South Africa batter Mignon du Preez will return to the Melbourne Stars for the WBBL and is eagerly anticipating the tournament after a "crazy" year.

Du Preez has been part of the Stars' squad since WBBL03 and her first match of this season will be her 50th appearance. She is the club's highest run-scorer in the WBBL with 1118 runs at 25.40 and a strike-rate of 108.43.

Earlier this year du Preez was part of the South Africa team that reached the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup where they were knocked out by Australia at the SCG

This season the Stars' line-up will include Australia captain Meg Lanning after she returned from the Perth Scorchers.

"It has been a crazy year so far, but I am looking forward to the WBBL, joining the 'bubble' and catching up with all my friends at the Stars," du Preez said. "The club has made some good signings and we should be confident about we can achieve this season."

Head coach Trent Woodhill said: "We were always keen to retain her experience and versatility in being able to play a range of roles through the batting line-up."

The club have also signed Lucy Cripps and Sophie Day.

"Our squad is shaping up well for this season. We'll be finalising some final international signings in the next week and we think we're well set up to be very competitive this season," general manager Nick Cummins said.

Current squad Meg Lanning, Elyse Villani, Mignon du Preez, Annabel Sutherland, Lucy Cripps, Alana King, Holly Ferling, Erin Osborne, Tess Flintoff, Georgia Gall, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum