Sixers lock in teenage young gun for two more years

Whether Hayley Silver-Holmes is wielding the bat, ball or schoolbooks, the teenage Sydney Sixers allrounder is prepared for anything in a Rebel WBBL season that promises to be like no other.

Silver-Holmes, who turns 17 next week, has penned a new two-year deal with the Sixers, confirming she will remain with the club until at least the end of WBBL|07.

Incredibly, this season will be her third with the club; the allrounder already has 28 Big Bash matches to her name, having played all 14 games in magenta in WBBL|05.

In a year that has seen the words ‘agile’ and ‘adaptability’ become the buzz words du jour, Silver-Holmes has already had to wrap her head first around remote learning amid Sydney’s lockdown, before combining a return to on-site Year 11 studies with pre-season training with the NSW Breakers in a COVID-safe environment.

The WBBL season is due to start on October 17 and run until November 29, with a three-week Sydney hub built into the schedule to allow flexibility.

However, CA made it clear the competition fixture came with a big asterisk, and if the recent examples of the Australian Football League and Super Netball are anything to go by, border restrictions could necessitate a season-long hub.

Should that happen, Silver-Holmes will find herself part of the young cohort of high-school aged Big Bash players juggling more than most.

Asked about the potential impact of such a move, the Hills Sports High School student revealed a plan was already in place.

"I’d be going back to online learning, which we already had during the school lockdown earlier this year," Silver-Holmes explained to cricket.com.au. 

"It’s different, but once you’re used to it it’s all right."

Leaving the Sixers was never consideration, Silver-Holmes added, as she looks ahead to another year playing alongside the likes of Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner.

"I’m Sixers through and through," she said.

"(Coach) Ben Sawyer first approached me when I was 14 and playing (for Australia’s under-19s) in South Africa and I’ve never thought of going anywhere else.

"We’re just a family … they’ve given me a lot of opportunity so far, and hopefully this year I can show them what I’ve got again."

To date her biggest impact on the competition has been with her pace bowling, but the towering allrounder, who has already represented Australia’s Under-19s, has her sights set on emulating the all-round achievements of her idol and Sixers captain Perry.

"I’m currently called a bowling allrounder, but I want to become a genuine allrounder, because that’s what I’ve been (in underage cricket).

"So I’ve been working on my batting so I can come up the order."

Silver-Holmes is the first re-signing confirmed by the Sixers for the current contracting period, with nine members of their 15-player squad now locked in.

Sydney Sixers squad so far: Ellyse Perry (c) (Aus), Alyssa Healy (Aus), Ashleigh Gardner (Aus), Marizanne Kapp (SA), Dane van Niekerk (SA), Erin Burns, Lauren Cheatle, Maddy Darke, Hayley Silver-Holmes