Spurred on by their upset loss in the 2025-26 WNCL final, the NSW Breakers have lofty goals for the upcoming summer
Breakers seek to set new bar following final defeat
New South Wales were the team to beat throughout the 2025-26 Women's National Cricket League season, only to be stunned by Queensland in the decider.
Now, the Breakers are looking to level up once again as they prepare for an opening-round final rematch against the reigning domestic 50-over champions.
They are set to have a trio of superstars at their disposal for their first two matches at Cricket Central, with the availability of Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield set to help counter the absence of four players currently touring India with Australia A.
"We've had a good preseason and the girls have worked extremely hard – we're all ready for the games to start and seeing where we're really at compared to some opposition," coach Peter Clarke told cricket.com.au.
"I think we're tracking pretty well, but I assume every coach, every state thinks that at this stage."
WNCL season previews
South Australia | Tasmania | Queensland
A dominant run through the WNCL regular season saw the Breakers finish a whopping 13 points clear on top of the table, dropping just one of 12 matches. They were strong favourites to win a second-straight title but ultimately fell short to Queensland in a thrilling, rain-affected final in Sydney, as the Ruth Preddey Cup headed north.
"There's always areas for improvement. Whether or not we win the thing or you come last, if you don't improve, you fall behind," Clarke continued.
"For me, broadly, it's just every person trying to improve and be a better player than they were last year, and us understanding the way we want to play and for us all to play a little bit better than we did last year, and coming together as a team a little bit better than we did last year.
"Even though I think we did those things well last year, you've got to keep trying to do better every year that you go forward."
Emma Manix-Geeves has made the move from Tasmania to New South Wales, with the wicketkeeper-batter the sole fresh face in an otherwise stable Breakers group for the 2026-27 season.
Caoimhe Bray, who missed the second half of the 2025-26 domestic season due to a back injury, has earned an upgrade to a full contract after being awarded a rookie deal last season, in an acknowledgement of the highly rated allrounder's potential.
Fellow pace-bowling allrounder Lucy Finn has been added to the squad’s rookie list following her breakout season for NSW and Sydney Thunder, while Tara French has dropped from the full contract list to the rookie list.
Aussie player availability
CA-contracted players may be available for the opening two matches against Queensland, but their 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.
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: Peter Clarke
Squad: Samantha Bates, Caoimhe Bray, Maitlan Brown, Erin Burns, Lauren Cheatle, Sarah Coyte, Hannah Darlington, Sienna Eve, Ashleigh Gardner*, Elsa Hunter, Anika Learoyd, Phoebe Litchfield*, Katie Mack, Emma Manix-Geeves, Claire Moore, Frankie Nicklin, Ellyse Perry*, Tahlia Wilson
Rookies: Lucy Finn, Tara French
Ins: Emma Manix-Geeves (Tas), Lucy Finn
Outs: Alyssa Healy (retired), Jade Allen, Kate Pelle (Tas)
* Denotes Cricket Australia contract
Last season
Result: Runners-up
New South Wales were dominant throughout the regular season, winning 11 out of 12 matches to finish a whopping 13 points clear on top of the table. They went into the final as red-hot favourites to claim a second-consecutive title, but were outgunned by Queensland on the day, as the Fire got revenge for the previous year's final.
Possible XI for round one
Emma Manix-Geeves (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Erin Burns, Claire Moore, Caoimhe Bray, Lucy Finn, Sarah Coyte, Lauren Cheatle (c), Sam Bates
* Tahlia Wilson, Katie Mack, Anika Learoyd and Frankie Nicklin are touring India with Australia A
T20 World Cup champions Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner and Ellyse Perry headline a strong Breakers' squad for the rematch of last summer's WNCL final, while the uncapped trio of Tara French, Emma Manix-Geeves and Eva Ragg are a chance of making their NSW debut.
Ragg has earned her maiden WNCL call-up from outside the Breakers’ contract list following impressive performances in NSW Premier Cricket and during pre-season trial games. Maitlan Brown is still recovering from the hamstring injury that ruled her out of the 'A' tour.
