Hobart, Aug 5 (IANS) Reigning WBBL champions Hobart Hurricanes have suffered a major setback ahead of their title defence with England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt set to miss the upcoming season in order to manage her injury workload, confirmed head coach Jude Coleman on Wednesday.
Nat played a crucial role in leading the Hurricanes to their maiden WBBL title last season as their marquee international signing. But after managing persistent calf issues throughout the English summer, which forced her to play predominantly as a specialist batter, including in the Women’s T20 World Cup, Nat has opted to skip the tournament.
“We have already heard from Nat Sciver-Brunt that she’s not coming back this year at all to the tournament. It’s a disappointing loss for us, but we completely understand. She’s had a heavy English summer fighting injuries. She’ll also have the WPL (Women’s Premier League) in January, so it’s really her only time to get some time at home with her son and wife,” Coleman was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au, on the sidelines of a promotional event.
The calf issue had led to Nat missing the series against New Zealand and India before the T20 World Cup began, where England finished as runners-up to eventual winners Australia.
Despite missing Nat, Jude stated that the Hurricanes remain focused on retaining core international and domestic players, including England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, as they look to defend their crown when the new WBBL season starts on October 29.
“Part of our strategy over the past three years (has been) to try and keep the internationals the same. Having Danni (Wyatt-Hodge) locked in for two years in a row made a huge difference.
“We’ll be trying to do that again this year (and) trying to keep our internationals as consistent as we can. And our key (local) players like Molly (Strano), Heather (Graham) and Nicola (Carey), we’ll be trying to keep them together as best we can,” she added.
–IANS
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