Rising quick claims a career-best haul for the Renegades less than 48 hours after finding out she'd been picked up in the WPL auction
Waking up a Mumbai Indian: Illingworth's auction shock
Milly Illingworth has enjoyed a week to remember, taking career-best figures for the Melbourne Renegades off the back of finding out she will be headed to India in January for the Women's Premier League.
Illingworth's 3-19 against the Stars was the shining light on an otherwise forgettable day for the Renegades, with the 20-year-old quick getting the better of Marizanne Kapp, Dani Gibson and Rhys McKenna.
It came after Illingworth woke up on Friday morning to a flurry of messages, congratulating her on being snapped up by Mumbai Indians in the WPL draft.
The Victorian was initially confused.
She'd had a group of friends around for dinner to watch the auction, but after they watched her name read out, with no takers, she thought that was that and headed to bed.
"I saw I got passed in, and I didn't know there was (another) round, so I went to bed," Illingworth told cricket.com.au.
"And then I woke up to a crazy couple of messages, and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw it.
"Waking up a Mumbai Indian was very, very cool."
As an uncapped player, Illingworth was picked up for $17,000 (INR 10 lakh) and will join former Renegades teammate Hayley Matthews, Sydney Thunder coach Lisa Keightley and Hurricanes allrounder Nicola Carey at Mumbai.
She'll also be rubbing shoulders with superstar allrounders Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr and India captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
It's the chance to train and play alongside former South Africa quick Shabnim Ismail, who bowls with the express pace that Illingworth aspires to, that has the Victorian most excited.
"I've got one of my idols I'm playing alongside," she said.
"I'm just super excited to get over there and give it a crack."
With Tayla Vlaeminck again ruled out of the WBBL season, Illingworth has taken on regular new-ball duties for the Renegades.
Having played nine matches in WBBL|10 and just two in her debut season playing for the Stars a year earlier, she is relishing the responsibility.
After missing the back end of last summer due to a back stress fracture, before further setbacks kept her out of the start of the 2025-26 domestic 50-over season, stringing together back-to-back games has also been a welcome step.
"I had a stress fracture in my back, so I was working through that, and then had a couple of hiccups through preseason, but on the mend now, and had some scans and all looking positive," Illingworth said.
"I'm just so ecstatic to be able to get back out in the field.
"I didn't think that I would get to take the new ball, we've got so many fast bowlers, and I'm very fortunate ... Charis (Bekker) and I have been really enjoying it together and bowling in partnerships (in the Powerplay), it's really nice."
Weber WBBL|11 Standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HUR
|
10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.662 | 0 | 15 |
|
2
SIX
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -0.313 | 0 | 13 |
|
3
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -0.132 | 0 | 12 |
|
4
STA
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.629 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
REN
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.121 | 0 | 10 |
|
6
STR
|
10 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0.077 | 0 | 9 |
|
7
THU
|
10 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | -0.124 | 0 | 9 |
|
8
HEA
|
10 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | -0.869 | 0 | 1 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points