Leg Buys: Why Victoria’s new coach quit, women’s moves afoot and BBL winning quick on the move

The freeze on women’s state contracts is over, a BBL winning quick is on the move, and the truth behind a coach’s two-week tenure – all that and more in the latest edition of LEG BUYS.

With the freeze on women’s state contracts having thawed following the imbroglio surrounding the new supplementary T20 competition, moves for a handful of domestic players will be confirmed in the coming days.

Batter Mikayla Hinkley, a member of the Queensland side that lost last season’s final to Tasmania, is set to move to Western Australia.

Meanwhile Zimbabwean leg-spinning product Anesu Mushangwe will join the ACT from South Australia.

The Meteors will also regain Zoe Cooke from the Fire, while Ruth Johnston is set to be part of Tasmania’s squad.

All-rounder Bhavi Devchand is poised to rejoin the WA list after more than five years on the outer, which included a stint in Victoria.

Mikayla Hinkley is set to move to Western Australia. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

Why new Victorian coach quit two weeks into job

SA’s appointment of Mick Delaney as the state’s new women’s coach follows the shock parting of ways last week of Victoria with coach Dulip Samaraweera, just a fortnight after he was unveiled in the role.

Samaraweera had wanted his brother Thilan to serve as an assistant coach but was blocked from hiring the former Sri Lankan Test star under Cricket Victoria’s conflict of interest policy. Andrew Christie has been announced as the Vics’ new women’s coach. It’s understood several key players have been left disappointed by the turn of events, with Dulip known to have been a popular coach.

The player union meanwhile is determined to ensure that the new T20 league is not just a pre-season competition for the WBBL.

Dulip Samaraweera (l) quit as Victoria’s new women’s coach just two weeks into the job. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Pushback from administrators in Victoria and NSW led to CA changing the new T20 competition from a state-based league to one featuring the eight WBBL clubs as well as the ACT.

The move was polarising, and the finer points of the competition are still to be thrashed out. In any case the Australian Cricketers’ Association has indicated to female players that the new league should not be viewed as “merely a warm-up” for the WBBL, even though it will precede the WBBL and features all the WBBL clubs.

BBL winning quick on the move again

He was a member of the Big Bash League-winning squad last season, but Jordan Buckingham is on the move again.

The Victorian pace export who has impressed since joining South Australia in domestic cricket will return to the Adelaide Strikers next Big Bash League season.

Buckingham, 24, was a replacement player with the Brisbane Heat last summer, albeit he didn’t play a game.

The seamer, who has made an impact for SA with the white-ball as well as in the Shield, will be unveiled as a fresh signing for the Strikers, on what is believed to be a one-year deal.

Buckingham also been a replacement player with the Strikers in 2022-23, but is yet to play a BBL match.

Jordan Buckingham will join the Adelaide Strikes next season. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

However having traded Wes Agar to Sydney Thunder in a deal that improved their draft hand, the Strikers wanted to improve their pace depth, leading to the acquisition of Buckingham.

Having moved from Victoria to SA as a rookie, Buckingham has established himself as one of the leading bowlers in Shield cricket, earning call-ups for the Prime Minister’s XI and Australia A.

With Jason Gillespie having taken on the Pakistan Test coaching job, the Strikers remain on the hunt for a new coach. That process will gather momentum now Simon Insley has been appointed high performance chief following the departure of Tim Nielsen.

Insley will link up with SA after the T20 World Cup, when he finishes up as New Zealand’s high performance guru.

Originally published as Leg Buys: Why Victoria’s new coach quit, women’s moves afoot and BBL winning quick on the move