Image Credit- Getty
The imminent WBBL signing of Nat Sciver-Brunt with
Perth Scorchers has Melbourne Stars captain Meg Lanning “pretty
disappointed” and “frustrated” because the England star chose
not to declare for the overseas draught, where the Stars would have retained
her services.
Sciver-Brunt did not submit a candidature to compete
in the competition this season through either the initial WBBL abroad draught
in September or the WBBL’s special overseas direct nomination category.
According to league regulations, a player could not play if they had not
declared for the draught or been signed directly.
Sciver-Brunt, 31, is one of the best all-rounders in
the globe and has previously played for both the Scorchers and Stars. He would
have been much sought for at the draught. Her most recent employment with
Stars, when she assisted them in reaching the championship game in 2020, would
have qualified her for retention by Stars at the draught through a retention
selection. She did not, however, because it was known that she would rest
throughout the WBBL period due to a knee ailment. To cover their three abroad
berths, Stars chose to draught the English duo of Alice Capsey and Maia
Bouchier as well as directly sign England batter Sophia Dunkley.
When Sciver-Brunt suddenly became available to all
clubs for the second half of the WBBL Scorchers had the salary cap space to
sign her, although the deal is still to be finalised.
“[We’re] pretty disappointed actually,”
Lanning said. “She’s obviously one of the best players in the world and
you want the best players playing in the competition. But she sort of made
herself unavailable initially.
“All the players of her calibre went through the
draft or the pre-signing, and I guess she didn’t nominate for that.
“As a club, as the Stars, I certainly feel like
we didn’t get the chance to exercise our retention rights that we would have
had for her had she nominated for the draft instead of coming in this way.
“Not only does that impact us this year, but
moving forward as well now because Perth have retention rights to her. It’s
frustrating because I think that the goalposts seem to shift a little bit and
we didn’t get a chance to get access to her.
“It’s disappointing, but I guess that’s the way
it goes, and we look forward to coming up against Perth and playing well
against her and the team.”