Fearless Fire eye their date with one-day destiny

As the rain tumbled down at North Sydney Oval last Sunday, Holly Ferling had a horrible sense of déjà vu.

That same feeling hit her again later that evening, as she gathered around a television with her Queensland teammates at their Sydney hotel watching the see-sawing domestic one-day thriller in Adelaide that would determine their finals fate.

Last summer, Queensland's hopes of making the Women's National Cricket League final were dashed on the final day of the season when their final match against bottom-ranked South Australia was washed out without a ball bowled.

The Fire then watched Western Australia defeat New South Wales that same afternoon to leapfrog them into second spot and a place in the final.

"It was just felt like déjà vu, it felt like last year, and we were sitting there going surely lightning doesn't strike twice?" Ferling said to cricket.com.au this week.

Image Id: 7C583FFD4EF142F5ABDEC45944B3D91F Image Caption: Queensland try to keep their spirits up in the Sydney rain // Getty

This time around, Queensland needed to beat NSW to lock in their spot against Victoria in the final, but again, rain washed out their final match of the regular season.

They were left relying on the ACT Meteors to defeat South Australia in a day-nighter that same day to advance, a game that went down to the final over before the Meteors sealed a thrilling win.

"ACT looked really good to start and when the score they were chasing was 260 and there was a bit of a lull in our group," Ferling continued.

"We had faith Katie (Mack) would score runs … and she did. It was cool once it started to get towards the end, it was this backwards and forwards of are we in, are we not, and then all of a sudden for it to go to the last over and for ACT to get us there, I don't think you could wipe the smiles off our faces."

A video shared on social media captured the Queensland group's jubilant reaction to the moment Amy Yates hit the winning runs for the ACT, with a tearful Ferling embracing teammate Laura Kimmince.

"For things out of your control to be the reason you're in or not in the final … I think that's where all the emotion came from," Ferling said.

"It was just a really special moment and I think it's not lost on any of us.

"The belief in this group was there last year, we had an overwhelming belief that if we'd made the final last year we were going to win it, and it was just that rain kept us out of it.

"For the same thing to happen this time, but for it to go out way, you start to feel like things are beginning to align."

On Saturday, Queensland will contest their sixth WNCL final, against Victoria at Junction Oval, aiming to claim the Ruth Preddey Cup for the first time.

Ferling played in the three most recent final defeats in 2012-13, 2016-17 and 2018-19, and when asked what a breakthrough title would mean to Queensland, the 25-year-old was emphatic in her response.

"We've got Ruth Preddy in our team song, and we haven't been able to put our hands on the trophy yet," she explained.

"This competition means a heck of a lot to each of us, particularly those of us who've played for a number of years.

"This is about the history of Queensland and to be able to do all of the players who've come before us proud.

"This has been years and years in the making, there's a real fearlessness in this group and everyone knows their role and knows how to do it.

"The domestic game means so much to each of us, we work our butts off all year for a final … there's so many people who don't get an opportunity to play in a domestic final, so the opportunity to make history is something I'm really proud of."

Image Id: CA48C1AAF85D4488A51D7C219E356F27 Image Caption: The Ruth Preddey Cup // Getty

Finishing inside the top two seemed a long way off for Queensland in early February, when they dropped their first two matches of the eight-match season to the ACT and South Australia.

It was a deflating position to be in, given the long wait for the WNCL to begin; after starting pre-season training in May the competition was delayed three times due to COVID-19 border closures before finally getting underway in February.

Ferling said the aftermath of that second loss, at home at Allan Border Field, produced a defining moment for the Fire squad.

"It was just us in the room, there were no staff, and we all highlighted that we had one month to go (in the season), one last push and we'd be doing a disservice to our preseason selves, who weren't sure if we were going to play this summer, if we didn't give it our all," she said.

"From there the team really took it up a notch."

Queensland are in the odd position of heading into the final as favourites, despite finishing second on the table, with Victoria missing six international players due to Australia's tour of New Zealand, and a seventh to injury.

Just four of Victoria's likely 13-player squad featured in all eight of their regular season matches, with most playing their first games of the season against Western Australia last weekend.

However, Ferling said there would be no complacency from Queensland, adding the new-look nature of Victoria's team was proving a challenge when it came to planning.

"I don't think it's pressure (on us), it's more that they're the unknown, which is dangerous," she said.

"I was going through my planning and I spent a couple of hours going over vision of the batters and albeit I did play with some of them at the Melbourne Stars, it's different to be playing against them.

"It's been quite funny putting plans together for players you don't have a lot of vision or information on.

"Let alone how they play as a team, we don't know what XI they'll take in.

"But something our group has done really well is just focus on ourselves and what we need to do to perform."

Queensland have overcome personnel changes of their own to make this year's final; spinner Jemma Barsby and batter Josie Dooley left the state during the off-season and moved to South Australia, former captain Kirby Short retired and Australia allrounder Delissa Kimmince has been unavailable this season while she takes a break from the game.

Star Australia batter Beth Mooney played just four of the six matches ahead of the New Zealand tour, and now both she and regular captain Jess Jonassen are away with the Australia squad.

Ferling pointed to the evolution of young players including Charli Knott, who was promoted to No.3 mid-season and scored a crucial fifty against NSW, and the form of stand-in captain Georgia Redmayne, who has hit one century and two unbeaten nineties, as proof of the depth within the Queensland group.

"I'm really proud of Charli Knott," Ferling said. "She's someone who had a few opportunities at Fire level and I think before (start of the season) she'd hadn't cracked more than three runs in five innings but she's one of the hardest workers in the team.

"We've seen her change her game through the summer … to see her score fifty (against NSW), we were on our feet cheering when she raised the bat because she's had a few things not go her way and we always knew it was going to happen and finally now she believes as well.

"I would say (Redmayne's ) having the season equal to Elyse Villani right now, she's had two 90 not outs and I don't think she was going to get out if the game hadn't have finished.

"She's been great with the captaincy as well.

"We know we've got every player and every scenario covered, it's just being able to put it together on the day and do it in a final."