Fire boost squad with England signing, young guns aboard

England batter Lauren Winfield-Hill headlines a quartet of fresh faces on the Queensland Fire contract list for 2024-25.

Winfield-Hill turned out for the Fire in the second half of last season after playing in the Weber WBBL with Perth, and helped the side to the WNCL final, won by Tasmania in Hobart.

The wife of former Queensland and Brisbane Heat pace bowler and Heat assistant coach Courtney Winfield-Hill, the 33-year-old boasts 104 England caps and will add considerable experience to a Queensland line-up that will again be led by multiple World Cup winner Jess Jonassen.

Winfield-Hill is one of four newly-contracted players for the Fire, along with Sunshine Coast wicketkeeper Mikayla Wrigley, Valley batter Lucinda Bourke and Wests allrounder Lily Bassingthwaite.

The four players coming off the contracted playing list are Zoe Cooke, Mikayla Hinkley, Ellie Johnston and Ruth Johnston.

Queensland Fire 2024-25 contract list: Lily Bassingthwaighte, Bonnie Berry, Lucinda Burke, Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris*, Laura Harris, Kira Holmes, Jess Jonassen*, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Georgia Redmayne, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Mikayla Wrigley.

 

Ins: Lily Bassingthwaighte, Lucinda Bourke, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Mikayla Wrigley

 

Outs: Zoe Cooke, Mikayla Hinkley, Ellie Johnston, Ruth Johnston

 

* Denotes Cricket Australia contract 

Wrigley, 20, earns her inaugural Fire contract after a string of consistent performances across a range of competitions and teams over the past two seasons, including back-to-back seasons of scoring 750-plus runs in the Katherine Raymont Shield.

The former Queensland Under-19 representative was player of the tournament in the Australian Country championships in Newcastle earlier this year where the Queensland Brolgas were undefeated.

Bourke, 18, is a Warwick product who had a top score of 107 during the season in the Katherine Raymont Shield for premiers Valley and played Queensland Under-19s.

The left-handed bat is a multi-talented sportsperson, having represented Australia in Rugby Sevens at the Youth Commonwealth Games last year.

Bassingthwaighte, 17, is a Year 11 student at All Hallows and represented Queensland Under-19s last season.

"Lauren Winfield-Hill was great around the group this season," said QC general manager of elite cricket, Joe Dawes. "Her experience and batting ability has been identified as an important element to maintain across the summer.

"We're of course very pleased to have three more young Queenslanders emerge from our underage elite teams and look forward to providing them with opportunities to grow their skills and make an impact on the game."

The Fire's one-day WNCL season will get underway in late September and finish in March, with players from the squad also set to be involved in the second tier Women's T20 competition announced earlier this month by Cricket Australia that will feature the eight WBBL clubs as well as the ACT Meteors, to be played prior to the WBBL