photo day in the player village so some more info about other squad extremities might come to light soon.

But, as per a Cricinfo article the other day, we do know that several unsigned NZL players are staying in the country as backup in case a team loses one of their overseas marquee players to injury/unavailability: Katie Perkins (Adelaide Strikers), Lauren Down (Melbourne Renegades), Holly Huddleston (Brisbane Heat) and Rosemary Mair (Perth Scorchers). Might be others, too, idk.

Great stuff Teen Wolf.

You're right about the previews from 7cricket. You read them and afterwards you think every team has recruited brilliantly and is going to win the comp. Ellyse Perry has spoken about it in the past saying the next progression in women's sport is that there becomes a level of criticism. Not so much of women's sport as a whole (there's still plenty of that sh*t) but of underperforming players, teams and performances.

I was reading Trent Copeland's preview of the Sixers and he was writing that Darke, Campbell and Silver-Holmes are three of the most talented young cricketers in the country but I was thinking they'll barely get to play a part for the side like usual. On that sort of note I'd be interested in a best xi for each team if you want to do some more preview stuff :)
Plus, it kinda goes without saying that any teenager on a WBBL list is among the most talented young players in the country!

Nevertheless, cheers mate. I've had a stab at best XIs in the OP, but every team has a couple (or more) young players who I haven't seen yet, so it doesn't leave me with many educated options.

For example: I considered speculating about the wicket-keeping role at the Strikers. They might be better off vacating McPharlin's spot to ease one of their young pace bowlers into the line-up. But I have no good info about how Patterson's development project behind the stumps is tracking, nor how Brown and Falconer are coming along with the ball.
 

RedTinMania

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Not sure how much anyone else has seen of Darcie Brown, but I think she's on course for a huuuge season.

She's a real livewire, ball, bat and field
 

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