Ahead of the Women’s Big Bash League 2023, Hobart Hurricanes re-signs Lizelle Lee and finalised their international recruits for the season.
Hobart Hurricanes re-signs Lizelle Lee for WBBL 2023
Lee joins Shabnim Ismail and Bryony Smith as the Hurricanes international recruits for WBBL|09, with both Ismail and Smith’s services being secured with picks 5 and 13 at the weekend’s inaugural WBBL Overseas Player Draft.
After relocating to Tasmania and playing for both the Hurricanes and the Tasmanian Tigers last season, Lee elected not to nominate for the WBBL draft and instead decided to directly negotiate with the Hurricanes.
Players unsure about entering the draft due to the uncertainty of where they might play or being overlooked entirely were given the option of directly nominating themselves to play for a WBBL club without being part of the draft. The choice came at a cost with the players only eligible to be paid 95% of the silver category salary, equating to AU$61,750.
As per WBBL 2023 schedule, the first match of the season will be played between Sydney Sixers Women and Melbourne Stars Women at North Sydney Oval, Sydney. A total of 57 matches will be played during the WBBL 2023 edition with the final game on December 2.
A total of 122 players were registered for the inaugural WBBL overseas draft. The first edition of the WBBL 2023 Overseas Draft was scheduled to take place on September 3.
Although classified as an overseas signing, Lee and her family relocated to Tasmania at the beginning of the 2022-23 season and is already a well-loved member of the Tasmanian Tigers squad – many of whom are also on the list at the Hurricanes.
“It’s been fantastic to see how Lizzie has been able to develop her game since joining us in a full-time, domestic program,” said Hurricanes and Tigers head coach, Jude Coleman.
“She obviously started in Tassie just before me and it would’ve been a huge adjustment in her life from so many perspectives, but she’s just dug in and got on with it, which has been great to see. She was already a very naturally talented player when she came to us, but it’s been fantastic to have watched her continue to work on her craft and go from strength to strength across all facets of her game over the past 12 months”.
“We’ve obviously got a bit of a strategy in our recruitment process where we see the benefit of having a core of similar players across both our Hurricanes and Tigers programs in terms of the development and support this allows us to give our playing group,” Coleman continued.
“We are grateful to Lizzie that after her first year in purple last season, she knew that this is a team she wanted to play for again, and was prepared to put her trust in us throughout this new period of recruitment for WBBL overseas players”, Jude Coleman added.
Lee reiterated Coleman’s comments, saying she was looking forward to suiting up for the Hurricanes for the second consecutive season.
“Whilst last year obviously wasn’t my first time playing in the WBBL, it was my first time playing with the Hurricanes, which was a very special experience for me”.
“On the field, I probably would’ve liked to be a little more consistent across my performances last year, but it was fantastic to be part of a group that got the Hurricanes back into Finals”.
“For me personally, it was the first tournament I had played with this group since myself and my family made the permanent move to Tasmania, and it was great how we were all welcomed into the group so quickly – it immediately made us feel at home,” Lee continued.
“As a group, we all know each other a lot better now than we did this time last year, so I’m really excited to get stuck in and see what we can do this season”, Lee added.
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Hobart Hurricanes Squad so far for WBBL 2023
Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Molly Strano, Elyse Villani, Amy Smith, Rachel Trenaman, Nicola Carrey, Shabnim Ismail, Bryony Smith, Lizelle Lee
