Corinne Hall to replace Knight as Hurricanes captain

Tasmania batsman Corinne Hall will lead the Hobart Hurricanes in the third season of the Women's Big Bash League, which starts from December 9. Hall replaces Heather Knight in the role, after the England captain, who led the Hurricanes in the last two seasons, was ruled out of the tournament due to a foot injury. Hall has also signed a two-year deal with the franchise.

Knight had sustained the injury during the World Cup and while the ECB has said the injury can be managed during the ongoing women's Ashes, the post-Ashes period has been set aside for recovery.

The Hurricanes have signed England opener Lauren Winfield and Indian middle-order batsman Veda Krishnamurthy as two new international players this year.

"Veda seems like a student of the game, someone who is always looking to improve some aspect of her cricket," Hall said. "We saw how destructive she can be in the World Cup when she played a dynamic innings against a very good New Zealand side (70 off 45 balls), so hopefully we will see more of that from here this WBBL."

"Lauren is a player I have admired for a long time and through her experience representing England and leading Yorkshire both in the County and Kia Super Leagues, I think she will be invaluable asset to myself and the group."

The Hurricanes are scheduled to play their first game against the Adelaide Strikers on December 9, the opening day of the 2017-18 WBBL season. The team finished as semi-finalists in the previous two seasons and will be looking to break the trend this season.