Month: February 2026

WNCL: NSW Breakers Dodge Thunder to Secure Finals Spot

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By Helen Maynard-Casely

In the Southern Hemisphere the cricket season is getting to the pointy end. Those out of the running for finals are probably looking towards the off-season. It’s now round 6 (the penultimate) of the WNCL and it is down to only a few teams in the hunt for the two final spots. NSW Breakers, current table leaders by a margin, came into the round in pole position only needing one more win to secure their spot, but the chase for who will join them is on. WA have already continued their bid for this, with a double win over Victoria in this round. SA will be visiting ACT later in the round, needing two wins in Canberra to keep their final hopes alive. QLD Fire have a bye this round, so can only wait it out for now.

But eyes today were to NSW who were hosting Tasmania at Cricket Central. The Breakers, wanting to consolidate the top of the standing and punt towards hosting rights for the final; vs Tasmania, unfortunately not in the hunt for finals, but looking to regain form after a challenging middle part of the season.

Tasmanian ranks were bolstered by the return of both Lizelle Lee from the WPL and Kathryn Bryce from Scotland duties. NSW retained Alyssa Healy in the side, but Ellyse Perry’s spell for her state is over now, as she is with the Australian squad for the international series against India already in full swing. In her place NSW bought in young gun Lucy Finn for her first state cap – last seen with her heroic-but-unsuccessful 49 not out for Sydney Thunder in the WBBL, the tall pace bowler would add to the NSW attack.

Not only did the sides today have to battle each other, but the heat was oppressive especially in the first innings. Tasmania won the toss and put NSW in to bat in a humid 33 degrees Celsius, but with the humidity it felt more like 37 in the middle.

The Breakers had a good powerplay, getting 57 runs on the board and only losing Healy, who flighted the second delivery by Courtney Sippel to the short mid-wicket fielder. With Tahlia Wilson following her a few overs later, this brought together Katie Mack and Anika Learoyd at the crease. From here the two of them formed a partnership to anchor the innings, weathering spells of tricksy bowling from the Tasmanians. Spin in particular seemed to tie them both down, and during the middle overs runs were hard to come by. But they persisted, and by the time the partnership was broken as Learoyd played an ill-advised ramp shot in search of the boundary and her fifty, NSW were at a healthy 195 runs for three wickets in the 34th over.

Katie Mack continued, supported by both Claire Moore then Maitlan Brown, but she fell one run short of her century, caught by Emma Manix-Geeves off Bryce’s bowling as she pulled a shot over her shoulder. A clatter of wickets at the end had NSW all out as they completed their overs, posting 274 runs – which included 5 penalty runs incurred when the ball hit Lizelle Lee’s discarded helmet during the innings.

With 275 to chase down, Tasmania would have hoped that openers Lee and Rachel Treneman (currently the leading run scorer in the competition) would put a good dent in the total. That was not to be the case, with Breakers captain Lauren Cheatle bowling Trenaman in the opening over, the ball finding middle stump to send the bails flying. The second over saw Lizelle Lee caught amazingly by a sprawling Sam Bates at deep fine leg for a duck. With Elyse Villani and Ruth Johnston following them back to the pavilion soon after the Tasmanian innings was in disarray at 4/22 in only the 6th over. But like the NSW innings, Tasmanian batters Emma Manix-Geeve and Kartyn Bryce formed an anchor partnership to bring themselves back into contention for the game. Manix-Geeves took a while to get runs, but suddenly in the 10th over worked out Maitlan Brown’s bowling and got three boundaries off consecutive balls, frustrating Brown’s tight bowling spell.

Manix-Geeves reaches her century, but ultimately in vain as Tasmania had a hard day out against NSW

From there Manix-Geeves and Bryce built a good partnership, going toe-to-toe in run accumulation. NSW started to change up the bowling in an effort to remove one of the pair, bringing Bates, Sarah Coyte, Lucy Finn then Frankie Nicklin into the mix. Nicklin made the breakthrough, trapping Bryce LBW, and seeing off the 85-run partnership.

