THE 2023/24 Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) season is almost upon us, with games set to get underway later this month. To build up to the season, we here at Rookie Me Central will take a deep dive into each of the teams competing this season.
The penultimate team preview of this series is Victoria.
SQUAD
Sam Bates, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum, Tess Flintoff, Poppy Gardner, Kim Garth, Ella Hayward, Olivia Henry, Milly Illingworth, Meg Lanning, Rhys McKenna, Sophie Molineux, Jasmine Nevins, Rhiann O’Donnell, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Prestwidge, Sophie Reid, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
FIXTURE
September 26 – Western Australia – WACA Ground
September 28 – Western Australia – WACA Ground
October 10 – Queensland – Peter Burge Oval
October 12 – Queensland – Peter Burge Oval
December 19 – New South Wales – Junction Oval
December 21 – New South Wales – Junction Oval
January 16 – ACT – Junction Oval
January 18 – ACT – Junction Oval
January 29 – South Australia – Adelaide Oval
January 31 – South Australia – Karen Rolton Oval
February 12 – Tasmania – Junction Oval
February 14 – Tasmania – Junction Oval
NEW FACES
Georgia Prestwidge has come down from Queensland and joins her brother Jack at the Vics.
The three other new faces are all young players that have come through the Victorian Premier Cricket competition.
Poppy Gardner is an allrounder, Jasmine Nevins is a top order batter while Milly Illingworth is a bowler.
DEPARTURES
Lucy Cripps and Tiana Atkinson both did not get a contract offer for this season, so depart the Vics. The other departure is Makinley Blows, who retired midway through last season.
PLAYER TO WATCH
It is not often that the Australian captain can be spoken about in this kind of way, but Meg Lanning really does fall into this category heading into the new season. Still currently on a break from cricket, it is too early to say how much cricket we will see from Lanning at any level this season.
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