On June 13, Australia will begin their quest for a record-extending seventh ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title when they take on South Africa at Old Trafford in their first match of the tournament.
Despite their success in World Cups, where they’ve claimed 13 titles across ODI and T20I cricket, Australia will enter the tournament without currently holding an ICC trophy, demonstrating a potential changing of the guard across the women’s cricket landscape.
Eyeing their first piece of ICC silverware since 2023, here’s how the 15-player squad fared in the latest edition of the nation’s premier domestic T20 competition – the Weber WBBL – held last November and December.
Sophie Molineux (C)
Melbourne Renegades
Matches: 6 | Runs: 96 | HS: 32 | Wickets: 3 | BBI: 1-8
Australian captain Sophie Molineux was instrumental in breaking her club’s women’s Big Bash title drought in WBBL|10, but last season was challenging for the allrounder. After missing the first three games of the season due to a minor quad strain, the 28-year-old managed to play six matches.
After making a run-a-ball 32 against the Melbourne Stars in the Derby in her first match, Molineux struggled to find her best form in WBBL|11, registering just 96 runs while taking three wickets.
Nicola Carey
Hobart Hurricanes
Matches: 11 | Runs: 186 | HS: 58* | Wickets: 10 | BBI: 2-10
Having re-signed with the Hobart Hurricanes in July last year, Nicola Carey’s decision to stay in Tasmania for WBBL|11 was vindicated when she helped her club lift their first women’s Big Bash trophy. The 32-year-old started the tournament in fine fashion, making 58 not out against the Brisbane Heat at Allan Border Field in a statement win for the eventual champions.
Opening the bowling for the Hurricanes across the competition, the allrounder took multiple wickets in three matches and she was the club’s most economical bowler in the WBBL|11 Final.
Ashleigh Gardner
Sydney Sixers
Matches: 10 | Runs: 143 | SR: 111.71 | Wickets: 19 | BBI: 5-15
Named as the Sydney Sixers’ new skipper just days before the season, Ashleigh Gardner’s captaincy debut couldn’t have gone any better. She took her best figures in the Big Bash (5-15) against Perth Scorchers at the WACA Ground, setting the tone for an outstanding tournament that saw her rewarded with a place in the WBBL|11 Team of the Tournament.
Finishing the competition as the equal-leading wicket-taker with 19 wickets, Gardner led her side into the finals, before they were trumped by the Scorchers in The Challenger.
Kim Garth
Melbourne Stars
Matches: 11 | Wickets: 14 | Econ: 7.21 | SR: 13.71 | BBI: 4-3
Claiming 14 wickets in WBBL|11, Melbourne Stars speedster Kim Garth achieved her best return in a Big Bash campaign in four years.
Recognised in the WBBL|11 Team of the Tournament, Garth’s ability to pick up wickets with the new ball demonstrated her prowess in the competition, highlighted by an scintillating spell of 4-3 at North Sydney Oval, as her side knocked over the Sixers for just 42.
Lucy Hamilton
Brisbane Heat
Matches: 9 | Wickets: 8 | Econ: 7.39 | BBI: 2-28
Lucy Hamilton, who turned 20 last week, made headlines in WBBL|10 when she claimed her first five-wicket haul in the Big Bash. Fast forward to WBBL|11 and the left-arm quick was continuing to cause problems for some of the world’s best batters, including former Australian captain Meg Lanning.
After taking eight wickets at an economy of 7.39 throughout the competition, the Heat left-armer claimed the WBBL|11 Young Gun award despite a trying campaign for her side who ended the season without a win. Having now made her international debuts in Test, ODI and T20I cricket, Hamilton’s heroic summer has seen her earn her place in Australia’s World Cup squad.
Grace Harris
Brisbane Heat
Matches: 4 | Runs: 94 | SR: 125.33 | HS: 46 | Wickets: 2
Injury hampered Heat opener Grace Harris’ WBBL|11 campaign with the heavy-hitting Queenslander playing just four matches. The 32-year-old’s highest score of the competition (46) came against the Scorchers on November 12, but it was an innings made in vain as the Heat fell 23 runs short of Perth.
Harris picked up her only two wickets of the tournament against the Strikers on November 30, but that wasn’t enough to stop the Adelaide Strikers from recording a six-wicket win over Brisbane.
Alana King
Perth Scorchers
Matches: 13 | Wickets: 12 | Econ: 8.04 | BBI: 3-17
Australian leg-spinner Alana King struggled at the beginning of WBBL|11 after suffering a broken finger, taking just one wicket across her first six matches. But the tide turned for King from November 27, as she claimed 11 wickets in her last seven games of the season, guiding the Scorchers to the season decider.
Her crowning moment came in the Challenger final, where King dismissed Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner and Maitlan Brown to lift her team over the line at North Sydney Oval.
Phoebe Litchfield
Sydney Thunder
Matches: 10 | Runs: 271 | Average: 33.87 | HS: 61
Sydney Thunder captain Phoebe Litchfield led the way with the bat for her side in WBBL|11, but her performances didn’t result in enough wins for the team in lime green, who missed the finals.
