BBL|12: Hobart Hurricanes Signs Seamer Billy Stanlake 

Stanlake negotiated an early release from his contract with the Melbourne Stars. (PC- Twitter) 

Australian seamer Billy Stanlake has signed up to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the upcoming season of the Big Bash League (BBL), giving a huge boost to the side ahead of the 12th edition of the lucrative T20 tournament.

Hobart Hurricanes on Monday (August 29) confirmed the signing of the tall right-arm express bowler for the BBL|12.

Stanlake, who last played for Australia in a T20I game against Pakistan in 2019, will make a return to the BBL scene after missing out on last season- BBL|11, due to injury. 

The Tasmanian makes a move from Melbourne Stars to Hurricanes after negotiating a release from his contract with the Stars setup.

Stanlake started his Big Bash career with Adelaide Strikers in 2015-16 and spent five seasons with the club before moving to Melbourne Stars in a trade before the 2020-21 season.

Although capable of generating express pace, injuries have continued to hamper the growth of Australia's tallest ever cricketer.

Stanlake has joined the Hurricanes camp and will be part of a fast-bowling group which contains the likes of fellow Australian internationals Riley Meredith, Nathan Ellis, and Joel Paris. Stanlake has been a familiar presence to BBL fans after previous campaigns with the Melbourne Stars and Adelaide Strikers but injury limited him to just 51 games in the past.

Stanlake excited for his new spell with Hurricanes

In the 51 outings, he has a total of 47 BBL wickets to his name, at an average of 29.89 and an economy of 8.07.

“It’s no secret that any project Ricky Ponting puts his hand to is a success, so it’s hard not to want to be involved with that, plus having (Jeff) Vaughany as the head coach of both programs - a known quantity if you like, you know, a fantastic bloke and a really great people manager - is really reassuring," said Billy Stanlake.

Having also donned the green and gold in the T20I format 19 times, taking a total of 27 wickets at an impressive average of 20.14, Hurricanes would be hoping for big returns from the 6ft 8ins quick.

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