Young gun Hamilton skips schoolies to stun the Stars

Missing out on a schoolies trip to the Gold Coast to play in the Weber WBBL was a no brainer for Lucy Hamilton, the latest rising quick to put her name up in lights this season.

Hamilton has been part of the Heat squad for three seasons and highly rated by coaching staff but had scant opportunity to play in her first two years with the club.

But Heat coach Mark Sorell earmarked the 18-year-old as one to watch in the lead-up to WBBL|10, noting the gains she had made during Queensland’s pre-season, and on Sunday she showed why.

In her eighth appearance in teal she ran riot against Melbourne Stars at Drummoyne Oval, taking 5-8 – the equal-second-best figures in the league’s history.

They were no minor scalps, either, as the left-armer dismissed former Australia captain Meg Lanning, current Aussie star Annabel Sutherland, India imports Yastika Bhatia and Deepti Sharma, and rising allrounder Tess Flintoff.

Hamilton, who hails from Bundaberg, only completed her final high school exams earlier this month.

"All my mates are at schoolies at the moment, on the Goldy living it up," said Hamilton, saying she could not believe what had happened.

"Going out there today I was just trying to back myself.

"Getting my first wicket and getting 5-fa, all the girls were getting around me. It was really exciting.

"I've had to be patient, played a few games, and it finally came and was really thrilling."

Hamilton debuted for the Heat in 2022, playing two games in her first season and three in her second.

Called back into the Heat XI when they met the Strikers on November 9, Hamilton said the wait for her first wicket had not been playing on her mind.

"I wasn't really thinking about, 'oh, I haven't taken a wicket yet', it was more just a sense of just backing what I do, and knowing it will come," she said.

"I had to be patient, but it finally came and it was really thrilling."

Hamilton said nabbing the wicket of Lanning was a particular thrill, having grown up watching the legendary batter dominate in the green and gold.

After spending the last few seasons commuting back and forth from Bundaberg to Brisbane – a four-and-a-half-hour drive – with the support of her parents and plenty of kilometres on the odometer, her graduation from high school means she can fully now relocate to the Queensland capital.

It has been a years’ long juggle for the teenager, who was awarded her first Queensland contract 2022 and, unable to train full-time alongside her Fire teammates due to her high school commitments, made the most of school holidays and weekend matches.

"I've been playing Premier cricket in Brissy for the last five years now, my parents have just been driving me back and forth, which is a lot for them and I just snooze in the car," Hamilton said.

 "I've (been) doing school a bit online and living in Brisbane (part-time) and my parents had an apartment, so that was very easy for me to do.

"Now I've finished school, so I've moved down there full-time."

Hamilton is set to play a key role in Australia’s Under-19 T20 World Cup campaign in January.

She is the latest likely member of that squad to shine in WBBL|10, following fellow quick Chloe Ainsworth, opener Ines McKeon and 15-year-old allrounder Caoimhe Bray.

Hamilton pointed to the pathways put in place by Cricket Australia, which saw the under-19s squad play two tri-series this year alongside training camps, as one factor in their success against the world’s top players.

"I think it's off the back of the Aussie under-19s team and the under-19s carnival in general," Hamilton said.

"All the people that I play Aussie under-19s with who've transferred into this (are) going great in (the WBBL).

"So I think developing us through those systems, and the things we get to do like pre-season camps, and the tri-series we had in Brisbane and Sri Lanka, are paying off."

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Sydney Thunder Women THU	8	5	2	0	1	0.291	0	11
2 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	8	5	3	0	0	0.208	0	10
3 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	8	5	3	0	0	0.2	0	10
4 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	8	4	4	0	0	0.257	0	8
5 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	7	4	3	0	0	0.099	0	8
6 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	8	3	4	0	1	-0.425	0	7
7 Melbourne Stars Women STA	7	2	5	0	0	-0.094	0	4
8 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	8	2	6	0	0	-0.594	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