Walter, a left-arm seamer and hard-hitting batter, became a cult hero for Heat as he claimed 17 wickets, celebrating with a trademark aeroplane each time, and was named in the team of the tournament voted for by the eight head coaches.
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Heat have retention rights for Walter should they want to bring him back and another team tries to select him. A key factor is he has full availability including the finals and he would again seem a good fit for them after supplementing their varied attack which includes Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson plus spin twins Matt Kuhnemann and Mitchell Swepson.
“I’ve worked a lot on my defensive bowling, trying to figure out how to get batters off strike and trying to keep the ball away from the shorter pockets. I normally bowl the overs where the right-handers are hitting to the short leg side, so I’ve had to get quite clever with getting them to hit to the other side of the ground. I do a lot of work off the field figuring out what I’m going to do in different situations.”
English cricketers dominated the list of names released on Friday although most only have availability for between six and nine games. England have a Test series in New Zealand that finishes three days after the BBL starts then have a limited-overs tour of India starting on January 22. A significant number of players also have ILT20 or SA20 deals.
“We saw the game she played at Lord’s, a reverse-sweep to go and win the game against Australia last year, and that’s the sort of mindset that we want in that England side: the willingness to take risks, take the game on and express what your talent, and Dani epitomises that,” Knight said.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt, who was announced among the initial batch of nominations and has been a regular for Strikers, now has availability of six to nine games rather than the entire tournament.
Strikers in the WBBL are the only club yet to name a pre-draft signing although they are expected to fill that spot next week. Each club across BBL and WBBL can sign one player ahead of the draft.
In the draft itself, a club can use their retention option once and only if they have not already selected player in the relevant round.
Current BBL nominations by retention clubs
Adelaide Strikers: Adam Hose, Jamie Overton, David Payne
Brisbane Heat: Paul Walter, Tom Banton
Hobart Hurricanes: Corey Anderson, Sam Hain
Melbourne Renegades: Joe Clarke, Jordan Cox, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Melbourne Stars: Dan Lawrence, Imad Wasim, Liam Dawson, Olly Stone, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf
Perth Scorchers: Zak Crawley, Stephen Eskinazi, Laurie Evans, Tymal Mills
Sydney Sixers: Izharulhuq Naveed, Rehan Ahmed, James Vince
Sydney Thunder: Alex Hales, Zaman Khan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Nominations with no retention club: Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Shadab Khan, Shamar Joseph
Current WBBL nominations by retention clubs
Adelaide Strikers: Dani Gibson, Georgia Adams, Laura Wolvaardt
Brisbane Heat: Bess Heath
Hobart Hurricanes: Shabnim Ismail, Bryony Smith
Melbourne Renegades: Eve Jones, Harmanpreet Kaur
Melbourne Stars: Alice Capsey, Sophia Dunkley
Perth Scorchers: Amy Jones, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt
Sydney Sixers: Suzie Bates, Sophie Ecclestone, Jess Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Linsey Smith
Sydney Thunder: Heather Knight
Nominations with no retention club: Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo