Lost & found: How Hancock took the long way home

Nicola Hancock had gritted her teeth through the entire back half of the WNCL season – only to fall with two balls left to play.

On a wet Saturday afternoon in March, at Cricket Central in Sydney's west, Hancock's seventh final in three summers was, for a good while, threatening to go the way of the previous six: with her on the losing side.

She stood at midwicket – alert and hopeful – as Queensland veteran Jess Jonassen began the final over to New South Wales batter Georgia Adams. And as each ball was bowled without a boundary being conceded, the victory that had for so long eluded the Fire – and 30-year-old Hancock – began to materialise.

Yet from the fourth delivery, something adjacent to the main action went very wrong. As Hancock moved to back up a throw from cover, she felt the proverbial sniper's bullet rip into her lower left leg.

"I'd been battling this torn hamstring tendon for a couple of months, probably playing when I shouldn't have been – just trying to play for the team, basically," she tells cricket.com.au. "And it's all just referred down (her leg) … my first thought was that I'd snapped my Achilles.

"And I was like: Oh God, I'm gonna have to get off here."

Hancock began hopping towards what felt like a distant boundary. Moments into her struggle, Grace Harris intercepted her with a supporting arm. She helped her stricken teammate on her way, then dumped her rather unceremoniously across the rope.

Hancock fell onto her hands and knees. She rolled over, went to lay back, then sat up, clutching her left calf as team physio Jolandi Jacobs arrived beside her.

Across the rope, Queensland held the aces: NSW required nine runs from two balls. But in the long history between the two sides, strange things had a way of happening.

And so Hancock held her breath. Then she watched, and waited.

* * *

When Nicola Hancock was around 12, she and her dad, Garry, liked to escape the suburbia of Melbourne's west and take off on fishing trips for days at a time.

She was an outdoorsy kid. An adventurer. And that spark was continuously lit by the old man; Garry too was innately that way inclined, having moved to Melbourne from Mackay as a promising teenage table tennis player in the 1970s, and ultimately staying long term after meeting his wife-to-be, Sharon, in the Victorian capital.

Garry and Nicola would happily spend a full day snaking their way east across Victoria to the Bemm River, which flows into the Sydenham Inlet in East Gippsland, and out to the Bass Strait. They would stay in a holiday cabin and cast their lines from dawn. Other times, they would head from their home in Newport down past Geelong, camp on a friend's property, and fish for whiting.

"He had 40 acres, it was on a river, and Nicola and I would just sleep in the station wagon," Garry smiles. "We could've stayed in the house – he was a good friend – but we just enjoyed being right on the river, and having a campsite there.

"Some bloody cold nights though, I'll tell you."

By then, Hancock's brother Jake, four years her senior, was busy with his mates, which for Garry meant precious father-daughter time before Nicola, too, lost interest in such adventures. Only, she never did.

Around that time, Jake was also making his way as a promising batter with Carlton in Melbourne grade cricket. Later, as he moved into the Victoria pathways, Nicola was accurately typecast in his origin story as the faithful little sister who would tirelessly run in and send the ball down from the other end of the family's driveway.

"Up the hill, and into the wind, she'd bowl at him day and night," laughs Garry. "You should've seen the garage door – like a hailstorm had been through."

That crucible forged not one but two professional cricketers: Jake went on to play five first-class matches for Tasmania in 2016-17; and Nicola ticked off a decade in the domestic game this summer gone.

When such a path was being conjured only as a dream, however, Nicola's fate almost took a tragic turn. Riding her bike through Williamstown as a 15-year-old – just 500 metres from home – she collided head-on with a car.

"I was very fortunate, because the woman driving the car behind the woman who hit me was a nurse," she says. "But it was not a good scenario. My mum 100 per cent thought I was dead."

Instead, Hancock soon recovered from a cracked femur, as well as head and facial injuries, and was literally back on her bike in a matter of weeks.

"I was at that age where you feel like you're indestructible," she says. "And I've always been a bit of a tough nut. I mean, I'm quite soft natured, but I'll grit through a bit of physical pain."

