Perth Scorchers sign stingy Indonesian player Ni Made Putri Suwandevi

Armed with a formidable striker and a deceptively slow ball, speedy Indonesian Ni Made Putri Suwandevi caught the attention of Perth Scorchers women’s coach Becky Grundy and high-profile coach Cade Harvey during their visit to Bali earlier in the year.

After watching her closely over the following months and needing depth of pace with speedy veteran Piepa Cleary sidelined for the entire summer with a knee injury, Scorchers signed Suvandevi for the upcoming WBBL season as a rookie assistant.

“The WBBL is a competition that I have admired from afar for a long time and I am looking forward to taking part as a player this season,” said Suvandevi, who joins the Scorchers team led by New Zealand T20 World Cup-winning captain Sophie. Devine.

WBBL rules allow clubs to sign players from associated countries and leave them out of the 15-player squad. Suwandevi, 26, has been Indonesia’s leading spinner since her international debut in 2019 and has taken 49 wickets in 40 WT20Is at an average of 8.18. Her career batting average of 2.97 is the best in the history of women’s T20I cricket.

“She’s a natural bowler but she has great variety, a good slow ball and can hit the yorkers,” Harvey told ESPNcricinfo. “She’s quite short, but she’s a very skilled bowler.”

Suvandevi arrived in Perth on Saturday and has already impressed during training. “She has the potential to be a big part of the tournament for us,” Harvey said.

“She is a natural thrower but she has great variety, a good slow ball and can hit the Yorkers. She’s quite short, but she’s a really skilful bowler.”

High Performance Scorchers Boss Cade Harvey on Ni Mada Putri Suvandevi

“We will be missing some international players at different stages. This was a good opportunity to use the rules from a novice associate’s perspective. But we wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t think she could contribute.” “

The signing of Suwandevi highlights the growing partnership between WA Cricket and Persatuan Cricket Indonesia, with an initial focus on the development of women’s cricket.

This prompted Grundy and Harvey to visit Bali on a four-day trip in April, where they watched Suvandevi star in Indonesia’s match against Mongolia in various formats of the white-ball game.

“We were very impressed with the level of cricket from the Indonesian girls,” Harvey said. “They play on artificial turf, so we think a lot of their development has to do with good wickets.

“But the potential is huge: 200,000 women are playing in 21 provinces, which is more than we thought. They just have a great work ethic and passion for the game. They probably just need a little help on how to direct it.”

Although believed to be first played in the 1880s, cricket is a minor sport in Indonesia, but encouraging progress has been made with the women’s team currently ranked 21st in the T20I rankings.

“They want to be one of the top 10 teams in the world,” Harvey said. “They have a really clear goal, and we hope to facilitate change in their high-performance environment to help them achieve it.”

The Scorchers open the season on October 27 against the Melbourne Stars in the WACA.