Sydney Sixers Women secure services of Amelia Kerr on three-year-deal

The coveted Women's Big Bash League's (WBBL) franchise Sydney Sixers have secured the services of New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr on a three-year deal, giving a massive blow to their rivals, Brisbane Heat.

Kerr, who has been a key player for the Heat since 2019, has been prized away by the Sixers under the league's new multi-year contracting system. This system allows clubs to sign one player outside of the overseas draft, enabling teams to lock in talent for an extended period and oppose the threat of rival domestic leagues.

The acquisition of the 23-year-old who currently ranked as the No. 2 allrounder in the world, is a major achievement for the Sixers. The allrounder has been a standout performer for the Heat, winning the club's player-of-the-year award on three occasions. With 62 wickets at an economy rate of 6.42 in 58 matches, Kerr's spin-bowling ability has been a crucial asset for the Heat. Besides, she also explained that living in Sydney would help her spend more time at home and stay closer to her family and loved ones.

"It was an extremely hard decision to leave Brisbane as the players and staff there have been nothing but good to me, With the scheduling of women's cricket there is not much downtime, and being based in Sydney was a big part of my decision," Kerr was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"I have close family living in Sydney which will help make the time away from home a lot of fun. I want to keep finding ways to better myself as a cricketer and a person so I'm looking forward to this exciting new opportunity with the Sixers," Kerr stated.

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The Heat were keen to retain Melie and put a competitive offer to her: Joe Dawes 

The Brisbane-based franchise confirmed its efforts to retain Amelia Kerr under the pre-draft multi-year contract system but understands the reason behind the move to Sydney.

"The Heat were keen to retain Melie and put a competitive offer to her. However we understand that being near to family is important in this stage of her life, so a move to Sydney where we know she has close family made sense for that reason," Queensland's head of cricket Joe Dawes said.

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"Our fans around the country will no doubt be very disappointed not to see her out on the field playing for Brisbane again this summer. But we thank her and her family for trusting us back when she signed her first contract to play in the WBBL and certainly wish her all the best as she takes on a new challenge," Dawes concluded.