Fire preview: Busy off-season has Queensland set

Women's state previews: QLD women | SA women | NSW women | WA women  | TAS women | ACT women

Men's state previews for 2024-25: QLD men | SA men | NSW men | WA men | TAS men | VIC men

By all measures, 2023-24 was a very good campaign by Queensland.

The Fire, who finished second with eight wins from their 12 matches, made clear gains on their third-placed finish in 2022-23 and their fifth-placed finish the year before.

They saw clear improvement from their crop of young players and now have half a dozen players on the cusp of the national squad.

However, despite all the positives, there was one glaring disappointment. They just couldn't topple Tasmania, who again held their nerve in WNCL final to defeat Queensland by six wickets.

A massive strength last season was the Fire's miserly bowling attack.

Despite still being a teenager last season, leg-spinner Grace Parsons led the league with 20 wickets and she found plenty of support in Courtney Sippel (17 wickets), Zoe Cooke (13), Charli Knott (12) and Nicola Hancock (10).

A significant contingent of the Fire's squad have spend the pre-season playing top level cricket: Jess Jonassen and Georgia Redmayne had excellent campaigns in England's Hundred competition while Parsons, Knott, Hancock and Georgia Voll represented Australia A in a recent multi-format series against India A.

Sippel was due to feature in that series as well but had to withdraw due to a foot injury.

Because of this significant workload for a portion of the list, Queensland opted not to play any practice matches against the other states, instead ensuring their unused players got a run in the local T20 Max competition. 

Former coach Ashley Noffke left just a few weeks into pre-season to take a job with Otago in New Zealand, with Mark Sorell taking the main gig after previously serving as Noffke's assistant.

But Sorell says the transition was as smooth as it could have been.

"We'd already done a lot of planning, both 'Noffers' and myself, so I was across the real nitty gritty," Sorell told cricket.com.au.

"It was quite simple for me to keep it going and then gradually, over time, start bringing in some of my thoughts around what we want to do."

There were also off-season changes to the playing squad, with Queensland losing Cooke, Mikayla Hinkley and Ruth Johnston to interstate rivals.

Former England batter Lauren Winfield-Hill has taken up a full-time contract with the Fire after playing nine games in maroon last season.

She is one of four inclusions but easily the most experienced, with rookies Lily Bassingthwaighte, Lucinda Bourke and Mikayla Wrigley all earning a professional contract for the first time.

2024-25 squad: 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 (ACT), Mikayla Hinkley (Western Australia), Ruth Johnston (Tasmania), Ellie Johnston 

* Denotes Cricket Australia contract

Last season

WNCL: Runners up

Possible XI for first match

Georgia Redmayne (wk), Georgia Voll, Charli Knott, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Laura Harris, Jess Jonassen (c), Sianna Ginger, Courtney Sippel, Nicola Hancock, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Parsons

Aussie player availability

Queensland will have almost their full squad to pick from for the early part of the season, with likely only Grace Harris to be away on international duty with the T20Is against New Zealand and the T20 World Cup.

Jess Jonassen has been the hard-luck story from the national set-up, missing out on selection for the T20 World Cup in Dubai.

However strong recent performances in the Women's Premier League and Women's Hundred make Jonassen a welcome addition for the Fire.

"I know that she's 100 per cent got her heart in Queensland and wants us to be successful," Sorell said.

"If she's not in the Australian set up, we're going to happily have her.

"I think she's in some of the best form of her career, with bat and with ball and she's in such a great space, we just will take her anytime."

The inside word with head coach Mark Sorell

The pre-season

"We've had quite a transient group this year with a lot of girls overseas playing, and then the Australia A girls missing a certain times, but it's been real positive because we've been able to really spend a lot more time with our newer, younger players and building those relationships.

"We're actually more letting them do that (play overseas, representative cricket) and resting and recovering in the lead in to the WNCL opening rounds.

"So our pre-season would have been different to others."

Injury update

"It's pretty good. Obviously any pre-season our role is to push our players, physically, skilfully and all aspects of the game.

"You're going to get a few little niggles. But we've got a pretty reasonable list at the moment, it's just about managing people through."

Young guns

"The young guns that we've got, they're not overly new although they're still really young.

"Lucy Hamilton just continues to grow as a cricketer and in all aspects of the game and is featuring strongly in the Under-19 set up.

"I think Sianna Ginger, she just continues agai  the same way to continue to grow and improve.

"Grace Parsons is still young. It feels like she's been around for a while, but she's still a young cricketer and what she's done already this season has been impressive.

We're looking forward to her pushing that into the (Brisbane) Heat and the Fire as well."

Key player

"I really believe that the strength in our leadership, and if we're able to get Jess Jonassen a bit more in our group, that will elevate us in all levels of our game. She's just such a quality cricketer and has such a big influence on our team. We expect a lot from everybody, but really looking forward to having Jess around our group a lot more, on and off the field to help our players and young players continue to get better.

Team to beat

"Tasmania. Obviously you can't argue with their record over the last few years, it has been outstanding. They're still a really, really strong side. You can say the old cliché that six other teams can do it, but Tassie certainly continue to play good cricket.

"We know that we're going to have to have our A game against everybody butI think Tassie are certainly one to one to chase."

Schedule:

September 27 v NSW, Allan Border Field

September 29 v NSW, Allan Border Field

October 3 v Western Australia, Allan Border Field

October 5 v Western Australia, Allan Border Field

December 20 v ACT, EPC Solar Park

December 22 v ACT, EPC Solar Park

January 12 v Tasmania, Allan Border Field

January 14 v Tasmania, Allan Border Field

January 28 v South Australia, Karen Rolton Oval

January 30 v South Australia, Karen Rolton Oval

February 7 v Victoria, CitiPower Centre

February 9 v Victoria, CitiPower Centre