Aussie champion Duffin bids farewell to cricket

Australia World Cup winner, Melbourne Renegades batter and multi-sport athlete Jess Duffin has called time on her professional cricket career.

The 34-year-old ‘s final game was fittingly the Renegades’ showdown with the Stars at the MCG on Saturday night, ending a 66-game Big Bash career that saw her play for both Melbourne clubs.

She shared the news with her teammates, friends and family ahead of the match, which the Stars eventually won by eight runs (DLS) after rain stopped play.

"I would have rather have won a game of cricket before I headed off, but I guess it is what it is ... I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with the family and really enjoying Georgie and Archie who are quite young at the moment," Duffin said after the game.

"(I made the call) after the last game, I spoke to Helmo (coach Simon Helmot) about what the future might look like.

"I was quite comfortable in giving it away after this season and just chatting to him about the way that the club want to go and what their plans are, it was quite clear that it was probably the right decision."

Duffin’s elite cricket career spanned 17 years after she debuted for Victoria in 2006.

She played 117 matches in the green and gold between 2009 and 2015, helping her nation win four major titles during that period: the 2010, 2012 and 2014 T20 World Cups, and the 2013 ODI World Cup.

With a reputation for standing up in the biggest moments, Duffin was player of the match in both the 2012 and 2013 World Cup finals, and won the Belinda Clark Award as Australia’s top female cricketer in 2013.

While Duffin walked away from playing at international level in 2015 and did not feature in the first WBBL season, she continued to be a fan favourite on the domestic circuit when she returned to play for the Stars in WBBL|02.

She made the move to the Renegades a season later, where she would go on to become their third highest run scorer, hitting 1316 runs.

During that period the talented athlete also took up Australian Rules and was picked up by Collingwood in the inaugural AFLW draft in 2016.

As she juggled her twin sports - and made a move from Collingwood to North Melbourne - Duffin’s red-hot form in the middle-order in 2019 sparked talk of an Australian return before she revealed at the end of WBBL|05 she was expecting her first child.

Duffin missed the Sydney hub season in WBBL|06 following the birth of daughter Georgie but returned to the club in WBBL|07 as she juggled her cricket commitments with her preseason for Hawthorn’s AFLW side.

When the shift in the AFLW season in 2022 meant the two sports overlapped, Duffin elected to play for Hawthorn, then announced her retirement from football at the end of the year as she prepared to welcome her second child.

Citing unfinished business in cricket, the right-hander returned to the Renegades for WBBL|09 after welcoming son Archie in May.

Unfortunately it was not the season either Duffin or the Renegades had hoped for; she hit 111 runs in nine innings before Saturday’s match, while the club finished the season on the bottom of the table.

"It meant a lot (to come back)," Duffin said.

"Obviously. I wanted to go out with a few more runs and stuff like that but you can do as much as you can in terms of training and everything like that, but you just never know.

"I was very fortunate to have the Renegades allow me to come back and play.

"I hope (to remain involved with the club) - I don't know what it looks like or what way the club want to go or anything like that, but I definitely want to stay involved and want to help this club go forward and start playing finals again."

Weber WBBL|09 Standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	14	11	3	0	0	1.154	0	22
2 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	14	8	6	0	0	0.784	0	16
3 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	14	8	6	0	0	0.203	0	16
4 Sydney Thunder Women THU	14	7	6	0	1	0.298	0	15
5 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	14	7	7	0	0	-0.253	0	14
6 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	14	6	7	0	1	-0.597	0	13
7 Melbourne Stars Women STA	14	6	8	0	0	-0.779	0	12
8 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	14	2	12	0	0	-0.978	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points