Alana King and Beth Mooney set to feature in Western Australia's opening games as they seek a fast start in 2026-27
'Ruthless' cricket key as WA look to take the next step
A strong start to the season and "ruthless" cricket will be key for Western Australia in 2026-27 after they narrowly missed out on a place in last year's women's domestic 50-over final.
WA came home with a wet sail last Women's National Cricket League season, winning seven matches on the trot before stumbling in their final game, needing a bonus point and an unlikely net run-rate boost to snatch second spot on the table off Queensland.
Rather than ruing a missed opportunity, coach Becky Grundy is confident her team is headed in the right direction.
First on the agenda will be WA's opening pair of matches against Tasmania at the WACA Ground next Tuesday and Thursday. There, they will be determined not to repeat the start they made to 2025-26, when they dropped their first two home games to Queensland.
WNCL season previews
In their favour will be the availability of Australia stars Beth Mooney and Alana King for the games against Tasmania, with the pair set to make a rare WNCL appearance ahead of Australia's upcoming white-ball series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
"A lot of it is going to be about how we start," Grundy told cricket.com.au. "We had a really clean run and got those seven wins in a row last season, but unfortunately, probably the last two years we haven't started the season well.
"I'm really hoping that the practice games and our preparation have set us up well for that.
"To be honest, it's just about doing much of the same – I thought we started to win the big moments, and even in the games that we did lose, you could see some really positive signs there."
WA picked up three bonus points across their seven wins in 2025-26, but Grundy is targeting even more this season, calling on her team to be ruthless in the big moments.
"The (table) showed how competitive it is, and normally with that number of wins in WNCL cricket, you find yourself in a final, but with bonus points ... it's changing slightly," she continued.
"So for us, it's about being ruthless in those moments where we can get a bonus point or we can positively impact our net run-rate – last season showed that we just left ourselves a little bit too much to do in that last game.
"It's a really cool spot to be and it's just about doing as much as we can the same as what we showed in the back end of the season."
WA have boosted their pace stocks for 2026-27, recruiting Ruby Strange from Queensland, to help cover the retirement of Piepa Cleary, while teenage leg-spinner Tegan Williamson was handed her first contract.
Aussie player availability
Mooney, King, Heather Graham and Chloe Ainsworth are the four CA-contracted players on the WA list, with all set to be available for the opening two matches against Tasmania ahead of upcoming white-ball series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
Lilly Mills meanwhile will miss both opening games due to Australia A duties.
The Aussie quartet's availability for the remainder of the season is less clear: Australia are touring Sri Lanka when the WNCL season resumes in December, and have a packed back end of the summer featuring the T20 Champions Trophy in February, ODIs against New Zealand in early March, followed by a multi-format tour of South Africa.
Mooney and King are sure to be heavily involved in those tours, while Graham, who has not featured in an Australia squad since she was called in as an injury replacement for the 2025 ODI World Cup, and the uncapped Ainsworth, are more likely to be available for WA. The Women's Premier League in India will again be played in January, further impacting the availability of top players.
2026-27 squad
Head coach: Becky Grundy
Squad: Chloe Ainsworth*, Zoe Britcliffe, Mathilda Carmichael, Maddy Darke, Amy Edgar, Heather Graham*, Mikayla Hinkley, Ebony Hoskin, Alana King*, Shay Manolini, Rebecca McGrath, Ines McKeon, Lilly Mills, Beth Mooney*, Taneale Peschel, Chloe Piparo, Ruby Strange, Maddie White, Tegan Williamson
Rookie: Chloe Bartholomew
Ins: Ruby Strange (Qld), Tegan Williamson, Chloe Bartholomew
Outs: Charis Bekker, Piepa Cleary (retired)
* Denotes Cricket Australia contract
Last season
Result: Third (7 wins, 5 losses)
Western Australia narrowly missed out on the final last season, finishing one win and one bonus point behind second-ranked Queensland, who went on to take out the title.
Possible XI for round one
Chloe Piparo (c), Maddy Darke (wk), Mikayla Hinkley, Beth Mooney, Heather Graham, Mathilda Carmichael, Chloe Ainsworth, Alana King, Zoe Britcliffe, Ruby Strange, Ebony Hoskin
* Lilly Mills is touring India with Australia A
Inside word with head coach Becky Grundy
The arrival of Ruby Strange
Queensland WNCL-winner Strange has made a full-time move to Perth, signing a state contract with Western Australia to go with her Perth Scorchers WBBL deal.
Strange, the 23-year-old right-arm quick, impressed WA's hierarchy enough in her maiden season with the Scorchers in WBBL|11 that they have lured her west full-time.
Strange's move followed a similar all-in approach taken by Ebony Hoskin last summer, who penned a WNCL deal on the back of WBBL performances.
"She's been great," Grundy said. "We had a really good experience with her with the Scorchers, and we knew that she would fit in really well. She adds a lot of depth to our team in the pace bowling, and even from a batting perspective and the energy that she brings around the group, she's been excellent too.
"We're really happy that we're able to get her to move over to WA, knowing that it's a big move for anyone."
Chloe Ainsworth's preseason
Rising quick Ainsworth was handed a Cricket Australia contract in April – a strong endorsement of her talent, given how rare it is for an uncapped player to receive a national contract.
Ainsworth's talent has been clear since she stormed into the scene in WBBL|09, but injuries have hampered her opportunities at representative level and interrupted her past couple of preseasons.
In great news for the 21-year-old, she has completed a full preseason and is ready and raring to go for the start of the WNCL season.
"She's had a really clean run at the preseason, which has been excellent," Grundy said. "She did a mountain of work last season. She got a little bit of an injury towards the backend of last season that impacted her player leave period, but she's had a really clean run at the preseason.
"She's knocked off a hundred or so in the practice games and is back opening the bowling for us, so we're fully expecting her to be available for round one.
"I think it hasn't quite sunk in for her yet around the CA contract, but she was able to get among the girls when they had their content capture and their camp at the start of the preseason, and she's just so competitive.
"She's just hungry to take wickets and score runs, and it's been really nice to actually see her have a clean run at a preseason, which she probably hasn't had for a couple of years now."
One to watch
Tegan Williamson, who captained Australia's Under-19s in a tri-series against England and Sri Lanka earlier this year, earned her first WA contract this season.
The leg-spinner, who turns 18 next week, is still completing high school and WA are managing her training around her school commitments.
Williamson represented Australia at the 2025 Under-19 World Cup and will be hoping for a repeat appearance at next January's 2027 tournament in Nepal and Bangladesh.
"We've had to balance it a little bit, with her in her final year at school," Grundy said. "She's someone that we've had in and out of our environment the past couple of years, whenever the opportunity has presented.
"We're pushing for her to be able to shine her name in lights for the Under-19 World Cup in January too.
"It's about how we balance her training this year with school, knowing how important that is for her and to be able to complete that without any disruption. She's great every time she gets the chance to get out of school clothes and get among the girls."
The preseason
Western Australia and ACT were the only WNCL sides not to travel to the Sunshine Coast for warm-up matches, with WA instead focusing on local practice matches.
"It's been awesome," Grundy said. "The weather has actually been on our side, we've had two or three intra-squad games and games against a couple of the boys' teams too.
"We don't get to travel this time of year with budget at the moment, but the facilities have been great with the WACA (redevelopment).
"Touch wood, we've had a relatively fit squad all preseason so it's been really competitive and making selection calls will probably the toughest it's ever been for me as a head coach which is a great sign."