As the Tasmanian innings progressed the temperature eased, and the light started to change as sun was filtered through building storm clouds. To the West threatening clouds were bubbling, and conscious that a lightning strike within 10 km would see players off the park eyes started to dart to the DLS runs required. Tasmania were tantalisingly getting towards DLS par a number of times, with NSW taking wickets to keep this jumping ahead. Though thunder was heard in the 31st over, the storms never quite broke into the Sydney basin, and the game continued to its conclusion. Manix-Geeves was able to go one run better than Katie Mack and reach 100 runs, only to be caught the next ball as she tried to push the run rate. From here Tasmania’s batters slipped more and more behind which in turn forced them to try and push the runs. This, coupled with a series of good catches held by NSW fielders, meant that by the time the 10th wicket fell Tasmania were 44 runs short.

So, for the 26th time in the WNCL NSW Breakers are in the final, on the back of an all-round team effort in the season so far. They will be looking for the double win when they host Tasmania again on Monday, which would secure them a home final.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Dharug country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

PLAYER RANKINGS: WPL 2026

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Batting

Batting Rankings Matches Runs Dot % Single % Boundary % Strike Rate
1. S Mandhana 9 377 34 36 27 155
2. H Kaur 8 342 30 43 22 151
3. NR Sciver-Brunt 7 321 31 38 25 153
4. L Lee 10 320 46 28 25 140
5. L Wolvaardt 10 317 24 56 17 135
6. GM Harris 9 237 39 25 35 180
7. JI Rodrigues 10 264 27 43 19 144
8. P Litchfield 6 243 39 30 26 156
9. SFM Devine 9 243 41 31 23 150
10. A Gardner 9 244 33 42 20 142
Ranking = Runs * Strike Rate ©CRICKETher/cricsheet.org

Bowling

Bowling Rankings Matches Wickets Dot % Boundary % Wide % Economy
1. LK Bell 9 12 59 13 7 5.53
2. SFM Devine 9 17 38 19 5 8.28
3. NSS Sharma 10 17 33 18 5 8.32
4. N de Klerk 9 16 35 18 3 7.84
5. AC Kerr 7 14 38 16 3 7.50
6. N Shree Charani 10 14 27 18 1 8.31
7. CA Henry 8 14 41 21 4 8.59
8. M Kapp 10 10 50 16 2 6.40
9. RS Gayakwad 7 11 42 21 2 8.09
10. SR Patil 9 11 37 22 4 9.02
Ranking = Wickets / Economy ©CRICKETher/cricsheet.org

WNCL: NSW Prevail in Last Wicket Thriller at Cricket Central

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By Helen Maynard-Casely

So we return to Cricket Central NSW to see NSW breakers take on Queensland Fire for the second match of round 5 of the WNCL. Whispy cirrus clouds skirted the blue sky in a vast contrast to Tuesday’s conditions. Temperatures were set to rise to 37 degrees, which triggered the extra drink break allowances.

Queensland skipper Redmayne again won the toss, but this time decided to have a bat. Queensland had made two changes to their team from Tuesday – Ruby Strange and Nicola Hancock out of the side to make way for Lily Bassingthwaighte and Charli Knott, the latter just back from India.

Queensland batting plans were soon in tatters though, with Lauren Cheatle forcing Georgia Redmayne to nick a delivery to the waiting hands of Anika Learoyd in the slips for a second ball duck in sharp contrast to her century the game before. Cheatle followed this up in her next over by causing Chali Knott to edge a ball, which found the hands of Sarah Coyte at gulley. Leaving Queensland 2/6 in only the third over.