A big part of her motivation for a swift comeback was an approaching Under 15s national cricket tournament, in which she was representing Victoria. And at a time when Hancock was weighing up her sporting future (she was exceptional across track and field's throwing events – javelin, shot put, and discus), she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Inspired, too, by role models like Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, and Clea Smith, she decided to channel her boundless energy more fully into cricket.

For a while, the script went better than she might even have hoped. After three years in Victoria's Under 18s, Hancock landed a 2015-16 contract with the Shooting Stars (effectively a national development squad at the time) in March 2015. Seven months later, she made her WNCL debut as a 19-year-old, before going on to be part of the first-ever Melbourne Renegades XI in the WBBL.

But life in the big leagues was tough. Hancock, who had progressed quickly largely due to her pace, took just two wickets across a dozen professional matches in her maiden summer, and found the going at Cricket Victoria difficult.

"It was a harsh environment," she says. "There were a lot of people very complacent in that squad, so any new introduction was quite … well, it was a hard year. But you've got to start somewhere."

But somebody, somewhere, liked what they saw in the young right-armer, who prided herself on her work ethic, and excelling in the daily grind of fast bowling. At season's end, Hancock was picked for another Shooting Stars tour, this time to Sri Lanka.

"Then I got home," she says, "And Cricket Victoria said, 'We don't have a contract for you'."

* * *

In her first season after moving to ACT, Hancock still trained with the Victoria squad but commuted – sometimes with former Australia captain Jodie Purves – to Canberra for matches. Such was the nature of the women's domestic game at the time.

Through the first half of her 20s and beyond, she committed herself to the Meteors, taking 31 wickets in 38 matches across six summers. In that time, Hancock only missed four matches, but with the ACT never finishing higher than fourth, finals cricket eluded her. It was the same in the WBBL; though she cycled through the Renegades, Hurricanes and Stars, she found herself always missing out on the pointy end of competitions.

As frustrating as that was, there was a more pressing issue she was struggling with.

"Earlier in my career, the type of cricketer I wanted to be never really suited the style of the teams I was playing in," she says. "I just didn't feel like I was playing the style of cricket that I loved, and I think maybe I lost a bit of belief along the way as well."

Some days, Hancock felt like a square peg in a round hole. Others, she felt as though she was playing cricket "just because I was a bit good at it". Somewhere across the journey, the passion for the sport that once lit her up had dimmed.

Yet she kept at it. Garry Hancock takes great pride in the way his kids are living and breathing examples of an inherent family value: a refusal to give up.

"That's what cricket's about – coming back all the time," he says. "It's just a bloody hard game, so it's a bumpy road. But you've got to keep working hard."

In the meantime, Hancock continued plying her other trade as a personal trainer. The job remains a neat fit for the garrulous, interested and regimented Hancock, who to this day maintains a small but loyal client base both online and out of her garage at her home in Brisbane.

It was a side hustle that might have become a full-time gig had Hancock's game-changing cricket moment never arrived. But it did. In mid-2020, towards the end of her time at ACT, two-time defending WBBL champions Brisbane Heat came knocking. Head coach Ashley Noffke, who might even have seen a bit of himself in the quick who loves to hit a hard length, soon clicked with the 24-year-old recruit, who was joined in teal by fellow Heat newcomer Georgia Redmayne.

"Nic made such an impact straight away," Redmayne recalls. "She's a people person – people are just drawn to her – so she provided some real energy and spark in our group. And at her core, she's very much a team-focused person; her big driver is to be part of a successful team."

As Delissa Kimmince faded from the scene, Hancock seamlessly took her place, claiming 25 wickets across her first two campaigns to be the Heat's most effective pace bowler. Better still, she felt she had finally found a team with a playing style that complemented her own.

"I like the hard length, beat the outside of the bat, then bowling at the stumps – almost a bit 'men like'," she says. "I always felt like I was capable of that … and when I first played for the Heat, that's how they bowled. That's how they wanted to play. They played hard cricket, dynamic cricket, explosive cricket, where you were (encouraged to) bowl bouncers, bowl yorkers, bowl off-pace balls, blow the stumps out. And I don't think that narrative has changed since."

