NSW unveil new-look squad for 2019-20

Reigning Women’s National Cricket League champions NSW Breakers will field a new-look line-up this summer following the departure of Australian stars Ellyse Perry and Nicola Carey.

The 20-time WNCL champions, who claimed a third-straight domestic 50-over title last summer, have bid farewell to six members of their title-winning side, with young quick Belinda Vakarewa, leg-spinner Maisy Gibson, Mikayla Hinkley and Carly Leeson also moving interstate.

But they have bolstered their stocks with the signing of ACT allrounder Erin Burns, who will finally have a chance to represent her home state after forging a domestic career at Tasmania and the ACT.

Perry had already announced her move to Victoria for the 2019-20 WNCL season, having relocated to Melbourne to be with her husband Matt Toomua who is contracted to the Melbourne Rebels, while Carey was unveiled as a big-signing by both Tasmania and WBBL club Hobart Hurricanes on Monday morning.

Vakarewa and Gibson have also relocated to Tasmania, while Hinkley moves to Queensland for new opportunities, and Leeson has made the move to the ACT. Wicketkeeper Hannah Trethewy was delisted.

Burns, who originally hails from Wollongong, played 48 matches for Tasmania and the ACT, where she scored more than 1,000 runs and took 33 wickets.

She is joined by four newly contracted teenagers in allrounder Hayley Silver-Holmes, 15, opener Phoebe Litchfield, 16, fast bowler Stella Campbell, 16, and wicketkeeper Maddy Darke, 18.

The Breakers will field three Australian-contracted players this summer, with captain Alyssa Healy joined by Australian vice-captain Rachael Haynes and allrounder Ashleigh Gardner.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to have (Burns) as a Breaker at last,” Cricket NSW General Manager of Cricket Performance David Moore said.

“When you lose the calibre of player that we’ve lost, they’re always extremely hard to replace.

“We’re not looking to replace those people, we’re just looking to get some more experience in and Erin has done a good job during her WNCL career.

“We’ve got her (and), Rene Farrell, Sarah Aley; experienced players when the Australian players aren’t there, and of course Gardner, Healy and Haynes.

“(There’s) some really highly experienced players that we can call on to ensure that we perform well at that level.”

Moore said he was excited by the crop of young talent coming into the side, with all four teenagers having played for Australia’s Under-19s.

“The women’s pathway has always been a strength of Cricket NSW,” Moore said.

Darke scored three centuries in Women’s Premier Cricket last season, while Litchfield made her maiden First Grade century last season at just 15.

Silver-Holmes became the youngest ever WBBL debutant for the Sixers at the same age.

NSW Breakers squad: Alyssa Healy (c) (CA contracted), Sarah Aley, Erin Burns, Stella Campbell, Lauren Cheatle, Maddy Darke, Rene Farrell, Ashleigh Gardner (CA contracted), Lisa Griffith, Rachael Haynes (CA contracted), Saskia Horley, Phoebe Litchfield, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Lauren Smith, Naomi Stalenberg, Rachel Trenaman, Tahlia Wilson