Sophie Molineux leads the Renegades against Sydney Thunder as WBBL 12 begins

The twelfth season of the Women's Big Bash League begins at the Junction Oval on Thursday, where the Melbourne Renegades meet Sydney Thunder in the first half of an opening-day double-header

First ball is at 3.40pm AEDT. The Renegades finished fifth last season with five wins and five defeats, while Thunder have rebuilt around the Australians who returned from the T20 World Cup.

It is the first outing for two new regimes. Sophie Molineux leads a Renegades side under a coach appointed in the winter, and Thunder begin a campaign their general manager has framed around a return to the finals.

The Renegades under a new coach

Gavan Twining, an assistant with the Australia set-up, has taken over from Simon Helmot, who guided the Renegades to a title. Twining has asked his players to treat the season as a free hit, a framing Molineux believes suits a group carrying little expectation.

"We want to be aggressive and have a bit of edge about us," Molineux said of the club's approach, adding that the squad has nothing to lose.

Georgia Wareham is the obvious starting point. She was the player of the tournament in WBBL|11 and finished as the club's leading run-scorer and leading wicket-taker, with 277 runs and 19 wickets.

Around her sit two West Indians in Hayley Matthews, who missed last season after shoulder surgery and is rated the leading allrounder in the T20I rankings, and Deandra Dottin, who has signed a fresh one-year deal. The South African Chloe Tryon joins the middle order, and Tayla Vlaeminck is fit again after injury wiped out each of her past four seasons.

A season of uncertainty off the field

This is the club's last campaign in its present form. The Renegades' licence is expected to have been sold by next season, so a squad already thinned by departures is playing for a future that nobody in the dressing room controls.

Alice Capsey and Sarah Coyte have gone to the Sydney Sixers and Naomi Stalenberg to the Melbourne Stars. Molineux managed a knee problem through last season and played only six matches.

Thunder look to return to the finals

Phoebe Litchfield captains Thunder for a second season, with Georgia Voll alongside her at the top after both featured at the T20 World Cup. Lisa Keightley, re-signed in the winter for a further two seasons, is now the longest-serving head coach in the club's WBBL history.

"This season is truly shaping up to be one of our biggest campaigns yet," general manager Trent Copeland said. "We want to be back in finals this year."

The overseas trio of Heather Knight, Lauren Bell and Nadine de Klerk gives the side an England spine and a South African allrounder. Chamari Athapaththu and Shabnim Ismail have left.

Hobart begin a defence nobody has managed

Hobart Hurricanes start as reigning champions for the first time in the club's women's history, having beaten the Perth Scorchers in last season's final on the back of Lizelle Lee's unbeaten 77. No Hurricanes side has won back-to-back Big Bash titles.

Nicola Carey has the captaincy ahead of Heather Graham, though coach Jude Coleman insists the job is shared. "It was so important for us to keep the squad together," Coleman said of a list that retains eleven players from last season.

Elyse Villani has retired and Nat Sciver-Brunt is skipping the tournament, with Athapaththu and Chinelle Henry recruited in their place. At the Melbourne Stars, Meg Lanning returns to the captaincy for a third stint, her first Big Bash leadership role since retiring from international cricket.

Yastika Bhatia is the competition's only Indian

Yastika Bhatia is the only Indian player in the competition, signed by the Brisbane Heat to replace Jess Jonassen, the club's most-capped player, who is out with a hip complaint.

"Being able to sign such a quality, experienced international player so close to the tournament is great boost for us," Heat coach Mark Sorrell said.

Bhatia lost close to 18 months to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and watched India's maiden ODI World Cup win from the sidelines. She returned in July to become the first woman to make a Test century at Lord's, in India's 270-run win over England, and holds two Women's Premier League titles with Mumbai Indians.

She joins the Heat before their second match, against Thunder at Drummoyne Oval on Sunday, and is available for the rest of the tournament.

The Renegades and Thunder get the season under way at the Junction Oval on Thursday, with eight clubs chasing a title Hobart have never had to defend.

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