Photo Credit: Lucy Williams / Cricket Australia
The Adelaide Strikers selected a total of five players across the Weber WBBL and KFC BBL Drafts on Sunday, including international stars Laura Wolvaardt and Rashid Khan, who will each extend their tenures in Adelaide.
New names will be added to Strikers history this season as a pair of international stars, Danielle Gibson and Jamie Overton, will be in line for blue debuts after hearing their names called out on Draft night.
Powerful batter Adam Hose is also packing for a southern summer, selected by the Strikers for a second straight season following his 312 runs in BBL|12, highlighted by a high score of 56* and a strike-rate of 127.86.
International Players Drafted by Adelaide Strikers
WBBL: Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa – Platinum), Danielle Gibson (England – Silver)
BBL: Rashid Khan (Afghanistan – Platinum), Jamie Overton (England – Gold) Adam Hose (England – Bronze)
English allrounder Gibson joins the reigning Champions for WBBL|09 in what will be her maiden appearance in the tournament and WBBL Head Coach Luke Williams is delighted to have secured her services.
“Dani is a multifaceted player who will offer skills with the bat, the ball and in the field and is really adaptable in terms of being able to contribute in the powerplay or middle overs, so we think she’s a great acquisition to our squad,” Williams said.
At just 22-years-of age, Gibson already has 84 T20 matches to her name, including five on the international stage. A powerful batter and consistent seam bowler, Gibson has amassed 957 runs at a strike-rate of 129.14 and 66 wickets at 20.25 across those games.
Representing London Spirit in The Hundred, Gibson has hit 300 runs at the destructive strike-rate of 152.28 and taken 12 wickets with best figures of 2/10.
Another dominant English allrounder, Overton will also make his Big Bash debut this summer, with The Hundred Player of the Tournament drafted in the Gold round by the Strikers.
With 109 T20 matches in his kitbag delivering 991 runs and 70 wickets, Overton is set to play multiple roles for Adelaide in BBL|13, with Head Coach Jason Gillespie loving the sound of having his 174.77 career strike-rate in the middle order.
“Jamie is a big hitting middle order player who can bowl quick and is good in the field,” Gillespie said.
“He compliments our list, we’re really comfortable with our top order batting, we just think some power in the middle [to add to top order players] D’Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Jake Weatherald and Matt Short [makes] this a good fit for us.”
Wolvaardt returns to Adelaide for a fourth season looking to repeat the title-winning performance, a campaign the South African international was crucial in for the Strikers, scoring 403 runs to lead the way with the bat.
A prolific accumulator possessing the full range of shots, Wolvaardt is just 39 runs away from 4000 in T20 cricket, especially remarkable given her age of 24. Her third game of WBBL|08 will also be her 50th as a Striker, a journey that has yielded 1131 runs to date.
Williams is thrilled to have Wolvaardt locked in for another summer as the Strikers strive for back-to-back titles.
“Super excited to retain Laura who’s back in Strikers colours for a fourth season. A significant part of the franchise on and off the field and we’re delighted Laura will be back with us,” Williams said.
“We’re really excited to look to defend our title. We are back on Adelaide Oval this year which is going to be absolutely fantastic to play in front of our home fans there. We’ve been able to retain a large majority of our squad and are excited to have the opportunity to have a crack at it this year.”
It will be an seventh Adelaide summer for Rashid Khan, again retained by the Strikers following an attempt from the Melbourne Stars to draft the superstar Afghanistan international.
The International T20 Player of the Decade has played an astronomical 410 T20 games, 69 of which have come as a Striker. Currently sitting on 98 BBL wickets, he will be hoping to achieve the century at Adelaide Oval when the Strikers kick their campaign off against Brisbane Heat on 9 December.
The Stars selected Rashid with the number one overall pick on Sunday evening, but the Strikers were quick to let the competition know that he would be remaining a one-Club player, using their retention pick to ensure the allrounder would be Adelaide-bound.
BBL Head Coach Jason Gillespie said that Rashid was always going to come to Adelaide once nominated for the Draft.
“I wouldn’t have been allowed back into South Australia [if we didn’t pick Rashid]. It was a no-brainer for us. For any team, if Rash is available you would look to pick him… he is the best spinner in the world,” Gillespie said.
Big-hitter Hose played every game in his maiden BBL tournament, scoring 312 runs at a strike-rate of 127.86 for the Strikers. The right-hander is extremely experienced in the shortest format with 130 matches and two centuries to his name.
Gillespie was hoping Hose would be available at the right time in the Draft and was all smiles when it played out that way.
“He learned a lot from last year and played some match winning innings, he contributed to a number of victories for us last year and he’ll be an even better player for us going into the next BBL,” Gillespie said.
The Adelaide Strikers WBBL title defence begins on 21 October with a matchup with Melbourne Stars at Karen Rolton Oval. They will also return to Adelaide Oval this year for a huge First Nations Round clash against Perth Scorchers at the iconic venue on 24 November. Get your tickets to all Strikers games by clicking here.
BBL action begins for the Strikers with a home game against Brisbane Heat on 9 December, a battle pitting Chris Lynn against his former side for the third time. Get your tickets by clicking here.
Adelaide Strikers Memberships are available here.
