Carey Named Hurricanes Skipper, Replacing Elyse Villani

Hobart, October 28

The Hobart Hurricanes have named Nicola Carey as captain for the next Women's Big Bash League season. The veteran all-rounder will succeed Elyse Villani, who has recently retired from professional cricket.

Villani's leadership was central to the franchise's success, as she captained the Hurricanes to their first-ever WBBL championship last season. Replacing her is a demanding assignment, and Carey will be expected to carry the team forward. Heather Graham has been made vice-captain.

In a statement, Carey said, “This is a really big honour and I'm very proud to be given the responsibility. I hope I can do as well as Elyse did. Since I was vice-captain, I went to many meetings and saw how Elyse handled them. It has been really beneficial. Still, we are very different, so I believe I will lead in my own style. I don't think my day-to-day way of working with the group will change much.”

Carey feels that her years of working alongside Villani in recent seasons have prepared her well for what comes next.

The 33-year-old has featured in 88 matches for Hobart since joining from Sydney Thunder in 2019. Last year she scored the winning run against Perth Scorchers, a moment that gave the Hurricanes their first-ever WBBL title.

With 85 wickets, Carey is the highest wicket-taker for the Hurricanes in the WBBL. Her 1,362 runs make her the club's second-highest run-getter in Women's Big Bash history, trailing only Lizelle Lee, who has scored 1,409.

For Australia, Carey has bowled in 29 innings across 41 T20 matches, taking 19 wickets, and has scored 159 runs in 20 batting innings. She also represents Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League, where she has taken 7 wickets and made 149 runs in 6 matches.