Sixteen-year-old outshines stars in debut to remember

In July this year, a video of a young left-hander producing a flawless array of strokes in the nets at Cricket NSW went viral on social media.

That young batter was 16-year-old Phoebe Litchfield.

And on Friday night, she took those shots from the nets into the middle of North Sydney Oval, producing one of the more memorable debuts in Rebel WBBL history as she outshone all but one of her Sydney Thunder teammates.

It takes a rare talent to pull off a ramp shot just 10 deliveries into your Big Bash career, and Litchfield could hardly have walked to the middle in a tougher situation.

Chasing a target of 193, the Thunder were 3-25 with Aussie vice-captain Rachael Haynes, New Zealand’s Rachel Priest and big-hitting Naomi Stalenberg already back in the sheds.

Charging in at the other end was a world-class Sixers attack boasting the likes of Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner and Marizanne Kapp, 

Litchfield had already pulled off several athletic saves on the boundary during the Sixers’ innings and if she was nervous, it didn’t show as the Year 10 student put together a poised display with the bat well beyond her years.

She looked almost too casual the first delivery she faced, blocking a delivery from fiery South African Kapp.

After finding the boundary from the ninth ball she faced, Litchfield expertly ramped the next for another four.

The following over, she went over the top for a third.

Litchfield shared a club-record 68-run fourth-wicket stand with veteran Alex Blackwell – who had made her Australian debut before her younger teammate was even born – before being trapped lbw by fellow 16-year-old Hayley Silver-Holmes on 26 from 22.

Only Blackwell scored more runs in the Thunder’s unsuccessful chase which ended 49 runs shy of their target on 9-143.

"I’m just glad to be out there, it was so much fun," Litchfield said on Channel 7’s coverage.

"It’s so weird to watch (the Thunder players) last year and now to be out there with them.

"(Blackwell) is so calm and composed and she’s got so much experience, she made batting easy and it makes a difference having a calm head out there."

And of that ramp: "There were no one there … it’s my go-to shot when I’m looking for somewhere to score."

The crowd at North Sydney Oval lapped up her innings on Friday and her Thunder teammates weren’t the only ones impressed.

"To see such class from a 16-year-old is really impressive," Sixers wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy said.

"That’s what’s so great about this competition, these young girls are getting opportunities."

The left-hander’s resume heading into Friday’s match already made for impressive reading; Friday’s innings was proof she can match it with adults as well.

Hailing from Orange in country New South Wales, Litchfield played as an underage player for the Cricket Australia XI in the Under 18 National Female Championships in January, finishing as the tournament’s leading run scorer with 348 at 43.5, including a century.

She was part of the Governor-General’s XI that played the White Ferns in February before she toured New Zealand with Australia’s Under 19s one month later, while she has also been likened to Australian opener Nicole Bolton by national assistant coach Shelley Nitschke.

Cricket isn’t her only talent, either; Litchfield is also a member of Australia’s Under-16 hockey team.

With credentials like those, it’s no surprise she was earmarked as a player to watch by Australian great and Fox Cricket commentator Mel Jones ahead of Friday’s game.

"I’m used to watching YouTube clips of young guns coming out of India, five, six-year-olds smashing the ball all over the place… that’s now changed," Jones told cricket.com.au.

"If she gets an opportunity, I will be glued to the TV screen."