The Hobart Hurricanes are pleased to announce that South Africa’s most prolific Women’s T20 batter/wicketkeeper, Lizelle Lee, has been signed for two seasons as part of the W/BBL’s Overseas Pre-Signing Contract.
Lee, who joined the Hurricanes in WBBL|08, has been a vital component of the Hurricanes squad since moving to Tasmania permanently at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, following her retirement from South African International cricket.
She is excited to return to her new home ahead of WBBL|10.
“I love playing for the Hobart Hurricanes, and I am excited to return to Blundstone Arena for another season in Tasmania!
“I feel like the team made some strong progress last season, and I am looking forward to playing my role and natural game as we look to bring Tasmania and the Hurricanes their first WBBL trophy,” discussed Lee.
Lee’s WBBL career started in WBBL|03, as an overseas signing for the Melbourne Stars, and she has since played in 82 WBBL games for the Stars, Melbourne Renegades and the Hurricanes.
During her WBBL career, she has amassed 2066 runs at an average of 27.91, which has her 16th in the WBBL all-time run-scoring list, and she has three WBBL 100s to her name, one of which was at Blundstone Arena last year against the Renegades.
Her wicketkeeping has also been a major component of her game, and she is 12th overall in the WBBL all-time wicketkeeping dismissal list and will likely be donning the gloves for the Hurricanes again next season.
Last season, Lee dominated the league as she opened the batting for the Hurricanes, scoring 409 runs at an average of 37.18 and a strike rate of 146.07, and was also named the Hobart Hurricanes WBBL Player of the Season.
Cricket Tasmania’s General Manager of High Performance, Salliann Beams, discussed her excitement about having Lee return to Hobart again this season.
“Lizzy has been huge for us in the past few seasons, she has helped set the tone for our innings by getting us off to a positive start, and with her and Junior at the top of our order, I think we have arguably the most experienced and talented opening pairing in the WBBL.
“She provided us with great versatility with our overseas pre-signing, and considering we had the number one pick in the WBBL Draft it made sense for us to pre-sign someone who we know can play a role for us.
“She can change the game with the bat and in the field, having done so time and time again in International cricket for South Africa and in the WBBL, which made her a great choice as our overseas pre-signing,” explained Beams.
Lee joins Nicola Carey, Heather Graham, Ruth Johnston, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Amy Smith, Lauren Smith, Molly Strano, Rachel Trenaman and Elyse Villani as Hurricanes players under contract ahead of WBBL|10.
Details on Hurricanes memberships are on our website, and tickets are on sale now ahead of what will be an exciting W/BBL season for Hurricanes fans.