Satterthwaite confident about the balance of Renegades ahead of clash with Scorchers

On the opening day of the sixth season of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), Melbourne Renegades played faced up Melbourne Stars. After 17 overs into the game, rain washed away the contest. On the next day, they were to play Brisbane Heat. But steady downpour meant that the game was abandoned without a ball being bowled.



No wonder Amy Satterthwaite, captain of Renegades, said, “Just because we haven’t had a completed game, we don’t feel like the season has begun,” speaking on Friday (October 30) ahead of their clash against Perth Scorchers on Saturday, heaving a sigh of relief over a better forecast for the weekend.



“It’s a bit of a different feeling, so hopefully we can get underway and try and get some points on the board.”



Scorchers pulled off two of the biggest signings this season, acquiring Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine – the top two run-scorers of WBBL05. Add to that the presence of Amy Jones and Nicole Bolton, the batting looks extremely strong. But Satterthwaite isn’t losing sleep over that.



“Everyone has been talking about their top order actually. They’ve got a strong top order and batting line-up and that can be one of their strengths,” she said. “Hopefully we can get a few wickets early and put us in a strong position. As a match up we have a allround quality unit that can be good against their strong batting line-up.”



Lizelle Lee, South Africa’s opener, was brought in by Renegades ahead of this season, after she played for Stars for the past three seasons. Satterthwaite said that the Protea is an important cog in the side-in-red’s wheels and expects her to be a match-winner for them.



“I think she’s going to be extremely important. Whenever you are putting a side together you need some match-winners, who can sort of take the game away from the opposition,” said Satterthwaite, who has played 54 T20s in the WBBL.



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“For me, she’s exactly that and that’s why I’m really excited to have her in the group. Molly Strano talked about it the other day that she was excited that she (Lee) was becoming a part of our group, but I think she’s regretting having to bowl at her every time in the nets now. She hits a very clean ball and hopefully she can be a matchwinner for us.”



England openers Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont, who’d been with Renegades last year, weren’t re-signed for WBBL06. While Wyatt will play in the Women’s T20 Challenge, Beaumont will play for Thunder this season. Moreover, Renegades’ captain from last year, Jess Duffin, is also missing in action after the birth of her child.



“It’s a funny question everyone’s always asking who do you think will win. You are always going to look at someone who, on paper, has got a pretty steady line-up. The beauty of this competition is it’s pretty open and anyone can win,” said Satterthwaite when asked about the expectations from her team.



“We saw the way the Sixers played last year with some of the big names. (They) didn’t quite have the season that we’re used to and it meant that they didn’t make the finals for the first time.”



“I think you can have whatever team you’ve got on paper, but until those players perform, anything’s possible. It’s an exciting thing for us as a group,” she concluded.



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