Hancock's success prompted Queensland Cricket to offer her a contract with the Fire, and she promptly signed on the dotted line in mid-2022. Four years on and she is in exclusive company with Jonassen as the only bowlers to have claimed 100-plus wickets for the Heat and 50-plus for the Fire.

But it has been the years in between – the finals lost, the home found – that have made her.

"I found a real passion for cricket again in playing for Queensland," she says. "I'm playing because I love it."  

* * *

As is so often the case, Hancock's bonds of friendship and camaraderie within her new squads were strengthened through adversity.

After joining the Heat in 2020, she at last began experiencing knockout cricket. But 11 finals series games in five years still failed to amount to a trophy. Including the T20 Spring Challenge, the Heat lost four deciders in two summers. Two WNCL final defeats with the Fire through the same window compounded the misery.

"There's a lot of bad memories for Nicola there," Garry says. "And that scars you. But the secret is to keep coming back."

Hancock's positivity was tested, but it was also a blessing in a group that seemed to be forever picking up the pieces from one shattering loss after the next.

The senior figure in an otherwise youthful Fire fast-bowling group, she relished the opportunity to be the role model she feels was missing during her formative years at Victoria. During off-seasons and pre-seasons (and a 2024 stint in the UK aside), she was around Brisbane more than many of the squad's other experienced players, who were playing cricket abroad.

"Despite being on the older end herself, Nic spent a lot of time bringing together those younger girls, and providing a link between them and the ones who are just a little bit older," Redmayne says. "She's a very social person. She likes to bring the team together and make sure everyone's happy. And she's just a really good listener, too."

After beginning at the Heat together, Redmayne and Hancock soon found common ground in the meandering paths their cricket lives had followed. Since, the skipper has utilised her most experienced pacer as a means of tapping into the Fire's posse of young stars, to better understand what they might be thinking or feeling in certain situations.

"She's a bit more in the confidence of the younger group," Redmayne says. "She's helped them out a lot, and there's a bond there that's been created, for sure."

At the end of a 2024-25 season that began with Australia A representation, Hancock was named Queensland's players' player. In five knockout matches that summer across the two formats, she had taken nine wickets at 14, conceding barely more than six runs per over and claiming key breakthroughs, such as those of Tahlia Wilson, Georgia Voll, Courtney Webb and Lizelle Lee.

"She really enjoyed being able to step up in pressure moments," Redmayne says. "And she really thrived being at that business end of the season."

For someone who has bled for her adopted state, who has found a home in maroon, the accolade offered validation in the reciprocal nature of the relationship between player and squad.

"I love my team – like, I love my team," she says. "And I know I also now have the opportunity to play a really significant, impactful role in the (careers of the) younger pace bowlers. I hold a whole lot of pride in that … it's another side of the passion that has really developed for me."

With that in mind, Hancock completed a Level II coaching course last June. Through her cricket and also her personal training, she has experienced the impact good mentoring can have. And in her organised way, she already has plans to pick the brain of Queensland legend and pace guru Andy Bichel, who worked with the Fire at times last summer in lieu of a full-time fast-bowling coach.

"I've never played for Australia," she says. "I've not reached the pinnacle, but I've played a lot of hard cricket; had a lot of good days, and a lot of bad days.

"I'm quite a realistic person in the sense that I don't expect anyone to be perfect – I don't expect myself to be perfect – so I can come to coaching with a level of empathy that I think is really important for females."

* * *

As her legs slipped into the splits position, Hancock felt her left hamstring tendon pop. It was the final ball of the Heat's batting innings against Adelaide on November 29 – around five months ago now. She could take no further part in the match, and soon after, she received a more damning prognosis: 12 weeks on the sidelines.