Jess Jonassen joined Mikayla Wrigley at the crease and had to dig in to struggle through the powerplay, with Cheatle continuing to bowl particularly well. Tension lifted as Wrigley managed to get a classic cover drive to the boundary to get her first runs after facing her 20th ball. The batters staged a recovery of sorts until the 21st over when Cheatle made a lot of ground to catch Jonassens’ shot off of Frankie Nicklin’s bowling. Nicklin paired well with Sam Bates during the middle overs to really hold back the run rate. A turn of the screw in the 33rd over was when Nicklin’s bowling took two wickets. First Wrigley, who had shown some resolve, but was stumped going for a big shot to bring up her 50, and had to walk back to the seats with 46 runs. A few balls later Lucy Bourke was out LBW. From here the NSW bowlers didn’t allow for any of the remaining batters to get much of an innings, the run rate fell and slower balls in particular plagued the batters.

NSW breakers captain Lauren Cheatle delivers a ball, she finished her 10 overs after taking 4 wickets and earned player of the match. Image credit Andy Casely

Queensland struggled to 188 runs for the loss of the last wicket in the 47th over. Tight bowling from all the NSW meant there were good performances all round, Coyte conceded a miserly 20 runs for her 7.4 overs, and Cheatle took 4 wickets in all, only giving up 32 runs for her 10 over campaign.

As the cicadas screamed in the sun, NSW openers Tahlia Wilson and Alyssa Healy strode out to the crease, looking relaxed and hoping not to have to tax themselves too much in the heat to reach the 189 run target. But plans started to go awry in only the 5th over when Healy chipped the ball to the waiting Bonnie Berry at fine leg. This set the scene for a batting innings where, like Queensland, most got a few runs on the board but no-one was able to get a big score. Ellyse Perry went for 23, Katie Mack went for 24 and when Annika Learoyd was run out for 25 the chase began to look on shaky ground at 6 wickets down for 134 runs. Maitlan Brown and Sarah Coyte managed to settle the NSW a bit, by building a 41 run 7th wicket partnership, which included an impressive 6 for Coyte against the wind. The wind had probably aided the loopy spinners, Jonassen, Knott and Grace Parsons as Queensland kept with spin to slow down the NSW run accumulation.

NSW batter Sarah Coyte looks on as Queensland celebrate her wicket, Ruby Strange the substitute field taking the catch. Image credit Andy Casely

Brown and Coyte looked as though they were going to get NSW over the line, only for them both to get out with 24 runs still needed. Brown chipped a ball off Berry’s bowling that found the keeper’s gloves, with Coyte caught off the next over by substitute fielder Ruby Strange at gully. A mix up between Cheatle and Nicklin resulted in Nicklin being run out a few balls later – leaving the Breakers needing 14 runs for their last wicket and spectators chomping their fingernails. Sam Bates worked with captain Cheatle to hold their nerves, against excellent death bowling to creep towards the total, which was reached when Bates squeezed a shot through behind herself to jog through for the last run. Cheatle was named player of the match and with 18 wickets in the season rises to the top of the wicket-taking table for the competition so far.

A successful round for NSW then, as they extended their lead at the top of the standings to 9 points over 2nd place Queensland with two games in hand. Queensland have a bye in the next round and will be nervously watching how South Australia and West Australia fare, as they could still catch them for the finals spot. NSW look pretty comfortable at the top, with one more win in their last four matches needed to secure a finals place.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Dharug country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

WNCL: Top of the Table Clash has New South Wales Break Out on Top

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By Helen Maynard-Casely

Round 5 of the WNCL kicked off today with South Australia hosting Victoria and NSW Breakers hosting Queensland Fire as the competition gets closer to the pointy end. Across the round state sides will be seeing cameos from contracted Australia players as they seek time on the park ahead of the series against India that starts later in the month. Down in Adelaide, Annabelle Sutherland returned to the Victoria side, joining newly minted national captain Sophie Molineux. Victoria, still desperate for a first win of the season, were denied by a South Australian team again super powered by Megan Schutt, Darcy Brown and Tahlia McGrath – the latter taking player of the match in a welcome return to form.

