Adelaide Strikers (WBBL)

This article is about the women's team. For the men's team, see Adelaide Strikers.

The Adelaide Strikers (WBBL) are an Australian women's Twenty20 cricket team based in North Adelaide, South Australia.^[a] They compete in the Women's Big Bash League, and won their first championship in WBBL|08.

Adelaide Strikers (WBBL)

League	Women's Big Bash League
Personnel
Captain	Tahlia McGrath
Coach	Luke Williams
Team information
City	Adelaide
Colours	Blue
Home ground	Karen Rolton Oval
Secondary home ground(s)	Adelaide Oval
History
Twenty20 debut	12 December 2015 (2015-12-12)
WBBL wins	2 (WBBL08) ,(WBBL09)
Official website	Adelaide Strikers
Current season

History

Formation

One of eight founding WBBL teams, the Adelaide Strikers are aligned with the men's team of the same name.^[2] At the official WBBL launch on 10 July 2015, Megan Schutt was unveiled as the team's first-ever player signing.^[3] Andrea McCauley was appointed as the Strikers' inaugural coach, while Lauren Ebsary became the team's inaugural captain.^[4][5]

The Strikers played their first match on 12 December at Aurora Stadium against the Hobart Hurricanes, losing by two runs.^[6] Their first win came on 20 December at Allan Border Field against the Sydney Thunder, chasing down a target of 149 runs with six wickets in hand and six balls to spare.^[7]

Rivalries

Perth Scorchers

In the league's early years, the Strikers and the Perth Scorchers experienced several instances of senior members switching allegiances:

• Inaugural Strikers captain Lauren Ebsary joined the Scorchers after just one season.^[8][9]
• Former Scorchers captain Suzie Bates moved to the Strikers ahead of WBBL|03 and became the first player to lead two WBBL clubs.^[10][11]
• After scoring the most runs for Perth throughout WBBL|01, Charlotte Edwards transferred to Adelaide in her final year of cricket.^[12] The following season, Edwards assumed an assistant coaching role for the Strikers.^[13]
• Ahead of WBBL|06, former Adelaide all-rounder Shelley Nitschke was appointed to the position of head coach for the Scorchers.^[14][15]

Noteworthy matches between the two teams include:

• 13 January 2018, Traeger Park: In a match reduced to 16 overs per side due to a rain delay, the Scorchers could only muster a first innings score of 9/87. In the run chase, Suzie Bates played a lone hand of 49 not out to help the Strikers win by six wickets with one ball to spare.
• 9 November 2019, Karen Rolton Oval: An innings of 80 runs from 58 deliveries by Amy Jones helped Perth post a total of 3/173. Despite a slow start to the run chase, Adelaide finished strongly with Bridget Patterson scoring 60 off 32 balls. However, Heather Graham conceded just a single off the final ball to give the Scorchers a two-run win.
• 7 December 2019, Allan Border Field: In the WBBL|05 semi-finals, the Strikers comfortably reached the required total of 127 with eight wickets in hand and eleven balls remaining to eliminate the Scorchers from the tournament.

Brisbane Heat

Noteworthy matches between the Strikers and the Brisbane Heat include:

• 21 January 2017, The Gabba: Chasing a modest total of 6/127, the Strikers required three runs for victory with two balls remaining. Brisbane medium-pacer Deandra Dottin then bowled Tegan McPharlin before conceding two runs off the final delivery to force a tie. In the resulting super over, Dottin–who had earlier scored 51 runs with the bat–capped off a dominant all-round performance by taking two wickets and limiting Adelaide to just four runs. Beth Mooney scored the winning runs to secure the Heat's first finals appearance.^[16][17][18]
• 8 December 2019, Allan Border Field: In the WBBL|05 final, the Heat gained early ascendancy through quick bowler Georgia Prestwidge, who dismissed Player of the Tournament Sophie Devine for just five. A "superb"^[19] knock of 55 runs from 33 balls by Amanda-Jade Wellington helped the Strikers to recover to a competitive score of 7/161. The match swung heavily toward Brisbane's favour in the fifth over of the run chase when Sammy-Jo Johnson hit four sixes against the bowling of Devine, though Johnson would be out caught-and-bowled on the last ball of the over. When Devine returned to bowl the eleventh over of the innings, Heat batter Jess Jonassen was dropped by Wellington at extra cover. Jonassen then scored a boundary from each of the next three deliveries she faced, taking Brisbane's required scoring rate down to less than a run a ball.^[20] The Heat went on to win with six wickets in hand and eleven balls remaining, claiming their second consecutive championship. For her contribution of 56 not out, Beth Mooney was named Player of the Final.^[21]

