England batsman Bess Heath on Friday joined the Melbourne Stars squad in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) as an international, replacing India batsman Jemima Rodrigues, due to her participation in the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup in Bangladesh in opening matches.
I will not play Jemima currently leads the run-scorers list in seven matches of the Women’s Asia Cup with 215 runs at an average of 71.66 and a strike-rate of 137.82. With 2022 being a stellar year for her in the shortest format of the game, Jemima has been doing well in T20s.
She will also become the first Indian player to play for the Stars in the WBBL. Jemima represented the Stars’ cross-town rivals Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL last season, scoring 333 runs at a strike rate of over 116.
Apart from Jemima, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and fast bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar will play for Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat respectively in the eighth season of the WBBL.
With Harmanpreet also missing the first two matches for the Renegades due to the Women’s Asia Cup, the club on Thursday picked England batsman Eve Jones as the overseas player.
Brisbane Heat had earlier signed New Zealand fast bowling all-rounder Jess Kerr as overseas players for both Pooja and England batsman Danny Wyatt in the opening week of the WBBL.
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