WBBL: Perth Scorchers to target batters in overseas player draft, with Sophie Devine’s batting spot in the air

Perth Scorchers will leave a call on whether captain and international star Sophie Devine will open the batting this season until after the overseas player draft. Devine has signed with the WBBL club on a two-year deal outside of the draft, leaving the door open for the Scorchers to select two more overseas players on Sunday night. Perth list boss Kade Harvey told The West Australian they will hunt a batter with their first selection, which slides to pick 16 because they signed Devine. It means they could recruit another new opening partner for last year’s leading run-scorer Beth Mooney and slide Devine into the middle order to target the two-over power surge later in the innings. “It’s mainly a focus on the top six and the batting,” Harvey said. “Depending on where we bat Soph it’s that top six batting I think we are still looking to build some depth in or bring some talent in. “I think with Soph we have got the flexibility to do that (recruit an opener). We have certainly talked about what plan A looks like and I think in reality, we won the Big Bash with Sophie Devine opening with Moons, but we are also mindful that the power surge gives us an opportunity for someone to be pretty destructive. “We are pick 16, so we’re not really flush with a lot of ability to dictate who that player is, but at this stage I am thinking we will look for someone to bat between four, five and six. That’s something we are going to have to weigh up.” The Scorchers’ pick-eight has effectively been used on Devine, because she is classed as a platinum player, meaning they will take 16,17 and 32 into Sunday night’s draft. India’s series with New Zealand at the start of the tournament and England’s multi-format clashes with South Africa during finals will restrict availability for many top internationals. Perth have retention rights to England batting trio Amy Jones, Lauren Winfield-Hill and Danni Wyatt, but Jones would miss finals if she was selected to return. Winfield-Hill, a stalwart specialist opener, took the role to start the season, but Devine returned to the top for the middle part of the campaign. The Scorchers lost opening bowler Taneale Peschel in the off-season to Sydney Thunder, but Harvey said replacing her in their pace bowling stable was not a priority. He backed in the spin troupe led by Alana King, who has penned a three-year deal, to carry the bowling load and Stella Campbell — signed from Sydney Sixers before last season — to support young swing ace Chloe Ainsworth, despite being dropped early last summer. But a batter that could bowl some medium-pace overs would also hold appeal. “With Soph we have got a pretty good bowling option, with Stella Campbell and Piepa (Cleary), Chloe Ainsworth, we have got some in our domestic program,” Harvey said. “But we have got good spin stocks, so we feel like our spinners actually bowl some key overs. Alana King bowled in the powerplay last year so, between Eddy (Amy Edgar) and Lily Mills, you sort of feel like our pace bowling is OK. “We tend to have supported our batting through the draft as a general rule.”