The Super Smash might have an uncertain future but the Sparks seem keen to go out with a bang.
Otago yesterday announced the signings of two overseas players for what could be the last domestic T20 season as we know it if New Zealand Cricket decides to let overseas interests take over.
Veteran Australian top-order batter Laura Harris and English medium-pacer Eva Gray are expected to make their first appearances for the Sparks when they play Canterbury in Alexandra tomorrow.
With White Ferns Suzie Bates (hamstring) and Eden Carson (elbow) sidelined through injury, Harris and Gray will provide valuable depth and international experience as the Sparks look to build on last season, when they reached the Super Smash final before losing to the Wellington Blaze.
Harris, 35, spent nearly a decade in the Big Bash with the Brisbane Heat, hitting the winning runs in their triumphs in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 finals.
She played in the inaugural season of The Hundred in England, had her first taste of the Super Smash as a replacement for the Blaze, and joined the Sydney Thunder this season.
Harris scored a 16-ball 50 for Warwickshire in a T20 game earlier this year, and reached the final of The Hundred with the Bears, having to watch younger sister Grace guide Surrey to victory with an unbeaten 63.
The elder Harris is known for her clean ball-striking and ability to apply pressure from the outset, and those attributes and her experience should be vital for a Sparks team missing some big guns.
Gray, 25, was a fresh-faced youngster when her Surrey Stars team won the Super League in England in 2018, before she became a founding member of the Essex women’s team.
She has played 36 games in The Hundred, taking 31 wickets at 19.29, most recently representing the London Spirit in that tournament.
The Sparks play the Canterbury Magicians at Molyneux Park tomorrow, and remain in Alexandra to play the Central Hinds on Tuesday.
Both games are doubleheaders with the Volts.
