Photo Credit: Brisbane Heat
T20 spearhead Grace Harris will bring up a decade in teal after signing a new two-year deal with the Brisbane Heat in the Weber Women’s Big Bash League.
Aside from one season with the Melbourne Renegades back in 2016-17, the star allrounder has been a Heat fixture since WBBL|01, with her new deal locking her in until 2026.
With her WBBL future secured, the Australian T20 player will now turn her focus to the ICC Women’s World T20 Cup in Bangladesh in October where Australia will be the reigning champions.
Harris has played 107 matches for the Heat, scoring 2451 runs with three centuries and 12 half centuries, and taking 60 wickets including two four-wicket hauls.
A fan favourite, Harris made international headlines last summer as she romped to the WBBL’s highest score of 136 not out from 59 balls, which featured her hitting a six despite breaking her bat.
That feat quickly went viral, with the Brisbane Heat social media channels attracting 27.8m views and 29.2m impressions of the match vision, with the video shared 559,000 times.
The interest was reflected in similarly large numbers across mainstream media and other online channels – 7Sport’s TikTok account racked up 1.7million views alone.
The contract announcement coincided with Harris joining with the Brisbane Lions at tonight’s AFL match against St Kilda at the Gabba as part of the Queensland ‘Big Freeze’ event.
Harris and other celebrities will be being dunked throughout the game in an ice filled tank as part of the 10th anniversary of the annual FightMND fundraiser that raises funds and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research and care initiatives.
Harris said she was delighted to secure her future and bring up 10 years in teal.
“The WBBL is a great competition and there’s always something exciting to be a part of when you are with the Heat, and this season will be no different,’’ she said.
“We went oh-so-close last season, so we know that we have the ability to match it with any team. There’s plenty of hard work to come, but the girls are really keen to make the most of things in the pre-season.”
“It’s going to be enjoyable having ‘Motsa’ (Mark Sorell) in charge, although we will miss Ash (Noffke). He’s been a big help to me with my game, and so our training sessions this week have been really significant for me,” Harris said.
Newly appointed WBBL Heat coach Mark Sorell said the retention of Harris was a major win for the club.
“Grace is getting better and better in all areas of her game,’’ he said. “She is very insightful and is generous with sharing her knowledge and thoughts with the group, particularly the next crop of players coming through.”
The Harris re-signing follows on from this week’s WBBL International Player Draft order lottery, with Sorell backing the Heat to make good use of their picks.
The Heat will have seventh pick in the Platinum round, 15th pick in the Platinum-Gold band and then the 18th pick in the Gold-Silver band, with a fourth pick available if applicable in the 31st position.t
Sorell said it was important to maximise the recruiting opportunities from the Player Draft.
“We are well down the track in finalising our strategy for the Player Draft,’’ he said.
“We expect to have some impactful options to choose from the Platinum and Gold bands when the final list of draftees is settled.”
WBBL|10 Brisbane Heat squad: Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Ellie Johnston, Jess Jonassen, Charli Knott, Georgia Redmayne
