West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin returns to Thunder for 2023 campaign

She will be available in both List A and T20 cricket throughout the entire season. Steph Butler and Hannah Rainey have also been added to the squad on pay as you play contracts

Thunder have signed West Indies legend Deandra Dottin for the full 2023 domestic season.

This marks the second successive year that Dottin will play for the north-west outfit, having represented the side in six Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy matches last season.

Dottin retired from international cricket last year to focus on playing domestic cricket around the globe and will be available for the entirety of Thunder's Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup campaigns.

On the signing, David Thorley, Thunder's regional director of women's cricket, said: "It was brilliant to have somebody with Deandra's experience and skill around our squad last summer, albeit only in two brief spells.

^{Dottin is no stranger to Manchester, previously representing Lancashire Thunder, Thunder and Manchester Originals [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]}

"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 touched down in Manchester this week and is in contention to make her first appearance of the season against South East Stars at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday (April 22).

Nicknamed 'World Boss', Dottin represented West Indies in 143 ODIs and 127 T20Is in a career spanning 14 years.

In 2010, she became the first woman to score a century in an T20I, smashing an unbeaten 112 from just 45 balls against South Africa at that year's World Twenty20. It remains the fastest century (38 balls) in a women's T20I.

Throughout her international career, she scored five hundreds and 34 fifties, as well as taking 134 wickets in 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 retired from international cricket in 2022 to focus on playing domestic cricket around the world [Paul Kane/Getty Images]}

Dottin hit 121 runs for Thunder during her stint last season, including a high score of 46 in a two-wicket defeat against Western Storm.

She starred in the second edition of The Hundred, scoring 147 runs from just 81 balls over four matches for Manchester Originals.

Thunder have also confirmed the recruitment of spin-bowling allrounder Steph Butler, formerly of Central Sparks, and Scotland seamer Hannah Rainey, with both players putting pen to paper on pay as you play contracts.  

Naomi Dattani, Fi Morris and Tara Norris are the other new faces at Old Trafford while Liberty Heap, Daisy Mullan and Seren Smale have signed their first professional contracts.