Announcing Amy: Teen spinner making a splash in the Big Bash

Two years ago, Amy Smith was not even playing women's cricket.

Now, the 15-year-old leg-spinner is not only bowling to the world's most destructive batters, she is also taking their wickets.

A late inclusion to the Hurricanes' squad for Rebel WBBL|06, Smith's chance to debut in the purple came after fellow leg-spinner Maisy Gibson suffered an ACL injury that ended her season before the tournament even began.

WBBL LIVE: Four matches on today

Smith, the youngest player in the WBBL Village, will celebrate her 16th birthday later this month.

Just five matches into her Big Bash career, she already has the wickets of three international batters in her pocket; her maiden scalp, powerful South African Lizelle Lee, saw her become the second youngest wicket-taker in WBBL history behind the Sydney Sixers' Hayley Silver-Holmes.

On Saturday, she bowled Aussie stars Ashleigh Gardner and Erin Burns in the space of one over.

Smith first came to coach Salliann Briggs' attention two years ago, when the English mentor took on the jobs at Tasmania and Hobart.

"When I arrived we did a little scan of the state to see who was around and there was a young girl still playing boy's cricket, who had never played women's cricket and didn't fancy playing women's cricket," Briggs told cricket.com.au.

"But she enjoyed the competitive side of boys' cricket… she did that for another year and we introduced her to the odd session and got her involved in our academy and she's slowly loved it more and more.

"She slowly emerged as one of the better young players we've supported.

"(Former Australia leg-spinner) Kristen Beams has been working with her from a leg-spin point of view and the unlucky circumstance of Maisy's injury gave her this opportunity and she hasn't looked back."

Remarkably, Smith made her 50-over domestic debut for Tasmania aged 14 in February 2019, shortly after her potential was spotted, becoming the youngest person to ever represent the state at senior level.

Her quiet composure means Briggs and captain Corinne Hall have no concerns throwing the young leg-spinner the ball when the world's best batters are at the crease

"She's a quiet, unassuming girl when you first get to know her but the thing I really love about her is her character," Briggs said.

"Aged 15 coming into this competition and bowling to Lizelle Lee, that sort of stuff doesn't faze her.

"She does all the right things, her preparation going into the games, she's really methodical and as a coach, sometimes the hardest thing to coach is that belief and that confidence.

"But she's got that already."

Smith, who was born in Darwin and moved to Tasmania with her family aged six, revealed she only took up leg-spin two seasons ago, inspired by watching vision of Shane Warne.

She has quickly become a popular member of the Hurricanes group, and said she was lapping up the experience of living and playing inside the WBBL hub.

"It's a bit hard juggling school and cricket but I have such good support around me," Smith told cricket.com.au.

And of her mindset when bowling to the likes of Lee: "I get a bit nervous because she can smack them but I just back myself, I'm here for a reason and Sal's picked me."

Meanwhile, Briggs is conscious of not placing too much pressure on Smith too early.

"You've always got to tread carefully with those young players because you never want to lose them from the sport from getting too serious too quickly," Briggs explained. 

Image Id: 77513202E39D4C46BE40B5CF57E21007 Image Caption: Amy Smith relaxes at North Sydney Oval // cricket.com.au

"When she's on school holidays she comes in full-time (to train with Tasmania) and then during term she does her gym work and skill work around school.

"She trains nowhere near as much as the other girls and I don't think she should either, because we don't want to lose her from the game due to burnout or getting too serious too early.

"She needs to enjoy her teenage years too."

However, the Tasmania and Hobart coach is predicting big things to come for Smith if she continues on her current trajectory.

"She's not a big turner of the ball but she's pretty consistent, success for her is hitting the stumps," Briggs continued.

"She bowls that really good length in T20 cricket where it's a little bit quicker, little bit back of a length so it skids on and so it's hard to get after.

"I think her key development moving forward, will be if we can keep that control and hopefully for her to get a little bit of sideways spin along the way and then eventually to get that wrong'un… I think she could be a very good bowling allrounder."