The Thunder have signed West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin for the full domestic season in 2023.
This marks the second consecutive year Dottin has played for the North West outfit, representing six Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy matches last season.
Dottin retired from international cricket last year to focus on playing domestic cricket around the world and is available for the Thunder’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup campaigns.
Regarding the signing, Thunder’s regional director of women’s cricket, David Thorley, said it was great to have someone with as much experience and talent as Dottin in the squad.
“It was brilliant to have somebody with Deandra’s experience and skill around our squad last summer, albeit only in two brief spells.”
“We are really looking forward to having her around for much longer which will hopefully lead to lots of productive performances out on the pitch.”
The 31-year-old arrived in Manchester this week and is set to make her first appearance of the season against South East Stars at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday (April 22).
Nicknamed the ‘World Boss’, Dottin represented West Indies in 143 ODIs and 127 T20Is in a 14-year career.
In 2010, she scored an unbeaten 112 off 45 balls against South Africa in the Twenty20 World Cup and became the first woman to score a century in a Twenty20 match. It remains the fastest century (38 balls) in a women’s T20I match.
Throughout her international career, she scored 5 centuries and 34 fifties, taking 134 wickets across all formats. She was imperative to West Indies’ T20 World Cup victory in 2016, taking nine wickets across the competition and guiding her side home in their chase of 149 in the final.
Dottin scored 121 runs for the Thunder last season, including a top score of 46 in a two-wicket loss against the Western Storm. She scored 147 off 81 balls for Manchester Originals in the second edition of The Hundred.
The Thunder have confirmed the signings of former Central Sparks spin all-rounder Steph Butler and Scotland seamer Hannah Rainey, putting both players to paper on pay as you play contracts.
Naomi Dattani, Fi Morris and Tara Norris are other new faces at Old Trafford, while Liberty Heap, Daisy Mullan and Seren Smale have signed their first professional contracts.