Captaincy records

There have been five captains in the Strikers' history, including matches featuring an acting captain.

Captain	Span	M	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	W–L%
Lauren Ebsary	2015–2016	14	6	8	0	0	42.86
Tegan McPharlin	2016–2017	14	3	9	0	2	25
Suzie Bates	2017–2020	46	24	21	0	1	53.33
Megan Schutt	2020–2022	15	8	6	0	1	57.14
Tahlia McGrath	2021–2024	56	32	21	0	4	61.54

Source:^[22]

Season summaries

Chart of yearly table positions for Adelaide Strikers in WBBL

Season	W–L	Pos.	Finals	Coach	Captain	Most Runs	Most Wickets	Most Valuable Player	Refs
2015–16	6–8	7th	DNQ	Andrea McCauley	Lauren Ebsary	Sarah Taylor – 393	Sarah Coyte – 14	Sarah Taylor	[23][24][25]
2016–17	3–9	8th	DNQ	Andrea McCauley	Tegan McPharlin	Sophie Devine – 270	Megan Schutt – 13	Megan Schutt	[26][27][28]
2017–18	8–6	4th	SF	Andrea McCauley	Suzie Bates	Suzie Bates – 434	Devine, Wellington – 17	Sophie Devine	[29][30][31]
2018–19	5–8	6th	DNQ	Andrea McCauley	Suzie Bates	Sophie Devine – 556	Sophie Devine – 14	Sophie Devine	[32][33][34]
2019–20	10–4	2nd	RU	Luke Williams	Suzie Bates	Sophie Devine – 769*	Coyte, Devine – 19	Sophie Devine*	[35][36][37]
2020–21	6–7	6th	DNQ	Luke Williams	Suzie Bates[b]	Laura Wolvaardt – 347	Sarah Coyte – 18	Sarah Coyte	[38][39][40]
2021–22	7–6	4th	RU	Luke Williams	Tahlia McGrath	Katie Mack – 513	Amanda-Jade Wellington – 23*	Katie Mack	[41][42][43]
2022–23	8–5	2nd	C	Luke Williams	Tahlia McGrath[c]	Laura Wolvaardt – 403	Megan Schutt – 27*	Megan Schutt	[44][45][46]
2023–24	11–3	1st	C	Luke Williams	Tahlia McGrath	Katie Mack – 452	Amanda-Jade Wellington – 23*	Megan Schutt	[44][45][46]
2024–25	3–6	7th	DNQ	Luke Williams	Tahlia McGrath	Tahlia McGrath – 222	Megan Schutt – 13		[47][48]

Legend

DNQ	Did not qualify	SF	Semi-finalists	*	Led the league
EF	Lost the Eliminator	RU	Runners-up	^	League record
CF	Lost the Challenger	C	Champions

Home grounds

Venue	Games hosted by season
	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	Total
Adelaide Oval	2	3	4	2	–	N/A[d]	4	–	2	2	19
Adelaide Oval No. 2	3	–	–	–	–		–	–	–	–	3
Albrecht Oval	–	–	–	2	–		–	–	–	–	2
Centennial Park Oval	–	–	–	–	1		–	1	–	–	2
Glenelg Oval	–	2	4	–	–		–	–	–	–	6
Karen Rolton Oval	–	–	–	3	4		4	5	4	2	22
Traeger Park	–	–	2	–	–		–	–	–	–	2

