Breakers could make history

When the Lend Lease NSW Breakers secured a comfortable victory over the Tradies ACT Meteors in their opening Women’s National Cricket League fixture on Saturday, it was more than just a great start to their season; it was the first step towards surpassing a record that has stood for more than 60 years.

Season preview: Women's National Cricket League

Between 1953-54 and 1961-62, first-class cricket was dominated by New South Wales, with such titans of the game as Richie Benaud, Bob Simpson and Keith Miller finding time between their Baggy Green duties to don a blue cap and contribute to the side's nine straight Sheffield Shield victories – the most consecutive championships in Australian domestic cricket history.

Having equalled that total last year in the one-day WNCL with a win over the Commonwealth Bank VicSpirit (six of their nine premierships have come at the expense of Victoria), the Breakers will be looking to seal the lone top spot in the record books in 2014-15.

"No-one ever talks about nine in a row," Leah Poulton, the 2013-14 NSW women's player of the year and former Commonwealth Bank Southern Star told cricket.com.au.

"(The premierships) won't mean anything unless we can win this year.

"We talk about it a little bit but not as much as the media talk about it.

"In sport, that kind of stuff just doesn't happen. It would be really special."

With so much recent success, Poulton could be forgiven for seeing the Breakers' near-decade at the top all as a single long golden moment.

But there is one final victory in particular that stands above the rest for the 157-match veteran.

"They're all really special obviously, but the first one that started off the nine was at home at North Sydney and we weren't in a very good position to win," she recalled.

"It was against Queensland and we pretty much had that game lost. I think they only needed three runs and had three wickets in hand.

"But somehow we managed to claw that one back and win and that started off the nine.

"It was just one of those victories where you don't know how it happened, but we won it and it started that little bit of history.

"We had a really young side then as well – and I think the team pretty much stayed the same for the next five or six years afterwards, so it was pretty special."

Since the competition's inception in 1996-97, NSW have taken top honours in 16 of the 18 seasons, and Poulton believes it's the state program's ability to turn those young and talented sides into champion teams that has seen the Breakers be so successful for so long.

"I think it really stems from our pathways," Poulton said.

"New South Wales has not only been really successful in the WNCL format and WT20, but also in the underage competitions.

"There's a real culture in NSW, that whenever we take on a tournament we expect to win it.

"We've got a really good structure that enables us to perform well.

"I think it's the depth of our program that has allowed us to keep rolling forward over the years.

"We had a few retirements last year with Sharon Milanta going and Lisa Sthalekar the year before that.

"But the girls who come through and fill those roles are more than ready.

"The benefit of (our system) is that there are three or four young ones in our squad and we sort of don't know which of those girls are actually going to play this year."

One of those young cricketers did her chances no harm in the season opener, with Lauren Smith snaring 4-35 off 10 overs in her debut match for the Breakers – including the wicket of Shooting Stars allrounder Rhiannon Dick.

"Lauren Smith, who's a young off-spinner that turns the ball a long way, is really exciting," Poulton said.

"It's always good to see spinners come in and really rip the ball."

The 2014-15 edition of the WNCL and Women's Twenty20 competition has seen the arrival of some of the biggest names in women's cricket to Australian shores, with England captain Charlotte Edwards, along with teammate and superstar wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor just two of the world-class cricketers to hit the domestic scene.

But the extra degree of difficulty pertaining to this year's competition isn't something that Poulton, who played 48 One-Day Internationals and 40 Twenty20 Internationals for Australia, is shying away from.

"I think it's all the more sweeter when you're really challenged and come out on top," Poulton said, with the Breakers set to take on Edwards' Alcohol.Think Again Western Fury in round two of WNCL action.

"Obviously, the ones you really have to fight for stick in your memory.

"This season, I think, will definitely be like that. There are some really good international players out here – not just international, but some of the best players going around.

"There will be some big games – especially in T20 where individual players can really change the momentum of the match.

"We just have to make sure we have really good plans to those players and try to stop them."

For all your scores and reports from the WNCL and WT20, as well as the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars’ upcoming series against the West Indies, stay tuned to cricket.com.au