Victoria women's cricket team

The Victoria Women cricket team, previously known as Victoria Spirit, is the women's representative cricket team for the Australian State of Victoria. They play their home games at Junction Oval, 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.

Victoria

Personnel
Captain	Meg Lanning
Coach	Lachlan Stevens
Team information
Founded	First recorded match: 1891
Home ground	Junction Oval, Melbourne
Capacity	7,000
History
First-class debut	New South Wales in 1934 at University Oval, Sydney
WNCL wins	2
WT20C wins	3
Official website	Victorian Cricket Team

History

1891–1930: Early history

Victoria's first recorded match was against New South Wales on 17 March 1891, however, the result is unknown.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3] They continued to play in the Championships until its final season in 1995–96.[4][5] Records for the tournament are patchy but Victoria are its most successful team, having won 36 titles.[6]

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

Victoria joined the newly-established WNCL in 1996–97.[7] 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[6]

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.[8][9][10][11][1]

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 five 2020–21 WNCL home games are also scheduled to be played at Junction Oval.[10][11]

Players

Current squad

Based on squad for the 2020/21 season. Players in bold have international caps.[12]

No.	Name	Nat.	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
–	Anna Lanning		25 March 1994	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Meg Lanning		25 March 1992	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Captain
–	Elyse Villani		6 October 1989	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Amy Vine		22 December 1991	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
All-rounders
–	Makinley Blows		12 December 1997	Left-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Lucy Cripps		6 December 2001	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Sophie Day		2 September 1998	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
–	Bhavisha Devchand		24 December 1992	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
–	Elly Donald		17 September 1997	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Tess Flintoff		31 March 2003	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Kim Garth		25 April 1996	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
–	Zoe Griffiths		18 October 1999	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
–	Sophie Molineux		17 January 1998	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
–	Ellyse Perry		3 November 1990	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
–	Molly Strano		5 October 1992	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
–	Annabel Sutherland		12 October 2001	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
–	Georgia Wareham		26 May 1999	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
Wicket-keepers
–	Nicole Faltum		17 January 2000	Right-handed	—
Bowlers
–	Courtney Neale		4 July 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
–	Tayla Vlaeminck		27 October 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast

Coaching staff

• Head coach: Lachlan Stevens[13]
• Assistant coach: Dulip Samaraweera[14]

Honours

• Women's National Cricket League (2): 2002–03, 2004–05
• Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup (3): 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12

See also

• Cricket Victoria
• Victoria Men cricket team
• Melbourne Stars (WBBL)
• Melbourne Renegades (WBBL)

References

1. "Women's Miscellaneous Matches played by Victoria Women". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
2. "New South Wales Women Second XI v Victoria Women". CricketArchive. 19 April 1930. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
3. "Australian Women's Cricket Championships 1930/31". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
4. "Women's First-Class Events played by Victoria Women". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
5. "Women's List A Events played by Victoria Women". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
6. "Victorian Cricket Team". Cricket Victoria. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
7. "Women's National Cricket League 1996/97". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
8. "Victoria Women v England Women". CricketArchive. 7 December 1934. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
9. "Women's First-Class Matches played by Victoria Women". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
10. "Women's List A Matches played by Victoria Women". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
11. "Women's Twenty20 Matches played by Victoria Women". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
12. "State squads: All the ins and outs for the 2020-21 season". cricket.com.au. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
13. "Lachlan Stevens appointed Head Coach of the Victorian Women's Team". Cricket Victoria. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
14. "Controlling the controllable key for Cup hopeful". cricket.com.au. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.