Opportunity knocks: Why Bolton came back to cricket

Packing up her life and relocating to Adelaide was not originally on Nicole Bolton’s bingo card for 2023, but an unexpected text message from South Australia coach Luke Williams late last year changed everything.

Since retiring from state cricket in 2021, Bolton had thrown herself into a working life away from cricket, relishing her role as the WA Football Commission’s Women & Girls Community Football Manager.

When the former Australia opener tearfully bid a final farewell to Big Bash cricket at North Sydney Oval last November, she thought that would be it for her and the sport she had made her life for the foreseeable future.

Then Williams came knocking with a job opportunity too good to pass up – and now Bolton is preparing to start a new gig as South Australia and Strikers assistant coach in June, filling the role vacated by new Tasmania head coach Jude Coleman.

"It didn't take me too long did it?" Bolton told cricket.com.au of her swift return to cricket.

"I finished up with the Big Bash in November and I had a bit of time back in my current role (at the WA Football Commission) and then Luke Williams sent me a message in December after Jude went to take on the Tassie coaching role.

"He just sounded me out … and I was not even thinking about getting back into cricket, to be honest, because I so love my job at the moment.

"But he planted a seed and then I couldn't stop thinking about it and we had a regular dialogue."

Image Id: 405891EF832F49E6A8DFF6899B63C128 Image Caption: Nicole Bolton said an emotional farewell to her Big Bash playing days last November // Getty

When South Australia travelled to Perth for a pair of Women’s National Cricket League matches in January, Bolton joined in their training and planning sessions to get a feel for how she might fit into their set-up.

Under Williams' guidance, the Strikers have made back-to-back WBBL finals, winning the WBBL|08 title, and back-to-back WNCL finals. 

It was only a brief taste of the program, but it was enough to convince the 34-year-old that it would be worth making the leap – although she admitted it was still a "tough decision" to leave Perth.

"From those two sessions, I was like, 'S***, I can actually maybe see myself doing this'," Bolton laughed.

"The only dealings I've had with (Williams) before was playing against him at SA and Strikers but I'd heard a lot of good things about him, and seeing how well the Scorps and Strikers have been going since he's been involved has highlighted the type of person he is and also the type of program he runs.

"It was a really tough (decision), I will be forever grateful for the WA Football Commission for taking a chance on me, getting me involved in their organisation … I'm so invested in the role.

"But these opportunities, getting back into high performance sport, and I'm really passionate about working with an organisation that's starting to get some success, it's pretty hard to ignore and I've always thought you can't say no to these things.

"And obviously, it's scary moving to Adelaide, moving somewhere new, especially in my mid-30s, but I've just got to live in the moment and back my decisions and I know it's the right one at the end of the day."

Bolton said she had made a conscious decision to avoid falling into coaching immediately after retiring from full-time cricket in 2021.

She never wrote it off as a future option, but first she was eager to explore life outside of cricket, and broaden her skills and experience.

"I had a lot of identity issues around Nicole Bolton the cricketer and not really knowing what else I'm good at, and what I'm like outside of a cricket environment," Bolton explained.

"Being able to have about 18 months to two years away from cricket has really helped me, and I think now I'm in a better position to get into something like this.

"I've got a little bit more of a holistic approach to how I operate rather than just being a past player that's only known the cricket environment."

Image Id: F0BB04A7BF254909913EFECF1C2CE1D7 Image Caption: Under Luke Williams' guidance the Strikers and Scorpions have played back-to-back WBBL and WNCL finals // Getty

That self-awareness and thoughtfulness is typical of the West Australian, who learned the hard way how easy it can be to become overwhelmed by professional sport, and of the importance of creating balance.

A lock at the top of the order of Australia’s one-day team for years, Bolton made the surprise announcement she was taking a break from the game midway through the 2018-19 WBBL season.

A testing couple of years followed as the left-hander figured out how to fit cricket into her life without allowing it to become all-consuming, learning how to find the balance between Bolton the cricketer and Bolton the person.

It is that experience she believes could be just as valuable as her batting expertise when it comes to mentoring South Australia’s young talent.

Bolton returns to the domestic game at an interesting time; the latest Memorandum of Understanding has further increased the pay and hours of state players.

It is an important step forward for the women’s game, but it is also an adjustment for players who will be more absorbed in cricket than ever before.

"I was actually having this conversation with someone the other day, around how it's unbelievable the position we're in at the moment in the female game, but players are now probably seeing it more as an all-in approach rather than (thinking) ‘I'm still going to work on who I am as a person or what other skills I can develop outside cricket’.

"I think what I can bring is encouraging players to actually think about themselves as a whole rather than just the cricketer and being able to step away and then step back in, and not living and breathing cricket 24-7 ...  because that’s when you see young players, particularly the ones that are perfectionists and really talented burn out.

"It's a great thing that girls can do this now and really put time into their skills and their craft, I'll certainly be a massive advocate for making sure that they're thinking about life away from the game as well."

That approach also shines through when Bolton reflects on the coaches who had the greatest impact on her throughout her career, and what qualities she hopes to draw upon from as she develops her own mentoring skills.

The batting coach she worked with from the age of 16, Neil ‘Noddy’ Holder, and Bolton’s WBBL|08 Sydney Sixers coach Charlotte Edwards bookended the left-hander’s professional playing career, but both left their mark.

"(Holder’s) been really instrumental in being a mentor, not just my coach, but someone that provided a lot of life advice and life skills to me in my career, and how to approach the game and look at the game," Bolton explained.

"I think his biggest thing is simplicity and it's something that when you're a young player and you're trying to force yourself into teams or put yourself in the spotlight, you begin to listen to a lot of different coaches and overwhelm yourself.

"But I always used to just keep coming back to what he told me.

"And of late I really enjoyed my time working with Charlotte Edwards.

"She's a well-renowned cricketer, with a lot of experience but she also brought a lot of fun and a lot of trust to her players and created an environment where everyone was accepted – we train hard, but we really enjoyed each other's company.

"Now that the girls are spending more and more time in these programs, it's really important that the environment's right, because that's where you spend most your days so you want to be able to feel good about coming to a place of work and feel good about being around the group.

"I think as a coach, it's really important to be able to set that up and that's something SA has certainly got going for it at the minute."