Current squad

The squad of the Adelaide Strikers for the 2025–26 Women's Big Bash League season as of 19 February 2025.^[50]

• Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.	Name	Nat.	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
11	Madeline Penna		30 August 2000	Right-handed	Right-arm Leg spin
All-rounders
9	Tahlia McGrath		10 November 1995	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Captain
Wicket-keepers
Bowlers
10	Amanda-Jade Wellington		29 May 1997	Right-handed	Right-arm Leg spin
20	Darcie Brown		7 March 2003	Right-handed	Right-arm fast
27	Megan Schutt		15 January 1993	Right-handed	Right-arm fast
61	Anesu Mushangwe		25 February 1996	Right-handed	Right-arm Leg spin

Players

Australian representatives

The following is a list of cricketers who have played for the Strikers after making their debut in the national women's team (the period they spent as both a Strikers squad member and an Australian-capped player is in brackets):

• Sarah Coyte (WBBL|01–02, 04–07)
• Lauren Ebsary (WBBL|01)
• Shelley Nitschke (WBBL|01–02)
• Megan Schutt (WBBL|01–10)
• Sarah Elliott (WBBL|02)
• Tahlia McGrath (WBBL|02–10)
• Amanda-Jade Wellington (WBBL|02–10)
• Darcie Brown (WBBL|07–10)

Overseas marquees

• Sophie Devine (WBBL|01–05)
• Stacy-Ann King (WBBL|01)
• Sarah Taylor (WBBL|01)
• Tammy Beaumont (WBBL|02–03)
• Charlotte Edwards (WBBL|02)
• Suzie Bates (WBBL|03–06)
• Danielle Hazell (WBBL|04)
• Stafanie Taylor (WBBL|05–06)
• Lauren Winfield-Hill (WBBL|05)
• Laura Wolvaardt (WBBL|06–10)
• Katie Perkins (WBBL|06)
• Dane van Niekerk (WBBL|07)
• Deandra Dottin (WBBL|08)
• Georgia Adams (WBBL|09)
• Danielle Gibson (WBBL|09)
• Orla Prendergast (WBBL|10)
• Smriti Mandhana (WBBL|10)

Associate rookies

• Miranda Veringmeier (WBBL|01)^[51]
• Ravina Oa (WBBL|02)^[52]
• Kathryn Bryce (WBBL|03)

Statistics and awards

Statistics and awards updated through to the end of WBBL|10

Team stats

• Champions: 2 – WBBL|08, WBBL|09
• Runners-up: 2 – WBBL|05, WBBL|07
• Minor premiers: 1 – WBBL|09
• Win–loss record:

Opposition	M	Won	Lost	Tied	NR	W–L%
Brisbane Heat	24	10	14	0	0	41.67
Hobart Hurricanes	20	13	5	0	2	72.22
Melbourne Renegades	21	9	11	0	1	45
Melbourne Stars	19	9	9	0	1	50
Perth Scorchers	21	13	7	0	1	65
Sydney Sixers	21	9	12	0	0	42.86
Sydney Thunder	19	10	7	0	2	58.82
Total	145	73	65	0	7	52.90

• Highest score in an innings: 5/189 (20 overs) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 8 January 2019
• Highest successful chase: 4/169 (20 overs) vs Perth Scorchers, 5 November 2023
• Lowest successful defence: 7/107 (20 overs) vs Perth Scorchers, 14 January 2018
• Largest victory:
  • By runs: 148 runs vs Melbourne Stars, 21 October 2023
  • By wickets: 9 wickets vs Melbourne Renegades, 25 November 2021
  • By balls remaining: 58 balls remaining vs Sydney Sixers, 20 November 2021
• Longest winning streak: 6 matches
• Longest losing streak: 8 matches

