25 for 25: Australian cricket's top young female talent

The future of Australian cricket is bright, if this list of the country's best young female talent is anything to go by.

Ahead of the new domestic season, cricket.com.au is profiling the top 25 players aged 25 or under to watch this summer.

The criteria are simple: be aged 25 or under by the cut-off date of March 30, 2023, with top-flight achievements already logged ranked higher than potential.

Eleven of these young cricketers have already represented their country; of those, seven have won at least one World Cup, and four have a Commonwealth Games gold medal in their possession.

Among the others are Australia A representatives, while all players on this list have already made their mark on the Weber WBBL and domestic 50-over competitions.

Presented below, in alphabetical order, is the top 25 female players aged 25 or under for the 2022-23 summer:

Darcie Brown

Fast bowler | SA/Strikers | 19

Already one of the quickest bowlers in the women’s game, Brown has scaled incredible heights since her international debut in New Zealand in 2021. The right-arm, outswinging fast bowler has a mean bouncer and has won an ODI World Cup, an Ashes trophy and a Commonwealth Games Gold medal.

Maitlan Brown

Allrounder | NSW/Sixers | 25

One of cricket’s most creative characters, Wingham-born Brown balances life with the NSW Breakers with her career as a budding industrial designer. Brown is an athletic fast bowler, with lower-order pinch hitting capabilities and was rewarded for strong domestic form with a call-up to the Australian squad in 2021.

Stella Campbell

Fast bowler | NSW/Sixers | 20

At 185cm tall, Stella Campbell runs in hard, bowls fast and is known for her bouncer. A product of the Cricket NSW pathway system, Campbell took two wickets on Test debut on the Gold Coast and recorded the best bowling figures ever for the NSW Breakers, collecting 7-25 at Manuka Oval.

Image Id: F19BAB5BFE9744C288901C7B8303322C Image Caption: Lauren Cheatle debuted for Australia aged 17 during the 2016 T20 World Cup // Getty

Lauren Cheatle

Fast bowler | NSW/Sixers | 23

Lauren Cheatle is a left-arm quick who burst onto the scene to make her international debut at the MCG as a 17-year-old. The Bowral product donned the green and gold on eight occasions before injury and illness cruelly intervened to sideline Cheatle for an extended period. However, the Sydney Sixer returned to the field in 2021 to earn a spot in the WBBL|07 Team of the Tournament.

Hannah Darlington

Allrounder | NSW/Thunder | 20

A born leader, Hannah Darlington made history when she filled Rachael Haynes’ absence to become the youngest ever WBBL captain. Having also been entrusted with NSW Breakers leadership when international duty calls for Alyssa Healy, Darlington is known for her accuracy with the ball and consistently delivers at the death.

Josie Dooley

Wicketkeeper-batter | SA/Renegades | 22

Brisbane-born Dooley has moved away from Queensland since debuting for the Fire in 2017 and is now contracted to South Australia and the Melbourne Renegades. A talented 'keeper-batter, Dooley struck her maiden century against Tasmania last season and will be looking to build her middle-order credentials.

Image Id: 68DEADEDF4C54A1482A60E7A5D3B3F42 Image Caption: Nicole Faltum is a rising talent with bat, gloves and as a leader // Getty

Nicole Faltum

Wicketkeeper-batter | Victoria/Stars | 22

Another up-and-coming wicketkeeper, Faltum takes the gloves full-time for both Victoria and the Melbourne Stars. The Gippsland product whacked a career high score of 88 for Victoria last season and stepped up to captain the navy blue when Meg Lanning was away on international duty.

Image Id: 14D5BB09354242CC8B852DEE1F0CC3CC Image Caption: Tess Flintoff in action for Australia A against England A // Getty

Tess Flintoff

Fast bower | Victoria/Stars |19

Pace-bowler Flintoff has been the Melbourne Stars’ leading wicket-taker across the past two seasons and made her debut in green in WBBL|05 as a 16-year-old. Earmarked as a future international star, Flintoff was part of the Australia A team that defeated England A earlier this year.

Ashleigh Gardner

Allrounder | NSW/Sixers/Australia | 25

A certified superstar of the women’s game, Gardner has been a mainstay of the dominant Australian team since her debut in 2017. The powerful allrounder was rewarded for her consistency across all formats with Belinda Clark award earlier this year, and she most recently played a huge role in Australia’s Commonwealth Games triumph in Birmingham. 

Mikayla Hinkley

Batter | Queensland/Heat | 24

The talented Kunja woman is fresh off a breakout summer that included her first century at domestic level. Hinkley was named the Queensland Fire Player of the Year after topping their runs tally for the 2021-22 WNCL season and is building her reputation as a fast-scoring ‘finisher’.

Charli Knott

Allrounder | Queensland/Heat | 19

Knott debuted for Queensland as a 15-year-old in 2018, and received her first Brisbane Heat cap while completing secondary school in the WBBL|06 Village. The batting allrounder most recently captained Queensland to victory in the U19 National Championships and received the Betty Wilson Medal as player of the tournament.

Phoebe Litchfield

Batter | NSW/Thunder | 19

The batting prodigy from Orange made a splash back in 2019 when a Twitter video of Litchfield in the nets went viral. The technically brilliant left-hander is now a lock at the top of both the Sydney Thunder and NSW Breakers order and top-scored for Australia A in both her appearances in their series win over England A earlier in the year.

