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Kim Garth and Laura Delany have joined up with the Hobart Hurricaines and Perth Scorchers respectively, as the pair were given the opportunity to join the Women’s Big Bash League as part of their rookie programme.
Both players were nominated for the rookie programme by Cricket Ireland and selected after performances in the ICC World T20 Qualifiers and headed straight to Australia instead of returning home with the rest of the squad. Garth travelled on to Hobart where she joins up with Heather Knight’s Hurricaines squad, while Delany has joined up with England’s Charlotte Edwards in Perth.

Garth spoke of her excitement about the program at her first training session with the Hobart Hurricanes this week.

“I’m really excited to join the Hurricanes this summer and be part of a professional set up. Getting to play and train with some of the best players in the world and see how they operate is also something I am really looking forward to.”

Garth will join players from China, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Ireland, Scotland, Thailand and the Netherlands in the eight Rebel WBBL clubs as part of a joint initiative between Cricket Australia (CA) and International Cricket Council (ICC) development program for emerging players in non-traditional cricket countries. The players were selected following the recent ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier in Thailand.

The program will provide the players with an opportunity to be involved in the rebel WBBL and be exposed to elite cricket. It also serves as important preparation for players from Ireland, who has qualified for the 2016 ICC Women’s World T20 to be held in India.

Each of the rookie players will train with their Rebel WBBL club during a two-week placement and attend home matches during that period. In the event of an injury to a contracted player, Rebel WBBL clubs will be permitted to use their Rookie as a local replacement player, which would not contribute to the club’s overseas player limit.
ICC Associate and Affiliate member nations Ireland, Scotland, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, China and the Netherlands each nominated up to three players to be considered for selection ahead of the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier.

Nominated players were considered by a selection panel consisting of Cricket Australia’s Women’s Youth Coach Cathryn Fitzpatrick, former England player Holly Colvin, former Bangladesh Test Cricketer Aminul Islam, and ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson, with the final selections made after observing players throughout the tournament.

“The women’s game has made great strides in recent years, with participation numbers, investment levels and playing opportunities all at record highs,” said ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson.
‎The introduction of the WBBL continues this momentum, and, with the support of Cricket Australia, it is great to have some of the best Associate and Affiliate players involved in this event.”

Over the course of the rookie programme Laura Delany will be keeping a blog that will appear on cricketireland.ie and keep everyone informed on how things are going in the WBBL.

The following players have been chosen as the rookies for the rebel WBBL Associate Rookie Program:

Miranda Veringmeier (Netherlands) – Adelaide Strikers

Norma Ovasuru (Papua New Guinea) – Brisbane Heat

Kim Garth (Ireland) – Hobart Hurricanes

Mariko Hill (Hong Kong) – Melbourne Renegades

Wu Juan (China) – Melbourne Stars

Rachel Scholes (Scotland) – Sydney Sixers

Suleeporn Laomi (Thailand) – Sydney Thunder

Laura Delany (Ireland) – Perth Scorchers


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