WNCL preview: Young Fire spin into contention

A young Queensland side came within a couple of points of making a surprise appearance in last summer's WNCL decider when they stormed home by winning their final three matches of the season. 

Ultimately they fell short but head coach Ashley Noffke is enthused by the next generation of talent at his disposal, which is nicely complemented by the likes of Australia trio Jess Jonassen, Georgia Redmayne and Grace Harris, as well as the experienced Laura Harris and Georgia Prestwidge.

The Fire have lost superstar Beth Mooney to WA, but filling those sizeable shoes will be the outstanding Redmayne, whose hundred in the 2020-21 final handed Queensland their first-ever WNCL title. 

Also exiting to WA is Lily Mills, while Holly Ferling has essentially traded spots with new recruit Nicola Hancock in heading to the ACT.

Outstanding teen prospects Lucy Hamilton and Grace Parsons have been handed contracts this year and will add variety and strike power to the Fire attack, as they did at the back-end of last summer. 

Last year's WNCL result: 5th (4 wins, 3 losses, 1 NR)

Contract list: Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Mikayla Hinkley, Ellie Johnston, Ruth Johnston, Jess Jonassen (CA contracted), Charli Knott, Caitlin Mair, Grace Parsons, Georgia Prestwidge, Georgia Redmayne, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll

Ins: Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock (ACT), Grace Parsons

Outs: Meagan Dixon (delisted), Holly Ferling (ACT), Lilly Mills (WA), Beth Mooney (WA)

Possible best XI: Voll, Redmayne (wk), G Harris, Knott, Hinkley, L Harris, Jonassen (c), Sippel, Prestwidge, Hamilton, Parsons

Aussie player availability: The likes of Jonassen, Harris and Redmayne are expected to be available for the first two rounds of matches in September and early October ahead of WBBL|08, and for the fourth round of games in early January ahead of the home ODI and T20I series against Pakistan.

However, December's tour of India will rule those selected out of the matches played immediately after the WBBL, and the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa next February will overlap with the final two rounds as well as the final, to be played on February 25.

The inside word with head coach Ashley Noffke

The pre-season: "This preseason has been great – a bit shorter, a bit sweeter. We got away to Coffs Harbour a couple of weeks ago for a pre-season tour against New South Wales and Victoria, and there were some great signs there. So it's been an exciting build-up, getting another pre-season into this young, evolving group, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the front half of the season trends. 

"There's been some great signs in terms of things that are important to me, like the level of vulnerability in the group, the connection between everyone, and the understanding and respect within our group, which is really high. There's a collective purpose going on.

"Pre-season can make or break you potentially, when you're all around each other for long periods, but I've really felt like this has been one of our strongest efforts."

Injury update: "We'll have a full squad to choose from come the first game. There are a few people on modified (programs) over the next little bit just to make sure that happens. Jess (Jonassen) is someone we're managing with the help of CA, just to make sure she's available. She was carrying a few little niggles through the Commonwealth Games, so it's more about good management than worrying whether she'll be fit or not. It's just trying to make sure she's in the right place at the right time for Queensland and Australia."

Player to watch: "I think there's a dangerous Laura Harris on the horizon for the opposition. She did well against New South Wales and Victoria (in pre-season), which was really nice to see. And she proved her worth in the first round of Premier cricket last week, scoring 80 off 30 balls, so there's a danger sign there for bowlers this season."

Image Id: 3FC0E27CB2FF422681A5B556BAD87B9C Image Caption: Laura Harris is in ominous touch ahead of the WNCL // Getty

Biggest strength: "With Gracie Parsons, 'JJ' (Jonassen), Gracie (Harris), Charli Knott, we're spin strong, there's no question. We know that's where our strength lies."

Areas for improvement: "We've been working with our batters on a number of things, but the softer side of batting is really where we've focused. We're a really strong boundary percentage team; we're the market leaders in finding the boundary. So it comes back to our ability to rotate strike and manoeuvre slower bowlers, and spinners, in our batting. If we do that well, we're incredibly dangerous. So we've been working really hard on that, and we've certainly seen some evolution in some of the batters. Just some basic stuff that they really understand now and they're seeing the benefits of. With our fast-bowling unit, our lines and how disciplined we are has still got a way to go to where we want to be exactly, but that's been improving constantly through the pre-season."

Young gun: "Gracie Parsons is a cracking human being. She's got great high-performance characteristics and she's highly skilled – she spins the ball a long way, which we saw in the WNCL. It's her first pre-season, she's been working really hard and she's handling anything. She's a great personality around our group, and she's just prepared to roll the sleeves up and do what she needs to do."

Image Id: 04685F0D8CFC4289968E663280FA27D3 Image Caption: Leg-spinner Grace Parsons is one of the Fire's most promising young talents // Getty

Team to beat: "There's no better team to beat than New South Wales – full strength, under lights at North Sydney Oval, and it's our first game of the year. Let's get it on!"

Schedule:

Sep 23 v New South Wales, North Sydney Oval (D/N)

Sep 25 v New South Wales, North Sydney Oval 

Oct 1 v ACT, TBC

Oct 3 v ACT, TBC

Dec 21 v Western Australia, WACA Ground (D/N)

Dec 23 v Western Australia, WACA Ground (D/N)

Jan 4 v Tasmania, Allan Border Field

Jan 6 v Tasmania, Allan Border Field

Jan 17 v Victoria, Ian Healy Oval

Jan 19 v Victoria, Ian Healy Oval

Feb 17 v South Australia, Karen Rolton Oval

Feb 19 v South Australia, Karen Rolton Oval