Queensland bowler Nicola Hancock sending a ball towards Katie Mack
Queensland bowler Nicola Hancock sending a ball towards Katie Mack

But our main story was over the Barrasi line and further North. An overcast day greeted players across Dharug lands today, at NSW’s Cricket Central. Queensland, emboldened by the return of Jess Jonassen to the side won the toss and decided that the grey weather might favour their bowling. NSW fielded a similar side to those who had travelled to Canberra for the previous round, only swapping between two veterans with Georgia Adams out in favour of Samantha Bates.

Coming out to bat, openers Tahlia Wilson and Alyssa Healy started very conservatively, with the first boundary not coming until the 5th over. Both saw out the power play until Healy was caught by keeper captain Georgia Redmayne off of Jonassen’s bowling, for 28 runs off of 48 balls. Jonassen followed this up by taking the wickets of Wilson and Ellyse Perry, but not before they had both contributed to the total, most notably Wilson with 46. The humid conditions, peppered with some light mizzle, may have supported the Queensland bowlers, as they strangled the run rate through the middle overs.

However, Wilson’s wicket brought Katie Mack to the crease, who persisted through the lean run times, forming an excellent 130 partnership with Clare Moore to put on the backbone of the innings total. Each of the Queensland bowler’s spells came and went as the total steadily climbed. So set was the partnership, that when it ended as Sianna Ginger’s bowling took Mack’s leg stump, there were no shouts of celebration from Queensland. Just a frustrated yell and jump from Mack herself (reminiscent of Master Kogah for a Zelda fandom crossover) – gone for 95 runs. In Mack’s absence Moore continued in a similar vein, and only lost her wicket being stumped fishing for more runs in the 49th over. The NSW breakers completed the 50 overs with 7/309, their highest total so far at home ground Cricket Central. Jess Jonassen on return was the pick of the Queensland bowlers, bowling out her 10 overs for 58 runs conceded and three wickets.

Looking back over the 10 games that NSW have played at Cricket Central, they have never been beaten after posting over 300 (the joy of small statistics, this has in fact only happened once). So looking to defy that stat, the Queensland batters strode to the crease as the sun broke through the cloud. As the humidity dropped, they would be hoping to be able to reach the 310 goal set. But that was soon challenged, in the third over Breakers captain Lauren Cheatle took two wickets, firstly Mikayla Wrigley LBW, then next ball bowling Lauren Winfield-Hill. Bringing Jonassen to the crease to join the remaining opening batter, Georgia Redmayne, they scored quickly to make sure the total stayed in play. A spell of tight bowling from Sarah Coyte put a stop to that, and resulted in her bowling Jonassen for 26.

Redmayne was left to battle on, and was ably supported by Annie O’Neil who came on to bat in the 20th over. O’Neil muscled deliveries all over the park, even lofting down the ground for a 6. But just as the 6th wicket partnership was looking dangerously like catching up with the run rate, Coyte again caused a pivot in the game – bowling a double wicket maiden in the 32nd over – taking O’Neil and Hancock’s wickets. Ruby Strange had a fantastic knock, showing little fear of the NSW bowling attack and hitting big. Again, Queensland hopes started to rise, and Redmayne having feared previously running out of batting partners, was able to push on to bring up her century darting between wickets.

Georgia Redmayne with a captain’s knock, celebrates her 100 runs
Georgia Redmayne with a captain’s knock, celebrates her 100 runs

But time and run rate wait for no woman, and the hunt for runs was Queensland’s demise. First Strange pushed her luck too far and was caught at deep mid-wicket by Lauren Cheatle off of Sam Bate’s bowling. Then, only two balls after her century, Redmayne’s shot was caught on the boundary as she searched for an elusive 4 runs. 10 balls later the Queensland innings was over for 224, handing NSW victory, a bonus point and security at the top of the WNCL standings.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Dharug country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.