WBBL 2024 draft – Laura Wolvaardt, Deepti Sharma, Heather Knight, Shabnim Ismail – who might each club want?

After a number of years of trying, defending champions Strikers have secured Smriti Mandhana. They are also expected to try and bring back Laura Wolvaardt who has a long association with the club. The salary cap could be a challenge for their third pick – both Mandhana and Wolvaardt will likely command high price tags – so they may need to be creative. Last year they had England allrounder Dani Gibson in the middle order but she has withdrawn from the draft.

There has been significant turnover for Heat with Georgia Voll (Thunder), Mikayla Hinkley (Scorchers), Amelia Kerr (Sixers), and Courtney Sippel (Sixers) all departing while Mignon du Preez won’t be available this season as she is expecting twins. Key for them in the draft will be replacing the all-round package of Kerr while they could be in the market for a top-order batter to supplement Grace Harris and Georgia Redmayne. It’s understood that de Klerk has not been taken in the platinum or gold band in her pre-draft signing, leaving Heat plenty of room at the top of the draft.

Jude Coleman, Hurricanes’ coach, has said they will look to secure a top-four batter with their No. 1 pick alongside the pre-signing of Lizelle Lee. “We feel really grateful we’ve been able to get pick one, obviously there’s retention picks but we’ll be looking for the best batter available to hopefully fill a spot in our top four,” she said. At least one additional pace-bowling resource would appear another requirement to add a cutting edge to the attack.

Renegades have recruited strongly on the domestic front with Nicole Faltum and Milly Illingworth joining from Stars and Naomi Stalenberg from Hurricanes. With Sophie Molinuex and Tayla Vlaeminck fit again their attack looks strong. They went batting-heavy in last year’s draft and will hope their faith in Hayley Matthews pays off. Another top-order batter will likely be on the cards and potentially an allrounder.

Stars have been reasonably quiet in confirming their local players so far and have lost Nicole Faltum and Milly Illingworth to Renegades. Marizanne Kapp makes a strong pace-bowling unit with Annabel Sutherland and Kim Garth but a high-quality frontline spinner would appear a vacancy to supplement the consistent Sophie Day. Another top-order batter also looks a likely route to work alongside Meg Lanning.

They went batting-heavy with last year’s overseas names and it will be interesting to see whether they opt for a similar tactic, having locked in Sophie Devine, or also look to strengthen the bowling. On the assumption that off-contract Beth Mooney re-signs, a middle-order hitter is a potential vacancy. Having the last picks in the first two rounds could complicate things for them.

Amelia Kerr’s move from Heat has brought all-round quality to the middle order and, importantly, the spin department. Sixers may look for another spinner. They would have taken Sophie Ecclestone last season but she was injured, and it took a collection of players to fill the role she would have played. Despite not being available for the end of the tournament, her world-class skill will likely bring interest. Chloe Tryon had a decent impact in the middle order last season and, at her best, provides a very useful all-round package. Another option is a top-order batter to supplement Alyssa Healy, who missed all but one game last season with a dog-bite injury, and Ellyse Perry.

Trent Copeland, the Sydney Thunder general manager, has been on record praising the value of England captain Heather Knight and they have retention rights for her. But she would leave before the end of the tournament due to England’s tour of South Africa. Taneale Peschel has joined from Perth Scorchers but another frontline bowling option would add some depth.