Sciver-Brunt won’t play in WBBL 12; Coach Coleman confirms.

Hobart: Defending WBBL champions Hobart Hurricanes have suffered a major blow ahead of their title defense. England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt will miss the upcoming season to manage her workload following injury issues. Head coach Jude Coleman confirmed the news on Wednesday.

Nat played a pivotal role in helping the Hurricanes secure their first WBBL title last season as their marquee international player. However, after battling persistent calf issues during the English summer—which forced her to play primarily as a specialist batter, including during the Women’s T20 World Cup—she has decided to sit out the tournament.

“We’ve heard from Nat Sciver-Brunt that she won’t be returning for the tournament at all this year. It’s disappointing for us, but we fully understand her situation. She struggled with injuries during the English summer. With the WPL (Women’s Premier League) coming up in January, this is the only chance for her to spend some time at home with her wife and son,” Coleman told cricket.com.au during a promotional event.

Due to the calf problem, Nat missed the series against New Zealand and India leading up to the T20 World Cup, where England finished as runners-up to Australia.

Despite Nat’s absence, Jude stated that the Hurricanes are focusing on retaining their core international and domestic players—including England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge—as they aim to defend their title in the new WBBL season starting October 29.

“Our strategy over the past three years has been to maintain consistency with our international players. Having Danni (Wyatt-Hodge) in the team for two consecutive years has been hugely beneficial.

“We’ll try to do the same this year (and) aim to retain our international players as much as possible.” “And our key (local) players like Molly (Strano), Heather (Graham), and Nicola (Carey)—we will try to keep them together as much as possible too,” she added.