Three of Wellington’s most promising young players have been offered domestic women’s contracts for the first time.
Olivia Boivin, Georgia Plimmer and Xara Jetly have all been named on the Blaze’s domestic contract list for the 2020/21 season, the contracts a feature of the women’s Master Agreement which was announced last year.
Jetly (19) has been part of the wider Blaze squad for the last three seasons and had a breakthrough 2019/20 summer – the right-arm off spinner was reliable throughout the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield campaign and broke into the Blaze squad at the back-end of the successful Super Smash campaign.
Boivin (21) and Plimmer (16) both made the step up from the Wellington Provincial A team and made Hallyburton Johnstone Shield debuts last summer.
Boivin, a bowling allrounder, impressed as captain of the Hutt District and Wellington A sides, while Plimmer, another product of Tawa College, impressed in her five Hallyburton Johnstone Shield appearances.
Blaze head coach Ivan Tissera said he was delighted to be able to offer the trio their first official contracts.
“This is just reward for the three players’ hard work last season and throughout the winter,” he said.
“All three players have shown real promise when given their opportunities for the Blaze and we’ve been really pleased with their development – we’re now looking forward to seeing how they perform this summer.”
Wicketkeeper Jess McFadyen, allrounder Thamsyn Newton and leg spinner Dee Doughty are other notable names on the domestic contracted list.
McFadyen will be first choice with the gloves this summer after getting limited game time in last year’s Super Smash competition, behind former WHITE FERN Rachel Priest. The 29-year-old impressed in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield campaign – her unbeaten 153 against Otago the highlight.
Newton will add depth with bat and ball in both the One-Day and T20 formats, while Doughty will start the season buoyed by her maiden call-up to the WHITE FERNS squad for the current tour against Australia.
Batter Caitlin King and bowlers Maneka Singh and Beth Molony will also be looking ahead to important summers.
King was consistent in last year’s Hallyburton Johnstone Shield campaign and will likely see more game time following the retirement of Liz Green.
Singh and Molony both add further depth to the Blaze bowling stocks and will be looking to claim permanent places in both formats.
The Blaze’s five WHITE FERNS will all be available for the Super Smash competition which starts on Christmas Eve. Sophie Devine, Maddy Green and Amelia Kerr will all have Big Bash commitments until then so will not feature in the opening rounds of the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield.
Opening batter Rebecca Burns, who received one of eight NZC women’s development contracts, will also play an important role in both competitions.
Right-arm seamer Tash Codyre (16), allrounder Jamie Mason-Jones (16) and wicketkeeper Antonia Hamilton (16) are all also included in the wider Blaze squad.
“It will obviously be great to have such a big injection of talent for the Super Smash campaign,” said Tissera.
“We’re looking forward to being able to build a lot of depth in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield campaign when the WHITE FERNS are away and that can only be good for the future of women’s cricket in Wellington.
“We have a lot of young players in the squad, seven that are still teenagers, so that can only be a good thing looking forward to the future.”
The Blaze begin their 2020/21 season with back-to-back Hallyburton Johnstone Shield matches against the Northern Spirit on 21 and 22 November.
Admark Print Wellington Blaze squad:
Olivia Boivin (domestic women’s contract)
Rebecca Burns (NZC development contract)
Tash Codyre
Sophie Devine (WHITE FERNS contract)
Dee Doughty (domestic women’s contract)
Maddy Green (WHITE FERNS contract)
Antonia Hamilton
Xara Jetly (domestic women’s contract)
Leigh Kasperek (WHITE FERNS contract)
Amelia Kerr (WHITE FERNS contract)
Jess Kerr (WHITE FERNS contract)
Caitlin King (domestic women’s contract)
Jamie Mason-Jones
Jess McFadyen (domestic women’s contract)
Beth Molony (domestic women’s contract)
Thamsyn Newton (domestic women’s contract)
Georgia Plimmer (domestic women’s contract)
Maneka Singh (domestic women’s contract)
Click here to see the Wellington Blaze 2020-21 Hallyburton Johnstone Shield schedule.
Click here to see the Wellington Blaze 2020-21 Super Smash schedule.
Article added: Friday 09 October 2020
