Final berth up for grabs in WNCL climax

Queensland and Western Australia will each have an English star at their disposal for their final-round Women's National Cricket League matches, as they go head-to-head for a spot against Tasmania in the final.

The Fire are second on the table, three points ahead of WA, and need to only win one of the two games they will play at Allan Border Field on Thursday and Saturday to cement their spot in the decider.

But they will be wary of the in-form WA team, who are one of only two sides to have defeated Tasmania this season.

Western Australia, who need to win both games to leapfrog Queensland into second spot, have included England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones in their travelling squad of 13 for the two must-win games.

Jones played her first games for WA in six years earlier this month against Tasmania, scoring a crucial 42 off 36 in their upset win over the Tigers.

She was part of the Perth Scorchers' WBBL|09 squad earlier in the season and is spending time with the WA set-up during England's winter ahead of their upcoming tour of New Zealand.

Jones adds batting firepower to a group that remains without Aussie stars Beth Mooney and Alana King, who are in Perth for the Test match against South Africa.

Queensland meanwhile are strengthened by the availability of Aussie T20 star Grace Harris, who was not included in the Test squad.

England batter Lauren Winfield-Hill remains part of the Fire squad, but captain Jess Jonassen remains unavailable due to Australia duties.

Winfield-Hill also played for the Scorchers for part of WBBL|09, but has been part of the Queensland squad through the second half of the WNCL season since the Big Bash break.

Western Australia last made the WNCL final in 2019-20, when they recorded a history-making victory over New South Wales in the final.

Queensland's last appearance was in 2020-21, when they defeated Victoria in the decider.

Both matches will be live streamed on cricket.com.au, the CA Live app and Kayo.

Queensland squad: Georgia Redmayne (c), Zoe Cooke, Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Mikayla Hinkley, Ruth Johnston, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll, Lauren Winfield-Hill

Western Australia squad: Chloe Piparo (c), Chloe Ainsworth, Zoe Britcliffe, Mathilda Carmichael, Piepa Cleary, Maddy Darke, Amy Edgar, Lisa Griffith, Amy Jones, Shay Manolini, Lilly Mills, Taneale Peschel, Poppy Stockwell

WNCL 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Total points PTS
1 Tasmanian Tigers Women TAS	12	9	2	0	1	0.98	0	5	43
2 Queensland Fire QLD	12	8	3	0	1	1.224	0	7	41
3 Victoria Women VIC	12	7	5	0	0	0.013	0	4	32
4 Western Australia Women WA	12	6	6	0	0	-0.113	0	4	28
5 NSW Women NSW	12	6	6	0	0	-0.105	0	2	26
6 South Australia Women SA	12	4	8	0	0	-0.063	0	3	19
7 ACT Meteors ACT	12	1	11	0	0	-2.006	0	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

PTS: Total points