WNCL preview: New regime has Meteors primed

A new coach, a new captain and a revamped training regime has the ACT Meteors primed for the start of the domestic 50-over season.

The Meteors begin their Women’s National Cricket League campaign against Queensland in Canberra on Saturday, a welcome return to action after the season was thrice delayed.

Jono Dean, a former ACT Comet and Adelaide Striker, took over midway through the 2019-20 season before being appointed full-time to the role ahead of this summer, while Sydney Sixers allrounder Angela Reakes will captain the side, having returned from the Achilles injury that sidelined her last tournament.

With the Meteors looking to improve on a fifth-placed finish last season, Dean believes his players have reaped the rewards of a new-look, more professional training program.

"I don’t think we trained enough as a squad (last summer) and we sat down at the end of the season and reviewed the program, the players included, and came up with a strategy to get more contact time between our coaching staff and players," Dean told cricket.com.au.

"We made some pretty big shifts in how we train and the times we train and they’re getting a great deal more volume and quality this year.

"The effort our high-performance staff have put in and the players have put into a new and fresh program - which has required a lot of hard work – has been awesome."

Australia’s female domestic players are semi-professional, and one of the challenges for the states and territories is striking the right balance between giving their athletes the best possible chance to succeed in a high-performance environment, while also acknowledging that many, if not most, have work or study commitments outside of cricket.

"We’re trying to bridge the gap between amateur athletes and being professional athletes, between having to work and managing being a professional athlete," Dean explained.

"I think we’ve done it really well this year, they’re definitely training a lot harder than they used to.

"The difficult thing is managing their working commitments outside of cricket … there’s been some challenges along the way but they’ve done so well to manage both in our new program."

Image Id: AC24BD782EE44BE49D447E655CAD9E77 Image Caption: Carly Leeson, Erica Kershaw and Maddy Penna will be back in action this week // AAP

Those gains have already been obvious in the performances of several ACT players during the Rebel WBBL – Maitlan Brown and Nicola Hancock bowled faster than ever before, allrounder Carly Leeson impressed for the Renegades, while spinner Madeline Penna’s evolution into a powerful allrounder was evident.

The absence of the injured Brown is a blow to the Meteors, after she suffered a serious hamstring tear playing for the Renegades which has ruled her out of the remainder of the summer, but ACT have offered an opportunity to young Victorian quick Chloe Rafferty in her absence.

Another uncontracted player in Gabby Sutcliffe has also been named in their squad for Saturday’s season opener.

Contract list: Maitlan Brown (unavailable due to injury), Rebecca Carter, Zoe Cooke, Nicola Hancock, Erica Kershaw, Carly Leeson, Matilda Lugg, Katie Mack, Allison McGrath, Erin Osborne, Madeline Penna, Olivia Porter, Angela Reakes, Amy Yates

In: Rebecca Carter, Allison McGrath, Madeline Penna, Olivia Porter

Out: Anna Lanning (Victoria), Isabelle Afaras, Sarah Coyte, Claire Koski

Last year's result: Fifth (four wins, four losses)

Fixtures:

January 30 v Queensland, Chisholm Oval, Canberra

February 3 v Tasmania, EPC Solar Park, Canberra

February 7 v South Australia, EPC Solar Park, Canberra

February 21 v Victoria, Junction Oval

February 28 v Western Australia, WACA Ground

March 7 v New South Wales, EPC Solar Park, Canberra

March 17 v Tasmania, EPC Solar Park, Canberra

March 21 v South Australia, EPC Solar Park, Canberra

The inside word with coach Jono Dean

How the team is shaping up

"They’re champing at the bit to play some cricket.

"Ange (Reakes) has been great for our group – a big thing for our group this year has been having more conversations and being open and honest about what we’re thinking and where we’re at, and creating a safe and comfortable space for our players to come and learn.

"She has been instrumental in creating that environment."

Key player/s

"Losing Maitlan (Brown) was huge for us but I’ve got faith in our fast bowling unit. Nic Hancock is bowling fast, I think she has taken her game to the next level and now I think it’s just about consistent performances.

"She’s fit, she’s strong, she’s resilient and she’s done a lot of work with our fast-bowling coach Mick Delaney this season ... she’s only getting better day by day.

"With the bat, you can’t go past Erin Osborne at the moment, she’s hitting them really well, and Katie Mack has been our leading run scorer for a long time."

One to watch

"Maddy Penna had a breakout year more for her bowling in WBBL|05, but the last WBBL season she scored a 30-ball 50 and had a couple of match-winning knocks in the middle order (for the Strikers).

"So she’s going to play a good role for us in the middle order, she’s got the ability to clear the fence by miles, it’s amazing.

"She is hitting the ball out of any ground we play in, the way she’s hitting them at the moment."

Most dangerous team (that isn't your own)

"I saw the South Australia list and I love my team, but if I had to pick another one, I really like the list Luke Williams has got there. New recruits with Courtney Webb, Josie Dooley, Jemma Barsby; Darcy Brown bowling rockets as a 17-year-old, that’s an exciting list.

"There’s Megan Schutt, Tahlia McGrath, they’ve got a good list. They didn’t have a great season last year so I’d be watching them intently this year."