Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin have become the first West Indies players to sign up for the women’s Hundred, joining Australians Jess Jonassen and Rachael Haynes and South Africa’s Mignon du Preez as each of the competition’s eight teams unveiled a new marquee player on Tuesday.
Dottin will play for London Spirit for the competition’s first season, starting in July next year, and Taylor has signed for Southern Brave, while du Preez is headed to Manchester Originals.
Jonassen links up with Australian captain Meg Lanning and coach Matthew Mott at Welsh Fire, while Haynes will play for Oval Invincibles and experienced Australian batsman Elyse Villani will head to Trent Rockets.
England’s Georgia Elwiss and Alice Davidson-Richards will play for Birmingham Phoenix and Northern Supercharges respectively.
West Indies captain Taylor will play alongside New Zealand star Suzie Bates and England internationals Anya Shrubsole and Danni Wyatt at Southern Brave, where former England captain Charlotte Edwards will be head coach.
“The other three players we’ve already announced are very strong and it’s going to be such a great competition,” Taylor said. “I’m really looking forward to working under Charlotte Edwards again.
“There’s also a strong Caribbean vibe in the men’s team at Southern Brave – with Andre Russell, Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan – so it will be nice to play alongside them and hopefully both teams can have success.”
Du Preez, who has previously played in the Kia Super League, was looking forward to returning to domestic competition in England.
“It’s going to be something a bit different but it’s obviously all about trying to take cricket to as many people as possible and as players that’s something we want to support,” du Preez said. “I look forward to coming back to the UK next summer and being a part of Manchester Originals.”
The announcement means that the eight teams have each announced four members of their 15-strong squads. Team head coaches have until May 31 to settle on their line-ups. (ESPNCricinfo)
