Kim Garth returns to North Sydney Oval for 100th WBBL game
The Melbourne Stars quick faces the Perth Scorchers in a match the Stars need to turn their season around.
Melbourne Stars quick Kim Garth will play her 100th WBBL match on Sunday, Cricket Australia said in a statement.
The game will be held at North Sydney Oval, where Garth made her WBBL debut for the Sydney Sixers on Jan. 13, 2017.
She was in Australia as an Ireland international and an ICC associate rookie, a program designed to grow the women's game, after spending two weeks training with the Sixers.
Her place in the side came when South Africa's Marizanne Kapp left temporarily for international duties, and Garth went on to help the Sixers win their first title.
Ellyse Perry's hamstring injury against the Renegades ruled her out of the knockout rounds, which kept Garth in the team.
She played six matches that season and took six wickets, including the key dismissal of Scorchers star Nicole Bolton in the final.
The Sixers went back-to-back in WBBL|03, with Garth playing the full season as a local replacement for the injured Lauren Cheatle.
The ICC then ruled she was too experienced to be considered a rookie, and the Sixers had no room on their list to contract her as an overseas marquee player.
Garth next played for the Perth Scorchers in WBBL|05 in 2019-20, shortly before she moved to Australia permanently.
A full-time professional contract with Victoria and the chance to gain permanent residency were key reasons for the move, Cricket Australia said.
She later became one of Australia's leading quicks, making her Australian debut in late 2022 and helping the team win the T20 World Cup in England earlier this year.
"I've loved every one of my hundred games," Garth said.
The Stars are 1-3 after their first week of the tournament, having beaten the reigning champions Hobart Hurricanes in their opening match.
They have since lost to the Strikers and Scorchers in close chases, and fell to the Sixers by one run on Friday night.
"Two very tight games that we probably should have won both," Garth said of the recent losses.
Sunday's match against the Scorchers is therefore a critical one for Melbourne, which has plenty of time to recover, Garth said.
