Hurricanes snag England superstar ahead of WBBL Draft

England captain Natalie Sciver-Brunt is coming back to the WBBL and this time she'll be wearing purple

Hobart Hurricanes have pulled off the biggest signing of the WBBL pre-season, securing England captain Natalie Sciver-Brunt for Weber WBBL|11.

The superstar allrounder was unveiled as the club’s pre-signed international just minutes before today’s Big Bash drafts went to air, in a massive coup for the Hurricanes as they chase a maiden WBBL title.

The Hurricanes were left with a bonus overseas slot after Lizelle Lee’s transition to a local player for the upcoming season. The former South African opener had signed a two-year deal as Hobart’s pre-draft overseas player ahead of WBBL|10, but has since obtained Australian permanent residency.

Sciver-Brunt, who replaced Heather Knight as England captain following their disastrous 2024-25 Ashes campaign, last appeared in the WBBL in 2023, when she controversially signed on as a replacement player for Perth Scorchers despite not entering the draft.

Sciver-Brunt was granted permission by Cricket Australia to feature in the tournament following a quicker-than-expected recovery from a knee injury, playing nine games in orange.

She had previously played two seasons with Perth, in WBBL|03 and WBBL|05, while she turned out for Melbourne Stars in 2020, where she helped the club reach the WBBL|06 final.

One of the world’s best batters, Sciver-Brunt will bolster a Hurricanes’ line-up already featuring Lee, Elyse Villani, Nicola Carey and Heather Graham.

She will also add another option to the club’s pace attack.

Sciver-Brunt dominated for the Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League earlier this year, leading all run-scorers in the tournament with 523 runs from 10 games and finishing fourth in the wickets tally with 12.

"I am delighted to have the captain of the England cricket team, and arguably the best overseas talent available, on our list for WBBL|11," Cricket Tasmania’s High Performance General Manager, Salliann Beams, said in a statement.

"Nat is one of the most damaging T20 batters in the game and has a wealth of experience that will shore up our list with her top-order batting and challenging medium-pace bowling."

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