Schools in: Students prepare for exams inside the Village

In an alternate, non-COVID universe, Tess Flintoff might have joined her classmates this week in cutting up school uniforms and indulging in muck-up day pranks, among other rites of passage that accompany the final days of high school.

Instead, the 17-year-old Melbourne Stars allrounder is preparing for her final Year 12 exams in the Rebel WBBL Village in Sydney, swapping between net sessions and study sessions.

Flintoff is one of 12 high school students in the WBBL Village, and one of five completing Year 12.

She is part of a cohort who will complete their final exams while in the hub, alongside the likes of Adelaide Strikers quick Darcie Brown and Sydney Sixers pacer Stella Campbell.

While Flintoff admitted to cricket.com.au she was "spewing" to miss the antics that accompany the final days of school, she is happily embracing the unique combination of cricket and study in the hub.

In a bid to stave off the distractions of ping pong tournaments, shooting hoops and having a hit on the golf simulator – while of course also juggling the demands that come with being an elite cricketer – Flintoff and her fellow Stars students have formed a study group to keep themselves accountable.

"It's been a little bit difficult not having that face-to-face contact with teachers," Flintoff said.

"But myself, (uni student) Lucy Cripps, Georgia Gall and Lara Shannon have a study group going trying to keep each other motivated, and keep the study going which is definitely helping.

"(My school) has been super supportive of me during this period as well, the teachers have been sending my resources and I really appreciate their support.

"It's not like it's anything new, we've been used to the online learning stuff over the last couple of months which has certainly been a big help.

"The study group is a good thing to keep me motivated, mum and dad both being schoolteachers are on my back a little bit too about it which isn't the worst thing in the world.

"It is a little hard trying to manage it, because there's always something better to do in the hub."

Arriving in the WBBL Village in Sydney was a four-week process for players and staff for Victoria, one that provided yet another set of obstacles the likes of Flintoff and the Renegades' Hayward, who had already spent months schooling from home.

Two weeks prior to leaving, the Victorians had to follow 'home isolation' orders, which saw Flintoff forced to relocate to Renegade Makinley Blows' home for the fortnight.

A fortnight of hotel quarantine in Sydney followed, with Flintoff sitting her General Achievement Test (GAT) during that time.

Varying degrees of remote learning during 2020 have helped prepare these cricketers-slash-students for the challenges of living in the hub.

But arranging for all the students to take their exams in the hub required careful planning and coordination between the league, the Australian Cricketers' Association and each state's education department.

While Sydneysiders including Campbell and Hayley Silver-Holmes can attend their own schools for examinations – in private rooms, to abide by the WBBL hub's bio-security requirements – an alternate location has been found at SEDA College in Glebe for the interstaters.

There, they will take their exams in sync with their classmates back home, with some – including Campbell and Brisbane Heat's Charli Knott – sitting exams as early as this week, while Flintoff's are to come later in the month.

Renegades spinner and Year 11 student Hayward landed her first contract this season after two years as a rookie, and a season played in a hub means there has been no easing into Big Bash life for the 16-year-old from Melbourne.

"It's been really awesome, I'm getting to know (my teammates) a bit more, I've been with them a couple of times but to actually get to know them and talk plans and cricket, it's amazing," Hayward said.

"I've had a lot of months of doing online learning at home so it's not too different, it's just balancing the cricket and the schoolwork."

Hayward is one of five Indigenous players in the WBBL and played a key role when the Renegades and Stars came together in a Barefoot Circle ahead of their washed-out derby last Sunday.

"It was really powerful, I was lucky enough to read out the accountability,' she said.

"I've got two different mobs back at home and to do that for them and keep talking about the culture, it's really awesome."