Source:^[53]

Individual stats

• Most runs: Tahlia McGrath – 2,349
• Highest score in an innings: Sophie Devine – 103* (48) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 26 December 2016
• Highest partnership: Katie Mack (cricketer) and Laura Wolvaardt – 135 vs Melbourne Stars, 21 October 2023
• Most wickets: Amanda-Jade Wellington – 157
• Best bowling figures in an innings: Megan Schutt – 6/19 (3.3 overs) vs Sydney Thunder, 20 November 2022
• Hat-tricks taken: Darcie Brown vs Brisbane Heat, 24 October 2021^[54]
• Most catches (fielder): Bridget Patterson – 52
• Most dismissals (wicket-keeper): Tegan McPharlin – 91 (51 catches, 40 stumpings)

Source:^[53]

Individual awards

• Player of the Match:
  • Sophie Devine – 15
  • Tahlia McGrath – 10
  • Katie Mack - 7
  • Darcie Brown, Bridget Patterson, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Laura Wolvaardt – 5
  • Sarah Coyte and Megan Schutt – 4
  • Suzie Bates and Madeline Penna – 3
  • Deandra Dottin, Lauren Ebsary, Tegan McPharlin, Anesu Mushangwe, Alex Price, Tabatha Saville, Sarah Taylor, and Stafanie Taylor – 1
• WBBL Player of the Final:
  • Deandra Dottin – WBBL|08
  • Amanda-Jade Wellington – WBBL|09
• WBBL Player of the Tournament:
  • Sophie Devine – WBBL|05
• WBBL Team of the Tournament:
  • Sophie Devine (4) – WBBL|02, WBBL|03, WBBL|04, WBBL|05
  • Darcie Brown (2) – WBBL|06, WBBL|07
  • Megan Schutt (2) – WBBL|05, WBBL|08
  • Amanda-Jade Wellington (2) – WBBL|07, WBBL|08, WBBL|09
  • Sarah Coyte – WBBL|06
  • Tahlia McGrath – WBBL|07
  • Katie Mack – WBBL|09
• WBBL Young Gun Award: Darcie Brown – WBBL|06

Sponsors

Year	Kit Manufacturer	Chest Sponsor	Back Sponsor	Breast Sponsor	Sleeve Sponsor
2015–16	Majestic	Rebel	Websters Lawyers	Websters Lawyers	Websters Lawyers
2016–17			Statewide Super		Rebel
2017–18				Vodafone
2018–19		Vodafone	People's Choice	Statewide Super
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22	Nike	Oval Hotel	Oval Hotel	People's Choice

See also

• Cricket portal
• South Australia portal

• South Australian Cricket Association
• South Australian Scorpions

References

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28. "MVPs | Adelaide Strikers - BBL". adelaidestrikers.com.au. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
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30. "Women's Big Bash League, 2017/18 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
31. "Devine crowned WBBL MVP". Adelaide Strikers. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
32. "Women's Big Bash League, 2018/19 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
33. "Women's Big Bash League, 2018/19 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
34. "Consecutive MVP crowns for dominant Devine". Adelaide Strikers. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
35. "Women's Big Bash League, 2019/20 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
36. "Women's Big Bash League, 2019/20 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
37. "Devine wins third Strikers MVP". Adelaide Strikers. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
38. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
39. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
40. "Head, Patterson claim top State medals in season 2020-21". Cricket SA. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
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42. "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
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48. "Women's Big Bash League, 2024/25 Records - Adelaide Strikers Women". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
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54. "Hat-trick, century headline thrilling WBBL Sunday". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 24 October 2021. ... Brown became the sixth player, and the first from the Strikers, to take a WBBL hat-trick.

Notes

1. Administrative and training base^[1]
2. Megan Schutt stood in as acting captain for 13 games
3. Megan Schutt stood in as acting captain for 2 games
4. All WBBL|06 matches were scheduled to be played in Sydney due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[49]

External links

• Official website