Sixers young gun learning from best

As the Sydney Sixers eye a third-consecutive Rebel WBBL title, one up-and-comer is determined to take every lesson she can from watching the world’s best players in action.

Teenage Sixer Tahlia Wilson has played five matches in magenta in WBBL|04 – an effort to be proud of, given the star-power in the Sixers list – and while she didn’t take the field in last weekend’s thrilling semi-final win, she was very much part of the squad.

A batter who’s also the reserve wicketkeeper for Australian star Alyssa Healy, Wilson has represented Australia’s Under-19s after touring South Africa with the squad last April and is part of the crop of young talent the Sixers are nurturing as they take out title after title.

“It’s been pretty awesome, especially with the caliber of the players we have led by our skipper Ellyse People, there’s no other people you’d want to learn off,” Wilson said.

The 19-year-old has particularly relished the chance to improve her glovework with one of the best in the business in Healy, while she’s had no shortage to learn from in the nets with Healy and Perry joined by the likes of Ashleigh Gardner, New Zealand’s Sara McGlashan and South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk.

“We’ve formed a close friendship as well, I’ve learnt a lot from Healy, especially keeping-wise a few technical things,” Wilson said.

“The main thing I’ve learn is about training hard and enjoying it, the more you do that the more you’re going to enjoy the game when you’re out there playing.”

The Under-19s trip to South Africa was Wilson’s first foray overseas, but it definitely gave the Albion Park product a taste for trying out new conditions.

She was one of two New South Wales Breakers players to appear in New Zealand’s Super Smash domestic T20 competition in October, where she played for Auckland alongside the likes of Sixers teammate McGlashan and White Ferns Anna Peterson, Holly Huddleston, Katie Perkins and Maddy Green.

“(South Africa) was my time overseas so it was a bit of an eye opener but I really enjoyed it,” Wilson said.

“You learn a lot on the field and off it too, the culture is so much different from Australia and there were a lot of friendships formed.

“You hear the girls going to the World Cup and talking about conditions being different overseas and for me to experience that for myself, that was pretty cool.”

Outside of cricket, Wilson is studying commerce part time and hopes to one day get into financial planning – joking her teammates were already hitting her up for advice – but this summer, she simply wants to earn as much time in the middle as possible.

After the WBBL final she’ll return to the NSW Breakers set-up for the final round of the 50-over Women’s National Cricket League competition, where the reigning champions hope to add yet another title to their already overflowing cabinet.

“It would be nice to play a few more games, but the squad we have is strong so I just want to learn as much as I can,” Wilson said.