Wilson breaks record, young gun emerges in one-day gongs

Tahlia Wilson has been rewarded for a record-breaking Women's National Cricket League campaign with the NSW wicketkeeper-batter crowed the 2024-25 player of the season.

South Australia young gun Liam Scott has also earned his first national accolade by taking out the One-Day Cup award, as voted by the two standing umpires in each match.

Wilson rewrote the record books as she helped the Breakers reach the WNCL final for the first time since 2019-20, amassing 677 runs at 60.63 with two centuries and two fifties.

She finished almost 100 runs clear of the competition's next highest scorer, South Australia's Courtney Webb (572 runs at 52).

The 25-year-old tallied 26 votes, the highest in the award's history ahead of the previous record of 25 set by Elyse Villani (2020-21) and Nicola Carey (2023-24).

Queensland allrounder Charli Knott finished second in the voting with 21 votes, while Victoria allrounder Ella Hayward was also rewarded for a breakout summer, finishing equal-third on 18 votes alongside Queensland captain Jess Jonassen.

Wilson's 677 runs are also the third most in a single WNCL season, behind Villani's 705 in 2022-23 and Carey's 696 in 2023-24.

She claimed maximum votes from the two on-field umpires for her career-best 142 against the ACT Meteors in the final round of the regular season, as well as for her 112no against South Australia earlier this month – where she became the first Breaker to carry her bat through an all-out innings in WNCL history.

She also received the full quota of six votes for her 97 against Queensland at the beginning of the season and her gritty 39 against Tasmania in December.

In that low-scoring encounter at Bellerive Oval, she top-scored for NSW as they chased the Tigers' 172 with three wickets in hand – a result that would prove decisive in the race for the final.

Her brilliant season with the bat means she is now outright third on list of NSW century-makers in WNCL with five, behind Alex Blackwell on 11 and Rachael Haynes (6). She now has more than 2000 career runs to her name, moving her ahead of Ellyse Perry into ninth on NSW's all-time run-scorers list. 

The award completes an individual domestic double for Wilson who was also named the T20 Spring Challenge Player of the Tournament in October.

The race for the men's individual gong was much tighter however, with Scott (12 votes) edging West Australian quick Bryce Jackson by one vote.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed a breakout all-round summer for both South Australia and Adelaide Strikers in 2024-25, with consistent contributions across the first-class and one-day formats to help his state reach the final in both competitions.

In the One-Day Cup, the right-hander polled maximum votes for his 47 and 3-16 in South Australia's low-scoring win over WA earlier this month, which sealed their place in the tournament's final.

He also polled five votes for his 2-31 and unbeaten 42 in their win over NSW in November, and a solitary vote with his 46 in their earlier win over WA to clinch the award.

While teammate Mackenzie Harvey (two centuries), Matthew Renshaw (one century and two fifties) and Jackson (with four- and five-wicket hauls) have cause to feel hard done by, Scott's triumph highlights his impact on winning matches for SA this season, which ultimately helped book their spot in this Saturday's final against Victoria which they will host at Adelaide Oval.

Scott also enjoyed a breakthrough T20 performance to finish the BBL season, hitting a career-best 67 against the Scorchers. He's been a regular contributor with the ball for SA's Sheffield Shield side too, with 17 wickets at 20.70 for the season.

Both awards are adjudicated by the on-field umpires with each awarding 3-2-1 votes for every match.

Scott's South Australia face Victoria in the One-Day Cup final beginning at 2.05pm ACDT on Saturday, while Wilson's Breakers travel to Allan Border Field to take on Queensland in the WNCL on Sunday at 1.35pm AEST.

Both finals will be broadcast live on cricket.com.au, Foxtel and Kayo Sports, with tickets available at the gate ($10 for adults with free entry for kids).