Photo Credit: Hobart Hurricanes
The Hobart Hurricanes are thrilled to announce the re-signing of teenage leg spinner, Amy Smith, with the 18-year-old putting pen to another two-year deal with the ‘Canes.
After making her debut for the Tasmanian Tigers aged just 14, the Tasmanian native went on to make her WBBL for the Hurricanes the following year, at 15 years of age.
Now, aged 18, Smith is a veteran of one of the world’s premier female T20 competitions and heading into her fourth season with the Hurricanes.
To date, Smith has played 35 games in purple, taking a total of 17 wickets an average of 31.94 and economy of 6.9. During WBBL|08, Smith’s had a coming-of-age performance in the final match of the seasons, which, coincidently, was also the Hurricanes first Finals appearance since WBBL|02. In that game, Smith took season best figures of 3-21 off her four overs, which included the scalps of English international, Danni Wyatt, Australian international, Grace Harris, and Brisbane Heat captain, Jess Jonassen.
Smith – who joins Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Molly Strano and Elyse Villani as players currently announced as contracted to the Hurricanes for WBBL|09 – said it was a no brainer to keep playing for her home state’s franchise until at least 2026.
“I think it took me a little while to build my season last year in the WBBL, but for our team, overall, it was a pretty good one for us. It was disappointing that we lost that Final like we did, but to make it to the top four for the first time in six seasons was a big goal that we wanted to tick off, and we did it.
“For me personally, it will be nice to be solely able to focus my cricket this season. I don’t have to fit in training around school and I won’t have to be doing my final exams during the WBBL, so I’m really looking forward to it,” Smith continued.
Smith was also bullish re the Hurricanes chances on improving on their fourth-place finish from WBBL|08.
“Not many of us had experience playing in Finals last year, and now – with what I think will be a very similar squad this year – nearly all of us do, which can only help.
“Plus, we’ve got Jude [Coleman] as our head coach, who is obviously very experienced with WBBL success from her time with the Strikers, so I don’t see why we can’t push those top teams this season.”
