Photo Credit: Brisbane Heat
The Brisbane Heat will ‘spin to win’ in 2023-24 with leading Australian slow bowlers Jess Jonassen and Mitchell Swepson signing new two-year deals with the club.
WBBL Heat captain Jonassen, who has played a record 119 games for the club and is the all-time leading wicket-taker in the Weber Women’s Big Bash League, will suit up for the Heat for the next two seasons.
Jonassen will be on hand tomorrow along with fellow Heat captain Usman Khawaja at Allan Border Field as part of the national launch of Play Cricket Week that gets underway next week throughout Australia.
Brisbane Heat and Queensland Bulls and Fire players will conduct a range of appearances at schools and clubs across the State next week.
As well as encouraging participants to sign on to play cricket this summer, players will spread Road Safety messages through the StreetSmarts Regional Tour as part of Queensland Road Safety Week.
Swepson, recently returned from an English County playing stint with Glamorgan, will join with fellow Aussie tweaker Matthew Kuhnemann to provide the Heat with a strong home-grown spin attack for the KFC Big Bash League.
Swepson has taken 58 wickets in 68 games for the Heat, second only to paceman Mark Steketee who is the club’s leading wicket-taker with 88 career dismissals.
Jonassen, who was part of the Australian women’s squad that retained the Ashes during the winter, has taken 138 wickets for the Heat at an economy rate of 6.32 and regularly demonstrated her match-winning prowess with the bat and ball complemented by astute leadership.
The duo expressed their delight at extending their commitment to the Heat for a further two years.
“I know that as a group, there is incentive to improve,’’ Jonassen said. “We’ve been close the past two seasons but haven’t gone on with it, so I’m excited to see what we can achieve this season.”
“The International player draft will change things a bit for teams, so it’s going to be important to make sure we take advantage of our existing combinations and player development,” she said.
Swepson is the latest member of the men’s playing group which surged to last season’s BBL Final to re-sign with the club.
“It was a remarkable experience to be a part of it, and I can’t wait to have another go this summer,’’ he said.
““We all learned about ourselves and how we want to play the game, so there is a lot to like about what is coming up for us as a club.””— Mitch Swepson
Jonassen and Swepson will be among the Heat and Queensland Bulls and Fire players who will be in action from next week in the KFC T20 Max competition that gets underway in Play Cricket week.
Tickets for WBBL|09 and BBL|13 will go on sale on Monday from 12pm through Ticketek, with all membership, corporate and public ticket information available at https://www.brisbaneheat.com.au/tickets
The Heat will host the opening fixture of the 2023-24 KFC Big Bash League season.
The Heat’s mantra of ‘We Are Summer’ will ring true as the Melbourne Stars travel to the Gabba for Opening Night in BBL|13 on Thursday December 7, followed by four more games on the hallowed Brisbane turf in the peak of the summer and festive season holidays.
The Heat has retained the marquee January 1 timeslot against the Sydney Sixers which will see the second running of the New Year’s Bash (NYB).
The inaugural NYB, featuring performances by Oz music headliners Peking Duk, Ball Park Music, and Stace Cadet + KLP, was a smash hit last summer, with the club recording its biggest crowd since the pre-COVID seasons, complemented by a national TV audience of over 850,000 viewers.
The fixtures for the Weber WBBL|09 competition will feature five Heat games at Allan Border Field this summer as well as one match in Mackay.
