Perth Scorchers batter Mikayla Hinkley says England all-rounder Freya Kemp could provide the missing piece to the middle order as the team chases its first WBBL championship in five years.<\/p>\n
The Scorchers locked in rising English international star Kemp earlier this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe can definitely hold a hold of bat and it\u2019s really exciting to have her in our line-up,\u201d Hinkley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really pumped to have a bat with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
All-rounder Kemp, 20, replaces South African Chloe Tryon, who was unavailable due to international commitments, and made 298 runs at 59.60 across six games for Hampshire during the 2025 ECB Women\u2019s One-Day Cup, recording a team-high strike of 125.73.<\/p>\n
She batted alongside her new Scorches\u2019 teammate Sophie Devine at Southern Brave in the 2025 Women\u2019s Hundred.<\/p>\n
The Scorchers pulled off one of the local signings of the off-season, luring Katie Mack away from the Strikers.<\/p>\n
She will join Beth Mooney at the top of the order, with Devine another option at the top or in the middle order.<\/p>\n
After a series of batting collapses cost the Scorchers a shot at finals last summer, Kemp will add stability.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our balance this year is probably going to be one of the best in the competition, and it\u2019s probably something we lacked a little bit with the batting side last year,\u201d Hinkley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is extremely hard for those international players with such a busy schedule and then to come to Big Bash \u2026 and give us 110 per cent. I really think Kemp\u2019s going to bring that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hinkley, 27, is in her second season back in her second stint in orange in a Big Bash career that has also spanned Sydney Thunder, Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat.<\/p>\n
![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/701d420bb8b607bc27937ec2383ec962367c8564.jpg\")
Camera IconLONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 31: Freya Kemp of Southern Brave hits out during The Hundred Final match between Southern Brave Women and Northern Superchargers Women at Lord’s Cricket Ground on August 31, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney\/Getty Images) Credit: Julian Finney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
She helped launch the West Test as the 50-day countdown to day one ticked over on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The West Test will also feature an Ashes After Party as part of a West Fest, which will include a Scorchers WBBL clash against Adelaide Strikers on Saturday, November 22 at the WACA Ground after day two of the first Test.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the second year Hinkley has played in the Ashes After Party.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can probably say this, because I played for a few different major cities in this country, and no one does it as good as Perth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the best place to play cricket, the best fans and the atmosphere is just unmatched.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur fans are just so loving and passionate and it\u2019s really empowering actually to be in the middle of the WACA Ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hinkley has opened the season in peak form with scores of 57 and 56 in the WNCL against Queensland at the WACA Ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working on a few things. It\u2019s been awesome to work with our assistant coach. Wes Robinson. I\u2019m happy, not satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Scorchers open their WBBL campaign against Sydney Sixers, who have played in the last four finals for a 2-2 record, at the WACA Ground on November 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perth Scorchers batter Mikayla Hinkley says England all-rounder Freya Kemp could provide the missing piece to the middle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,22249,740,60180,588,85,7298],"class_list":{"0":"post-184800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-big-bash-league","11":"tag-cricket","12":"tag-perth-scorchers","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-womens-cricket"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}