Victoria women's cricket team

The Victoria women's cricket team, previously known as Victorian Spirit, is the women's representative cricket team for the Australian State of Victoria. They play their home games at Junction Oval, St Kilda, Melbourne. They compete in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL), the premier 50-over women's cricket tournament in Australia. They previously played in the now-defunct Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup and Australian Women's Cricket Championships, a competition which they dominated, having won 36 titles.

History

1891–1930: Early history

Victoria's first recorded match was against New South Wales on 17 March 1891, however, the result is unknown. Their first match with a known result was against New South Wales Second XI, with Victoria winning a one-day, two innings match by 6 wickets on 19 April 1930.

1931–1996: Australian Women's Cricket Championships

Victoria played alongside New South Wales and Queensland in the inaugural season of the Australian Women's Cricket Championships in 1930–31. They continued to play in the Championships until its final season in 1995–96. They won the title 36 times, making them the most successful team.

1996–present: Women's National Cricket League and Twenty20 Cup

Victoria joined the newly established WNCL in 1996–97. They have won the title twice, in 2002–03 and 2004–05. They are the most successful side in the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, having won the title three times, with consecutive wins coming in 2009–10, 2010–11 and 2011–12

Grounds

Victoria have used a number of grounds over the years. Their first recorded home match against Tasmania in 1906 was played at Victoria Park, Melbourne. Historically they have played the vast majority of their home matches at various grounds in Melbourne. Their first match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was against England in 1934. Since 2002 they have also played occasional matches in Geelong.

Since 2013, Victoria have played most of their home games at Junction Oval, located in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, as well as occasionally at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Casey Fields. Their two 2019–20 WNCL home games were played at Junction Oval. Their four 2020–21 WNCL league matches, as well as the final, were also played at Junction Oval. In 2021–22, they played six matches at Junction Oval, as well as playing their first ever match at Shepley Oval in Melbourne. In 2022–23, the side returned to just using Junction Oval.

Players

Current squad

Based on squad announced for the 2023/24 season. Players in bold have international caps.

No.	Name	Nat.	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
27	Olivia Henry	Australia	(2004-01-27)27 January 2004(age 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
7	Meg Lanning	Australia	(1992-03-25)25 March 1992(age 34)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Captain, Cricket Australia contract, former Australia Captain
All-rounders
25	Tess Flintoff	Australia	(2003-03-31)31 March 2003(age 23)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
11	Kim Garth	Australia	(1996-04-25)25 April 1996(age 29)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
18	Ella Hayward	Australia	(2003-09-08)8 September 2003(age 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
8	Rhys McKenna	Australia	(2004-08-17)17 August 2004(age 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
23	Sophie Molineux	Australia	(1998-01-17)17 January 1998(age 28)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	Cricket Australia contract
20	Ellyse Perry	Australia	(1990-11-03)3 November 1990(age 35)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Cricket Australia contract
3	Annabel Sutherland	Australia	(2001-10-12)12 October 2001(age 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	Cricket Australia contract
32	Georgia Wareham	Australia	(1999-05-26)26 May 1999(age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	Cricket Australia contract
Wicket-keepers
4	Nicole Faltum	Australia	(2000-01-17)17 January 2000(age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
22	Sophie Reid	Australia	(1997-08-28)28 August 1997(age 28)	Left-handed	–
Bowlers
6	Sophie Day	Australia	(1998-09-02)2 September 1998(age 27)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
–	Poppy Gardner	Australia	(2005-01-05)5 January 2005(age 21)	Right-handed	Left-arm medium
–	Hasrat Gill	Australia	(2005-11-09)9 November 2005(age 20)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
21	Milly Illingworth	Australia	(2005-07-15)15 July 2005(age 20)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Sasha Moloney	Australia	(1992-06-14)14 June 1992(age 33)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
28	Jasmine Nevins	Australia	(2003-10-07)7 October 2003(age 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
16	Georgia Prestwidge	Australia	(1997-12-17)17 December 1997(age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
17	Tayla Vlaeminck	Australia	(1998-10-27)27 October 1998(age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Cricket Australia contract

Notable players

Players who have played for Victoria and played internationally are listed below, in order of first international appearance (given in brackets):

Coaching staff

Head coach: Jarrad Loughman
Assistant coach: Dulip Samaraweera
Head of Female Cricket: Sharelle McMahon

Honours

Australian Women's Cricket Championships: Winners (36): 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1995–96
Women's National Cricket League: Winners (2): 2002–03, 2004–05
Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup: Winners (3): 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12