Tammy Beaumont joined the Melbourne Renegades as part
of the WBBL’s ongoing English infusion, and Georgia Adams, an off-spinning
allrounder for the Southern Brave who hasn’t competed in international cricket,
was recruited by the Adelaide Strikers.
The signing of Beaumont is not unexpected given that
the England opener chose not to participate in the WBBL foreign draught and
instead committed to the competition via a new direct signing procedure.
Although the platinum and gold picks in the draught earned AU$110,000 and
AU$90,000, respectively, overseas players had the option of skipping the
draught and joining with a club, although they could only do so at a restricted
salary of AU$61,750.
Beaumont previously competed for the Renegades in 2019
before spending three seasons with Sydney Thunder, participating in their 2020
championship victory. She played three seasons for Strikers between 2016 and
2018 to begin her WBBL career.
Beaumont, who recently became the first player to make
a century in the Women’s Hundred, joins India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and West
Indies captain Hayley Matthews at Renegades.
“We have to improve our batting,” Helmot
said. “We need runs, and that’s something that we missed last season,
obviously with Harmanpreet not able to come and with Jess Duffin then not able
to play either, we just didn’t recover from that. So batting depth is what
we’re looking to develop.”
Beaumont joined England team-mates Amy Jones (Perth
Scorchers) and Sophia Dunkley (Melbourne Stars), as well as South Africa pair
Mignon du Preez (Brisbane Heat) and Lizelle Lee (Hobart Hurricanes), and New
Zealander Suzie Bates in taking the direct nomination route. Bates is expected
to return to Sydney Sixers but it has yet to be confirmed.