The pain from the torn hamstring hurt, but there was proper anguish about what it meant for her summer. At the time, the Fire were flying, with four wins from four. And after a historically bad season for Brisbane – not a victory to be seen – this felt like salt in the wound for Hancock. She had also just turned 30, which triggered another thought: Is this how it's going to be from now? 

Instead of being consumed by the disappointment though, Hancock did what she has always done: she refused to give up.

"We were so low on numbers – injuries, people away for the WPL – that I played four weeks later," she says. "I was like: I've got to try to get back. But there was no room for a hiccup."

The Fire's season resumed in the new year with two games in Hobart, on January 4 and 6. Hancock was not only present – she was decisive. In the first game, she made a crucial 39no from 31 balls, then knocked over Hayley Silver-Holmes with a delightful off-cutter to be player of the match. Two days later, she claimed a career-best 4-42 to leave the Fire unbeaten at the halfway point of their season.

Through it all, she pushed through the pain, even tying heat packs to her left hamstring in a desperate attempt to maintain some warmth through the muscle.

"I was probably playing at 70 per cent," she says. "Everything was slower and restricted, and I wasn't bowling as quick, but I just had to land it on the spot, and I was just fortunate enough that it was coming out really well.

"I said to 'Redders' (Redmayne), 'Just keep bowling me until it's not working'."

Towards the end of the first match, having completed her 10 overs, Hancock left the field. Then she sat on the sideline with a towel over her head, and cried.

Two-and-a-half months separated those difficult-but-rewarding days in Tasmania and her date with destiny in Sydney. Then it came down to the small matter of two balls she had to get through to be out there as Queensland made history. For 25 years they had been trying to get the better of NSW in a final. Now, they were about to do it.

"It was a whirlwind at the end," Hancock says. "I get goosebumps even thinking about it."

As those final deliveries played out, she watched on from the sideline, understanding that her dream was at last set to be realised. And moments later, her teammates rushed towards her, arms outstretched. Suddenly, the pain wasn't quite so bad. As the post-match formalities ensued, Hancock was a wreck of emotion.

"I think the injury, and not being out there with the girls when that last ball was bowled, and just being in a lot of pain the previous couple of months – it felt like an accumulation of things," she says.

"It's been a turbulent year for our organisation. And obviously not winning a game through Big Bash … I don't know, (the title win) felt very overdue, but it also felt like the turning of a page for us."

* * *

After 30 years in Melbourne, the traffic finally got too much for Garry Hancock. So 'Gazza and Shazza', as Nicola laughingly refers to her parents, packed up their lives and moved to the Queensland coastal town of Bargara, just out of Bundaberg.

Their daughter made the four-hour drive north from Brisbane to visit them earlier this month. They remain the rocks in her life, and their beachfront property has become something of a happy place for Hancock.

One perfect autumn morning just recently, she and Garry woke before dawn for a fishing trip. On a 5.5-metre boat owned by a friend of Garry's, they trekked 25km out into the Coral Sea, where they fished for red emperor, hussar, nannygai and mackerel.

Unaccustomed as she was to the heaving swell that characterises the waters way out beyond the coastline, Nicola got seasick.

"Put her off fishing for a few weeks, I reckon," laughs Garry. "But I can't get her up here enough – she loves fishing, and I enjoy that thoroughly, because you get to speak to each other."

Later that same day, they went to Garry's CrossFit masters class. Still hobbled by her torn left calf, Nicola knew her limits, participating where she could, before joining her dad and his friends for coffee.

"I've never seen any young people there before," Garry smiles, "but when Nicola comes here on holidays, they're quite happy to have her involved – she can mix in with the youngest of kids to the oldest of people."

Afterward, she began making plans for her return trip, back to the house she bought in Deagon last winter. The lawn wasn't going to mow itself. And beyond that, there was a rehabilitation program to begin.

"I would say there's not an ounce of me that feels like slowing down," she says. "I have a real passion in playing now. My body and my mind feel really healthy and really prepared to keep striving, to keep pushing, and to keep getting success."

And as her trip took her south, and she wound her way through Brisbane's northern fringes, Hancock could feel it.

She was home.