Teenage gun a Silver lining for Sixers

When the first season of the Rebel WBBL began in late 2015, Hayley Silver-Holmes watched on keenly as the biggest names in the game were thrust into the Big Bash spotlight.

For the then 12-year-old, the dream was clear: to one day run out alongside those cricketers on the national stage.

Remarkably, it's taken just three years for Silver-Holmes to realise that dream.

On December 7 and aged 15, Silver-Holmes made her Big Bash debut for the Sydney Sixers in their first home game of the season at North Sydney Oval, unsurprisingly setting a new record as the club's youngest debutant in the process.

The young allrounder didn't bowl in that match against the Scorchers but was thrown the ball the following day against the Thunder and given a chance to show off her right-arm pace.

She's now got five appearances to her name and while she's still waiting for that maiden WBBL wicket, the teenager has been holding her own against some of the world's biggest hitters. 

"I didn't think (a debut) was going to happen this year," Silver-Holmes told cricket.com.au.

"But it shows age doesn't really matter if you do your best and see what happens.

"I did have a little bit of nerves, but the girls were good, they were very supportive towards me and wished me luck.

"It's a great experience being out there with a lot of international girls in our team. I get to learn a lot from them … girls like (South African fast bowler) Marizanne Kapp, I've already learnt a lot off her with everything she does in cricket, how she goes about it."

It was the attraction of a day off school that led Silver-Holmes down the path towards elite cricket.

Aged 11, she skipped classes to attend a Sydney west representative cricket trial, with selectors immediately impressed by what they saw.

She quickly found herself in the underage state system and captained NSW's under-15s at the national championships last summer and was named player of the tournament.

Such is the potential of the already 178cm pace-bowling allrounder (and she says she's still growing), Silver-Holmes earned a spot in Australia's under-19 team that toured South Africa in April, despite being just 14 at the time.

It was there that Silver-Holmes, who was a Sydney Thunder rookie last summer, caught the eye of Sixers head coach Ben Sawyer, who was on that tour as a bowling mentor.

He offered her a contract for WBBL|04 and before the teenager knew it, she was heading to training with the likes of Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner.

"Watching the Big Bash, it made me want to play and be like those girls. It's been a big jump but it was very exciting when I got a call, I was keen to get out there and have a stab," Silver-Holmes said, admitting to feeling some nerves when meeting the world's top-ranked allrounder and Sixers captain Perry for the first time.

"My role model growing up was Ellyse Perry as she played soccer and cricket and that's what I was doing at the time.

"Now I'm playing under her as my captain, it was very nerve-racking but she's a very good person and a very good cricketer and I've learn lot off her these couple of months."

Juggling cricket and school isn't always easy, particularly given Silver-Holmes is based in Bowen Mountain in the foothills of the Blue Mountain, more than an hour's drive from the SCG.

Fortunately for her, she has a very supportive father, Jason, who's helped her every step of the way – and who was in the crowd at North Sydney Oval when she made her WBBL debut, alongside other family and a collection of Silver-Holmes' school mates.

"Dad is a massive part of it, he drives me to the SCG, we live in the Hawkesbury area so it's quite a trek," she said. "And he's always throwing balls to me when he can.

"He, my mum and my group of sisters came to the North Sydney game when I first debuted were cheering me on.

"I got a lot of messages (from friends) after my debut, my best friends came down and supported me too."