The Cricketer takes a look at the Adelaide Strikers squad ahead of the new WBBL season
Coach: Luke Williams
Captain: Tahlia McGrath
Overseas: Laura Wolvaardt, Deandra Dottin
Last season: Runners-up
How did they do last year?
Losing finalists against Perth Scorchers, Tahlia McGrath's side finished fourth in the group phase, before beating Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades in the playoffs to reach the final, only to lose at the last hurdle for the second time in three years.
McGrath replaced Suzie Bates as captain, Dane van Niekerk signed and Megan Schutt opted out of the Tasmanian leg of the tournament for parental leave. Katie Mack was the leading run-scorer, with Darcie Brown – the impressive, young fast bowler – claiming 20 wickets and leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington taking 23.
Who are their key players?
It's difficult to look past McGrath, arguably the leading female cricketer in the world over the last 12 months, starring in the Ashes victory over England and effectively usurping Ellyse Perry as Australia's first-choice allrounder.
She was quiet through The Hundred but has begun the domestic summer back home in emphatic style, smashing three consecutive sixes to complete a last-over heist over Victoria, bringing up a century in the process.
She is joined by South African batter Laura Wolvaardt, one of the game's most languid stroke-makers, and Deandra Dottin, the former West Indies allrounder who retired from international cricket earlier this summer. As well as her big-hitting, Dottin adds another seam option to complement McGrath, Brown and Schutt.
Tahlia McGrath is key for Adelaide Strikers [Getty Images]
What are their biggest strengths?
There was no more potent pairing in last year's competition than Brown and Wellington, who combined to share 43 wickets between them. Wellington's continued omission from Australia's line-up – she is established as Alana King's understudy – is a marker of the strength in depth of the world's leading team. Since that campaign, she has impressed once again in The Hundred with Southern Brave.
Brown, meanwhile, is increasingly recognised as one the most exciting young talents in the sport, given her pace. Certainly, with Tayla Vlaeminck's injury struggles, she is currently Australia's quickest seamer. Still only 19, she already has 30 Big Bash wickets to her name. At the other end of her career, Schutt remains as potent as ever and a source of automatic control.
Their new-ball combination, with Dottin and McGrath to back them up in the seam department, is an obvious strength, while the retention of Wolvaardt – a year older, more experienced and widely sought-after – is an excellent piece of business. Few make the game look easier, although it will be interesting to see where she is utilised: the South African has said herself that she prefers the middle order to the powerplay, but her game is better suited to picking the gaps with the field up than swinging hard during the latter overs. Needless to say, that's where Dottin is at her best – the leading six-hitter in WT20I history for whom not many WBBL ground will be big enough.
Dottin has previously turned out for Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers in the competition and recently stepped away from representing her national side, citing issues within the team culture. She will have to fill the all-round void left by van Niekerk's departure.
Mack is one of the top fielders in the game and was second only to Beth Mooney in last year's run-count; Madeline Penna is one of several talented youngsters coming out of the Australian system. She only batted eight times in the 2021/22 edition but reached fifty once and was a useful cog in the middle order. Teenager Ella Wilson is another: she signed up as a replacement player midseason last year and has been re-signed.
Watch out for Anesu Mushangwe, the Zimbabwe international who arrived in Australia in 2019 and has become a major player within South Australia. The leg-spinner has 33 T20I wickets for Zimbabwe.
The Strikers were WBBL runners-up in 2021 [Getty Images]
Where might they have a weakness?
It feels as though Strikers are jampacked with middle-order players – McGrath, Dottin, Wolvaardt and Penna have all done much of their best work outside the powerplay.
Otherwise, though, Adelaide appear to have most bases covered, including the addition of Amy Satterthwaite to their coaching staff. They are reliant, however, on the fitness of Dottin – they will hope she is able to bowl regularly – and Brown, who as a young fast bowler will be naturally susceptible to injuries.
They also need quick runs from Wolvaardt and Mack, both of whom were consistent last time around but not at a rate that necessarily set up huge scores. In McGrath and Dottin, though, they have the power to sit alongside their precision.
The loss of Sarah Coyte to Melbourne Renegades is a blow: she claimed 16 wickets in the last campaign. Coyte and van Niekerk are the only players missing from that final, however.
Chances of reaching the latter stages?
They have arguably improved their squad from last season, when they reached the knockout rounds. There is no reason why they can't repeat that feat.
Strongest XI: Laura Wolvaardt, Deandra Dottin, Laura Wolvaardt, Tahlia McGrath, Bridget Patterson, Madeline Penna, Jemma Barsby, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Tegan McPharlin, Darcie Brown, Megan Schutt
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