Shabnim Ismail Women's T20 World Cup

Shabnim Ismail of South Africa bowls during the ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and Pakistan at Sydney Showground Stadium on March 01, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Proteas star Shabnim Ismail joins Sydney Thunder for WBBL6

Shabnim Ismail has joined the Sydney Thunder for another season of the Women’s Big Bash League.

Shabnim Ismail Women's T20 World Cup

Shabnim Ismail of South Africa bowls during the ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and Pakistan at Sydney Showground Stadium on March 01, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Sydney Thunder has secured the services of Proteas speedster Shabnim Ismail ahead of the sixth season of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL6).

The 31-year-old was recently named Cricket South Africa’s T20 player of the year in the women’s category of the awards ceremony held earlier this year.

Shabnim Ismail returns to Sydney Thunder

She returns to the Thunder, where her miserly bowling saw her go at under a run-a-ball for the franchise in the previous edition of the tournament.

Thunder coach Trevor Griffin lauded Ismail for her contribution in the team’s cause last season.

“She was our most economical bowler and her pace caused a lot of trouble for opposition batters,” he said.

“She was a real competitor in the field too – some of the fielding that she did was just at another level.

“She’s the world’s third-ranked T20 bowler but one thing that I noticed about Shabnim last year is that she still wants to learn and she’s constantly looking at ways to get better.”

Trevor Griffin, Sydney Thunder head coach

An injection of experience

Ismail has represented South Africa 92 times in the game’s shortest format, taking 99 wickets at 18.65 per stick. More impressive is her economy rate, which currently sits at 5.73.

She was part of the South African squad that finished in the semifinals of the Women’s T20 World Cup held in Australia earlier in the year, where she went at less than five runs an over throughout the tournament.

“I’m a senior player for my country and in the Thunder squad as well so I try to lead by example,” Ismail said.

“Having played for my country for 12 years, I enjoy passing on some of my experience and knowledge to the youngsters.

“We started last season really strongly and then obviously we slacked a bit, but I think the experience and the way we went about playing our game was really good.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully we can get some more success this year.”

Shabnim Ismail

WBBL6 is scheduled to kick-off in October.