NICOLA Hancock is now a staple in the domestic leagues for Queensland Cricket, representing the Fire in the WNCL and the Heat in the WBBL, but this wasn’t always the case.

Having played for Victoria and the ACT Meteors as well as the Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars, she’s enjoying a rejuvenated career as one of the stand-out performers within Queensland’s cricketing program.

Despite being from Victoria initially, Hancock declared that she loves representing the maroon, a dream that was spurred on by her father.

She spoke to Rookie Me Central about her current form and the upcoming WNCL final against NSW.

“Without sounding soppy, I just love playing for Queensland, like I really, really love it,” Hancock said when asked about her journey in the league. “My dad is from here so there was always a little part of me that wanted to wear the maroon at some point throughout my career.

“I think that Queensland saw something in me that I probably didn’t see within myself but since working previously with Ash Noffke and now Mark Sorrell is our coach, they’ve shown a lot of belief in me the last few years.

“I’ve never not worked hard, but you kind of don’t know what you don’t know [and] I always had the desire to get better.

“I’m now nearly 30 and I still really have a deep desire to grow as a player and try new things and Queensland have allowed me to evolve myself as a player and be who I want to be on and off-the-field, it’s almost rejuvenated my career to be honest.”

When asked about her season up until the final, Hancock described her pride at being able to perform crucial roles for the Fire in a format that wasn’t her strong suit.

“Personally, I think I’ve found a really nice balance, one-day cricket has always been a little bit more of a challenge for me, I’ve always done a little bit better in T20 cricket but this year I think I’ve played some really key roles for our team which is what I really want to do for Queensland Fire,” she said.

“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do in a one-day form so personally I think I’m in form to challenge batters as much as possible [and] the season has played out how it’s played out, had some good games, had some not so good games that tends to be cricket.

“I’m pretty happy with the season being produced considering there was so much change throughout [the team], especially through that pace bowling unit, leading into this season.”

Having made last year’s WNCL final as well as the two previous WBBL finals, Queensland Cricket is thriving despite not bringing home the silverware on any occassion.

Hancock reflected on what that means to the WNCL side and how they are faring as a group ahead of Sunday’s clash.

“I think it’s a credit to this team, I think there are some serious, I don’t like to use the word talent or potential but there are some serious players within this group, [that] are sitting on the sideline or they are currently playing,” she explained.

“There’s been a big shift again this year again with different players moving but then also coaches moving and stuff like that so it has been a shift but it shows the resilience of this group.

“We’ve played a few finals, whether that’s WNCL or WBBL in the past three or four years, yes we haven’t pushed one over the line [but] I think we are really not that far off, there’s just a few little things we have tinkered with this year which will hopefully lead to our success.”

When thinking back to last year’s defeat to Tasmania, Hancock looked at the loss as something needed to spur the team on, giving them more of a desire to win and make up for last season’s result.

“I think there is a bit more of that desire to win this year, I’m not saying that that wasn’t there last year but this group has grit [and] we’ve made a real emphasis on bring this home considering we didn’t last year,” Hancock said.

“The team morale personally I think feels really good, which really helps to enjoy each other’s company on the field and work through a bit of adversity through the game.

“We’ve had a few games where we’ve had that have challenged us leading into finals but we’ve held our ground and had some success through those games.

“I think the momentum is really important for us this year and having a home final with our families and our space, we’ve had the last couple of weeks off so we’re settled leading into the final.”