While Litchfield compiled 271 runs, including two half-centuries at Drummoyne Oval, the Thunder struggled to find consistency across the duration of the competition, ending the Big Bash in seventh place with four wins, five losses and a controversial no result against the Strikers at Adelaide Oval.
Tahlia McGrath
Adelaide Strikers
Matches: 10 | Runs: 98 | SR: 91.58 | Wickets: 5 | BBI: 3-27
Strikers skipper Tahlia McGrath said there was “no shying away” from her “below-par form” throughout WBBL|11. The two-time Big Bash champion averaged just 14.00 with the bat and was dismissed having made fewer than 20 runs on six occasions.
Despite her troubles, McGrath managed to put in a player of the match performance against the Heat on November 30, taking 3-27 and delivering some clutch runs at the death (24no) to give the Strikers a much-needed victory.
Beth Mooney
Perth Scorchers
Matches: 13 | Runs: 549 | Average: 45.75 | HS: 105
For a remarkable ninth time in 11 Big Bash seasons, Beth Mooney was named in the team of the tournament after she amassed 549 runs across WBBL|11. Leading all run-scorers, Mooney passed fifty in four matches, highlighted by her outstanding 105no off 73 balls against the Heat at Allan Border Field.
Taking on the same opposition later in the season, Mooney nearly reached the milestone again, making 94no off 61 balls at the WACA Ground. Behind the stumps, Mooney impressed yet again with her neat glovework leading to 12 dismissals throughout the competition.
Ellyse Perry
Sydney Sixers
Matches: 10 | Runs: 412 | Average: 51.50 | HS: 111 | Wickets: 2
Playing in her 11th Big Bash, Ellyse Perry showed her class with the bat yet again in WBBL|11. Perry scored over 400 runs in a season for the eighth time, producing three scores over fifty, including a sensational 111 against the Strikers at North Sydney Oval.
Her 77no against the Thunder at North Sydney Oval resuscitated her side’s season, and she became just the second player in WBBL history to reach 5000 runs. Only Beth Mooney (5600) has made more runs than Perry (5101) in the tournament’s history.
Megan Schutt
Adelaide Strikers
Matches: 5 | Wickets: 1 | Econ: 9.56 | BBI: 1-39
Veteran quick Megan Schutt claimed just the one wicket in five matches during WBBL|11, battling injury in a rough campaign for the Strikers stalwart. However that wicket was significant in the context of her Big Bash career, as she became just the fourth player to claim 150 scalps in the competition.
Annabel Sutherland
Melbourne Stars
Matches: 11 | Runs: 174 | HS: 54* | Wickets: 11 | BBI: 2-7
Stars skipper Annabel Sutherland got her WBBL|11 campaign off to the perfect start with a score of 54no against the Strikers at the CitiPower Centre on November 10.
From there, the allrounder struggled with the bat but she was able to take regular wickets with the ball, taking at least one scalp in 10 matches across the season. While Sutherland led the Stars into the finals, they fell short at the first hurdle, losing to the Scorchers by 28 runs in the Knockout final at the WACA Ground.
Georgia Voll
Sydney Thunder
Matches: 10 | Runs: 174 | SR: 123.40 | HS: 43 | Wickets: 10
Opening batter Georgia Voll proved pivotal to the Thunder’s WBBL|10 campaign after making the move from the Heat to Western Sydney, but WBBL|11 was a different story for the 22-year-old.
Although she passed 20 in five matches, Voll’s top score was just 43 against the Scorchers on November 19. While she couldn’t find form at the top of the order, Voll made a significant impact for the Thunder with her off-spin claiming 10 wickets, all of which were two-wicket hauls.
Georgia Wareham
Melbourne Renegades
Matches: 10 | Runs: 277 | SR: 147.34 | Wickets: 19 | BBI: 3-12
Recognised as the WBBL|11 Player of the Tournament, Renegades allrounder Georgia Wareham starred in all facets of the game throughout a phenomenal Big Bash campaign for the Victorian. ‘Wolfie’, as she’s affectionally known, took a wicket in every single game she played to end the season as the equal-leading wicket-taker (19) alongside Gardner.
Wareham also made 277 runs, including a vital 58 against the Thunder at the CitiPower Centre on November 11. In Molineux’s absence, Wareham showed her leadership capabilities as the Renegades’ stand-in skipper, and these qualities were also noted when she was named as captain of the WBBL|11 Team of the Tournament.
Tahlia Wilson*
Sydney Thunder
Matches: 10 | Runs: 204 | Average: 29.14 | HS: 79
*Travelling reserve
In her seventh season at the Thunder, Tahlia Wilson proved to be another handy contributor with 204 runs across 8 innings. Wilson’s scores of 55no against the Scorchers on November 19, and 79 against the Heat two days later in Brisbane, helped the club record back-to-back victories.
The 26-year-old also passed 1000 career runs (currently 1072) during the Thunder’s campaign.
