Photo Credit: Brisbane Heat
Bowlers beware – the Brisbane Heat have locked in noted hitters Josh Brown and Georgia Voll for the coming Big Bash summer.
Brown, signed as a local replacement player in last year’s KFC Big Bash League, has agreed to a new one-year deal with the Heat following an eye-catching first season where he hit the second most sixes (20) in the competition.
Voll, 20, has also signed for Weber WBBL|09 and will look to build further on her white ball potential in her fourth summer with the Heat.
Brown,29, secured his spot with the Heat in the wake of some stunning batting performances in last year’s inaugural KFC T20 Max competition, hitting 447 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 211.8 with 41 sixes.
As well as playing 14 BBL games last season, he also made his Queensland domestic one-day debut.
Voll is also no stranger to stirring batting performances.
She hit 145 for the Queensland Fire in the Women’s National Cricket League one-day game against NSW last season and thumped 209 off 155 balls in a Katherine Raymont Shield one-day game for Sandgate-Redcliffe in Premier Cricket.
Both players will be in action this week for the opening rounds of the KFC T20 Max competition which will run for the next three weeks and feature more than 60 interstate or international players playing alongside contracted Heat and Queensland State squad players.
Tonight’s opening T20 Max game at Allan Border Field is a repeat of last year’s Final, with champions Gold Coast taking on runners-up South Brisbane.
The initial women’s T20 Max match tomorrow sees Valley take on reigning title-holders University of Queensland at Allan Border Field from 6pm in the repeat of last year’s decider.
Brown’s first game for the Vikings will be on Friday night against Western Suburbs at Ian Healy Oval while Voll will be in action for Sandgate-Redcliffe on Saturday morning against University of Queensland at WEP Harris Oval at St Lucia.
All the competition information, including club previews, is available at https://www.qldcricket.com.au/kfct20max
Brown said he was excited to be back with the Heat and playing in the second season of the T20 Max competition.
“I’ve enjoyed the winter working and playing cricket and I’m thrilled to get back into some T20 Max with Norths over the next few weeks,’’ he said.
“It’s a great competition and worked so well for a lot of players last year, getting exposure and experience against quality opposition.”
Brown and fellow Heat breakout star Spencer Johnson received BBL opportunities following their efforts in the T20 Max competition, while the likes of Nathan McSweeney (Heat), Ross Pawson (Thunder) and Paddy Dooley (Hurricanes) also caught the eye during the competition last season.
Voll admitted she was rapt to have an early opportunity to develop her T20 game further ahead of the WBBL, which gets underway in October.
“There are a lot of players from the other WBBL clubs and interstate playing for the Premier clubs, so I’m excited about the prospect of some very competitive T20 cricket with Sandgate-Redcliffe as part of the pre-season,” she said.
“The Queensland Fire will have WNCL games in September and then it is into the WBBL so the next few months will be very important for us.”.
“The Heat went close last year but we have made sure we have identified where we can improve as a team and individually ahead of this season”— Georgia Voll
The Heat club has announced the following players for WBBL|09: Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Mikayla Hinkley, Ellie Johnston, Jess Jonassen, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Georgia Redmayne, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll.
The BBL Heat have signed the following players for BBL|13: Xavier Bartlett, Josh Brown, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Will Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson.
The WBBL and BBL drafts will be held on Sunday, September 3, in a televised event on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports, with the WBBL draft taking place from 3pm, ahead of the BBL draft from 4.30pm.
The drafts for both leagues will follow the same guidelines and format as the inaugural men’s event last year – there will be four rounds, with clubs able to select a minimum of two and a maximum of three players in total.
The WBBL Heat was awarded sixth pick in their opening round and the BBL Heat gained seventh choice in the men’s first round.
The WBBL Heat will also pick at 14, 19 and 30 and the Heat and will pick at 15, 18 and 31 in the BBL draft.
All WBBL and BBL Heat fixtures are at: https://www.brisbaneheat.com.au/matches