Emma Manix-Geeves

Wicketkeeper-batter | Tasmania/Hurricanes | 22

The Tasmanian 'keeper-batter was the hero of the Tigers’ historic WNCL title win, announcing herself with a maiden domestic century. Manix-Geeves was rewarded for an exceptional season at domestic and premier level with a Hobart Hurricanes contract ahead of WBBL|08.

Sophie Molineux

Allrounder | Victoria/Renegades | 24

Former Australia coach John Harmer declared Molineux would play for Australia when she was just 13 and she delivered on that promise when she debuted in 2018. Her left-arm spin and batting skills have seen her likened to the legendary Shelley Nitschke, and while injury kept her on the sidelines through the first half of 2022, she is eyeing a return to the Aussie squad. Her leadership credentials are also highly rated, and she skippers the Renegades and Victoria.

Madeline Penna

Allrounder | SA/Strikers | 22

Penna was a last-minute addition to the Stars squad in 2019 due to injury and she has not looked back. Her efforts bowling leg-spin in WBBL|05 were enough to see her earn an ACT contract and a deal with the Adelaide Strikers. She has become a damaging middle-order force with bat in hand and has moved to South Australia Scorpions for the 2022-23 season.

Image Id: D97F7EDB7A7B43D3A3E319F5F5868951 Image Caption: Amy Smith debuted for Tasmania aged 14 // Getty

Amy Smith

Leg-spinner | Tasmania/Hurricanes | 17

Smith debuted for Tasmania at just 14 years of age and has already cemented her place as a regular in both the Tigers’ and Hurricanes XIs. So far her main impact has been with the ball, but she is also poised to be a key player with the bat in Australia’s upcoming Under-19 T20 World Cup campaign in South Africa.

Annabel Sutherland

Allrounder | Victoria/Stars | 20

Sutherland bolted into the Australia squad in the lead-up to the 2020 T20 World Cup and has retained her spot ever since. So far she’s only made her mark at international level with her right-arm pace, but she is seen to have enormous potential with the bat and is developing her game as a top-order player at domestic level.

Image Id: 8CECA69C13FE4796B6963FCD809E27C8 Image Caption: Former NSW Breaker Rachel Trenaman has moved to Tasmania // Getty

Rachel Trenaman

Batter |Tasmania/Hurricanes | 21

Trenaman first made headlines as a talented teenage leg-spinner coming up the national talent pathway, but these days she is making her impact with bat in hand in the middle-order. After starting her career at NSW and Sydney Thunder, she has moved to Tasmania and Hobart Hurricanes.

Image Id: 93D7260E331C4196B1F0B2AA600C4BE9 Image Caption: Belinda Vakarewa celebrates a wicket for the Hurricanes // Getty

Belinda Vakarewa

Fast bowler | 24

The right-arm speedster played her only international to date for Australia during the 2017 World Cup. She earned a recall to the Aussie squad in 2020 off the back of strong WBBL form, then stepped away from the game during the 2021-22 season to focus on her wellbeing. She is expected to feature this domestic season. 

Tayla Vlaeminck

Fast bowler | Victoria/Renegades | 23

The Bendigo Bullet is one of the fastest bowlers in the women’s game but sadly for Vlaeminck and Aussie fans, her short international career to date has been severely hampered by injury. After spending 12 months on the sidelines with a serious foot injury, she made a successful comeback during WBBL|07 only for the same injury to strike again in early 2022.

Image Id: 822154B84FE446109B02382C8060DF21 Image Caption: Georgia Voll has been earmarked as a potential international player // Getty

Georgia Voll

Allrounder | Queensland/Heat | 19

A hard-hitting allrounder who bowls off-spin, Voll has been earmarked as a future Australian player and after watching her first two WBBL seasons, it was easy to see why. She quickly cemented her spot in a strong Brisbane Heat top-order and represented Australia A against England in early 2022.

Georgia Wareham

Leg-spinner | Victoria/Renegades | 23

Wareham debuted for Australia as a teenager in 2018 and less than two months later was part of a T20 World Cup winning squad. Since then, the leg-spinner has continued to evolve her game and shows serious promise as a finisher with the bat, but she has been sidelined since WBBL|07 with a ruptured ACL stifling her progress.

Courtney Webb

Allrounder | SA/Renegades | 22

Born in Tasmania, Webb’s potential was recognised when she was included in an Australia Under-19 tour of South Africa in 2018. She made the move to South Australia in 2020 seeking new opportunities and has become a core part of the Melbourne Renegades XI with her middle-order batting, pace bowling and elite fielding.

Amanda-Jade Wellington

Leg-spinner | SA/Strikers | 25

It’s hard to believe Amanda-Jade Wellington has only just turned 25 given how long the leg-spinner has been making her mark on Australian cricket. The South Aussie debuted for Australia aged 19 in 2017 – taking a wicket with her first ball in international cricket – and after a spell outside the national side, returned for this year’s World Cup and Commonwealth Games.

Image Id: 7DFAE48A54AE47D2A46979F5E7B7E661 Image Caption: Tahlia Wilson is an up-and-coming keeper-bat for NSW and Sydney Thunder // Getty

Tahlia Wilson

Wicketkeeper-batter | NSW/Thunder | 22

Tahlia Wilson joins Nicole Faltum, Josie Dooley and Emma Manix-Geeves in the next generation of Australian wicketkeeper-batters who feature in this list. Originally signed by the Sixers, Wilson moved to the Thunder ahead of WBBL|05 and has since taken over the keeping duties full-time, while she also steps up with the gloves for NSW when Alyssa Healy is away on international duties.

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