Queensland preview: Young talent to step up for Fire

Queensland's talented young group is one season more experienced and they will be hoping that equates to going at least one step further this summer after they fell just short of the 2022-23 WNCL decider.

The return of Georgia Redmayne after a season-ending Achilles injury at the front end of last summer is a massive boost to a batting order that didn't produce a top 10 run-scorer, though the faith placed in youth by the Fire brain trust is bound to pay dividends at some stage, with the likes of Georgia Voll (20), Charli Knott (20) and Courtney Sippel (22) all among the country's most promising young players. 

While more than half of the 17-woman squad is aged 20 or under, the Fire also boast a nice smattering of seasoned campaigners as well as an abundance of all-round options and a promising strike weapon in leg-spinner Grace Parsons. 

Uncapped pair Bonnie Berry (17) and Kira Holmes (20) have also been added to the group, while 27-year-old Zoe Cooke, an experienced pace-bowling allrounder, arrives from the ACT.

Queensland Fire 2023-24 squad: Bonnie Berry, Zoe Cooke, Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris*, Laura Harris, Mikayla Hinkley, Kira Holmes, Ellie Johnston, Ruth Johnston, Jess Jonassen*, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Georgia Redmayne, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll

In: Bonnie Berry, Zoe Cooke (ACT), Sianna Ginger, Kira Holmes

Out: Georgia Prestwidge (Victoria), Caitlin Mair

Possible best XI: Georgia Redmayne (wk), Georgia Voll, Charli Knott, Grace Harris, Mikayla Hinkley, Laura Harris, Jess Jonassen, Sianna Ginger, Courtney Sippel, Nicola Hancock, Grace Parsons

Last year's WNCL result: 3rd (7 wins, 5 losses)

Aussie player availability: Key pair Jess Jonassen and Grace Harris will be available for the Fire's opening two matches against New South Wales (Sept 22, 24) but will be in the thick of Australia action when Queensland take on Victoria next month (Oct 10, 12). The duo are also likely to be unavailable for six matches in December and the first half of January due to Australia's multi-format tour of India – dates have yet to be confirmed – before the multi-format home series against South Africa will likely rule them out of double headers with Tasmania and Western Australia to close the regular season.

Inside word with head coach Ashley Noffke

The pre-season: "It's been excellent. We started early in preparation for the T20 Max, which I wanted all the girls to play in because it gets them up to game speed a lot quicker. We've only played one game together as a team, and we'll play some more Premier Cricket and head into the season. The girls are really thirsty for wanting to compete together, and that's a really good sign. I can really feel the energy around the group. It's probably been the most enjoyable pre-season I've had with these girls. 'JJ' (Jonassen) has been back involved and she's just been a delight, and we've got Grace Harris just coming back now after taking a little bit of time off after The Hundred."

Injury update: "Ruth Johnston's coming back from some shin splints but about to start playing, and Ellie Johnston's been dealing with a few knee issues. But they're still very young, both 20, and they're trying to build some miles and time in their legs. They're both really talented girls. We've been a little bit cautious in our approach with Ruth but that's because we don't want her to miss too much cricket going forward. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she brings this year.

"Georgia (Redmayne) is in a pretty good headspace. She just played an unrestricted game against the Queensland veteran's men, which we do every year. That was her first game back (from her Achilles injury) so it was a really big moment, and she did really well getting through the game mentally, and trusting her movements. That's all going to take time, but she'll be back playing Premier Cricket and she's on task to rejoin us from game one.

"Zoe Cooke's coming off an injury – she's had some serious back complaints from time to time – but we're managing through that. She comes to us as a bowler but she actually had a really good batting year with ACT last year, so there's some opportunity there and she'll feature heavily for us, it'll just be about when and where. She's a great person, she was around the ACT system for a long time, and now she's a senior figure, she's very calm, she still wants to work on her game and she provides some really good stability for our younger quicks with her reliability."

Player to watch: "Sianna Ginger's got a lot to offer. She's an Australia U19 representative and has dual skills, batting and bowling. She can be a genuine batter and provide more than just one or two overs – I think she can be a real weapon with the ball. She's young in her bowling stakes and her batting is far more developed at this point but she has the potential to be the pace-bowling allrounder a lot of teams just don't have. She's a top-order batter who bowls pretty sneaky pace, up around that 110kph mark, so that's some really exciting skills for us to work with. She made her debut last year in our last two games and it didn't look like the level was even a concern for her. She's about to finish grade 12 so we've been giving her some space and time to focus on her studies, but leading into the back-end of the season, once school is over, I'm expecting some great things. She's really talented, she's a great person, and she's unflustered and knows what she wants. I love the direction she's taking her career."

Biggest strength: "Most of our genuine allrounders (bowl spin) – Jonassen, Grace Harris, Charli Knott – but with Sianna and Zoe Cooke as well as Courtney Sippel and Nicola Hancock, we've got some great all-round talent across the board this season."

Areas for improvement: "We've focused a lot this pre-season on connection. We went on a camp down to Kingscliff (in northern NSW) and we called it 'Camp Connection'. We did some searching about how we communicate as a high-performance system, and we've been focusing on solving problems both on and off the field. We want our girls to not just point the finger at the problem, but to be the ones who put the solutions on the table. To do that we've pulled back a bit as coaches, and we've really loved some of the conversations that have evolved from that. Our leadership group – Charli Knott, Georgia Redmayne, Georgia Voll, and the Harris sisters and 'JJ' (Jess Jonassen) when they're around – has been outstanding. So connection, problem solving and thinking on our feet – we think that's how we're going to be the best version of ourselves on the field."

Young gun: "Bonnie Berry's an exciting medium-fast outswing bowler from Emerald, and I think she has the potential to be a fast outswing bowler. She's highly skilled, athletic, and she's got all the attributes of someone that could do well in the game. She's been in our pathways system for some time and this season was a great opportunity to get her in the main squad. She's finishing grade 12 this year and is available to start working on her game full-time after that here in Brisbane."

Team to beat: "When Victoria are at full strength with all their Aussie players, they'd be a great contest, and one that the girls have already eyed off, although unfortunately it looks like it's not going to be full-strength sides. But we also get to start the season against a full-strength New South Wales, and who doesn't want to start the season with a State of Origin contest? We've got two games in New South Wales first up, which is how we started last year and we did really well, so we'd love to see a consistent approach to how we play and we'll go from there."