Hurricanes lock in young allrounder Ruth Johnston for another two seasons
The Hobart Hurricanes continue to build towards WBBL|10 with the re-signing of promising young talent Ruth Johnston.
The 21-year-old allrounder joins fellow young gun Hayley Silver-Holmes in signing on at the Hurricanes for the next two seasons.
Alongside Silver-Holmes, Johnston joins Heather Graham, Amy Smith, Molly Strano, Rachel Trenaman as part of the Hurricanes list for the coming Weber WBBL|10 season.
Queenslander Johnston signed with the Hurricanes before the WBBL|07 season and has played 41 games out of a possible 42 since.
After injuries hit the Hurricanes ahead of WBBL|07, the then 18-year-old was called on to open the batting for her first WBBL season alongside captain Rachel Priest. She thrived with 199 runs for the campaign, headlined by a top score of 63 in a player of the match performance against the Renegades.
A right arm off-spinner, Johnston also showed her potential with the ball finishing with 13 wickets for the season including best figures of 4-8 against Melbourne Stars in her third match.
Johnston played every match of WBBL|09, continuing to develop her game after the heights reached in her debut season for the club.
“I’m super excited to be playing for the Hurricanes for two more seasons,” Johnston said.
“They gave me an opportunity to play in the WBBL when I was young, so I am confident that I can help contribute to their success this year and in coming seasons.”
Johnston has also been linked with a move to Tasmania for the WNCL after being released by her native Queensland on Monday, as the state chases a fourth consecutive WNCL title and the Hurricanes their first ever WBBL Championship.
The contracting window for WBBL|10 opened earlier this month with each club needing to build a primary squad of 15 players by the commencement of the season, which must include a minimum of two overseas players selected via the draft.
The lottery to determine the WBBL|10 Draft order has been earmarked for June with the draft proposed to again take place in September.
WBBL|10 will be the first to feature 40 regular season games – down from 56 last season – in a revamped format that brings the league in line with the men’s Big Bash.