Inside word with head coach Peter Clarke
Player availability
The Breakers will be without Australia A representatives Tahlia Wilson, Katie Mack, Anika Learoyd and Frankie Nicklin for the opening round, but should have the CA-contracted trio of Perry, Gardner and Litchfield at their disposal against Queensland.
"We've got mostly healthy bodies," Clarke said. "We have four girls away with the Aus A team, so that's a really great opportunity for them and it changes our squad and brings about some opportunities (for others).
"We've got the Aussie girls who've been in and out through the preseason outside of their commitments, we'll have them for round one, so that's really positive."
Hannah Darlington's fitness
Darlington's last official match was way back in April 2025, when she represented Australia A against England A. The 24-year-old missed the entire 2025-26 summer due to a persistent leg injury and ultimately went under the knife in March this year.
She has now resumed training, with a view to returning to the field this season.
"She's back into cricket skills and working towards trying to reevaluate where she's at with her career once she gets back on the park and how she can become the best version of herself again as a player," Clarke said.
"(It's been a) long rehab for her, but she seems to be much closer to the back end of that than the beginning."
Bray poised for a return
Rising star Caoimhe Bray's 2025-26 season was cut short following the re-emergence of a stress fracture in her back in the lead-up to the WBBL|11 finals.
The 17-year-old missed the remainder of the season with New South Wales, and it was her second such setback after she also missed the end of the previous summer with a stress injury.
"Caoimhe's tracking nicely," Clarke said. "She's unbelievable cricketer, highly talented, but most importantly, she's got a great work ethic, fantastic curiosity and enthusiasm to improve and to basically take on any challenge. So that's her biggest gift.
"She's improving in all areas of the game, bat, bowl and field, and at a kind of exponential rate ... hopefully she can get a lot more opportunities to be on the park this year and show that to the world."
Emma Manix-Geeves' arrival
The only brand-new face in the NSW squad this season is former Tasmania wicketkeeper-batter Emma Manix-Geeves. She had a taste of the environment when she spent a season with the Sixers in WBBL|11, and has now made Cricket Central her home, where she'll boost the Breakers' batting stocks and provide a back-up 'keeping option for Tahlia Wilson.
"She's fit in beautifully," Clarke said. "She's a great person, great trainer, wants to get better, so she fits in like a glove in our environment."
Players to watch
"It's hard to name one without naming everybody or leaving out everybody," Clarke said, pointing to the potential for any of his squad members to have a breakout season.
"Last year, Frankie Nicklin had a breakout season. I don't think many people outside of our group would have seen that coming, then she ended up doing so well in WNCL and getting picked in the Green v Gold, she's now away at Australia A in India.
"So I just think that's open for anyone, right? If you train really hard in preseason and you get your skills up and then you get your opportunities and you take them, anything is possible.
"That door is wide open for all of our players, really, no matter the age or stage or career. Everybody's impressed me with their work ethic, and I'd be remiss to say one has above the others.
"I think they've all put in equal amount of work. We'll just see who's able to take their opportunities this year and contribute to the team."
The rise of Frankie Nicklin
Speaking of Nicklin, the talented 21-year-old off-spinner will miss New South Wales' opening two games while on Australia A duties in India.
Nicklin debuted for NSW in January 2023, but didn't not feature again for the Breakers until 2024-25, where she played five matches and subsequently earned a state contract.
In a breakout 2025-26, she captured 14 wickets in eight WNCL games at 21.07, while also making her WBBL debut for the Sydney Sixers. Nicklin was subsequently included in the three-day Green v Gold representative red-ball match, where she seized her chance, taking 4-18 and 4-26 to secure a commanding victory for the Gold team – more than enough to secure her spot in the Australia A set-up.
"She's just got an incredible appetite to be better, incredible work ethic," Clarke said.
"She just wants to work hard. She competes one hundred per cent of the time, she always gives her best, she's curious about becoming better.
"You couldn't ask for more out of a player – she just wants to get better, and she gives everything toward that, and that's why she does get better.
"And on top of all that, she's super team oriented, which is so nice a balance. Some people who are super determined to get better can do that with a bit of tunnel vision and forget others.
"But she's not like that at all. She wants to be the best she can be but also is super committed to the to the team. I cannot speak highly enough about her, and she deserves all the kind of good things that are coming her way, and it's just the beginning."