The Hobart Hurricanes have appointed experienced all-rounder Nicola Carey as captain for WBBL|12, with the Tasmanian star taking the reins from her recently retired partner Elyse Villani.
Carey succeeds Villani following her fairytale WBBL farewell, which saw the former skipper lead the Hurricanes to their maiden championship last season.
She will be supported by Heather Graham, who has been named vice-captain.
The appointment marks a special changing of the guard for the couple, who are also preparing to welcome their first child soon.
One of the competition's most experienced players, Carey has featured in 147 WBBL matches across her career, including 88 for the Hurricanes, making her the most capped current Hobart squad member.
Having served as vice-captain under Villani, Carey acknowledged the significant legacy left by her predecessor, while looking forward to putting her own stamp on the role.
“It's a huge honour. Big shoes to fill obviously, with Elyse leaving us at the end of last season but I'm incredibly honoured to be given the job,” Carey said.
“I've been here for a few years now, and they've given me so many opportunities in this team.
“Hopefully I can do half as good a job as Elyse did.”
While Carey has limited captaincy experience, she believes the opportunity to work closely with Villani in recent seasons has provided valuable preparation for the challenge ahead.
“I put my hat in the ring for the job, but I haven’t done a heap of it [during her career]. But having been vice captain, I've been to a lot of the meetings and seen how Elyse has gone about it, which has been hugely beneficial.
“We're very different people though, so I feel like I'll do it my way, but I don't think that'll change too much from how I go about things day to day within the group.”
Carey will inherit a squad featuring a strong core of experienced players, including Graham, dynamic opener Lizelle Lee and veteran spinner Molly Strano, as the Hurricanes look to build on their breakthrough championship campaign.
Despite entering the tournament as defending champions, Carey said the group was firmly focused on the challenge ahead rather than dwelling on last season's success.
“Last season was last season. It was amazing, and we really enjoyed that. But we come into this competition and everyone starts on zero points again,” she said.
“It's a bit of a different looking side, and other groups are different around the competition as well.
“So, not too much pressure in that regard. We start again, and we'll give it a good crack and see where we land.”
The new skipper is keen to encourage an attacking, proactive brand of cricket, while empowering her teammates to back their instincts and experience throughout the tournament.
“I want the girls to be able to express themselves, and I'm more of like a sounding board in a way. Obviously, I'll help with ideas but the girls are really self-sufficient,” Carey said.
“They've played so much T20 cricket now, there's so many different tournaments, and we've got a lot of experience in our group.”
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