Australian cricketer Jess Cameron eyes future in national women’s football league

JESS Cameron will play WBBL cricket before embarking on an AFL career in February — should she be drafted into the national women’s league.

Jess Cameron eyes career in national women’s league. Picture: Getty

DUAL-SPORT star Jess Cameron will play WBBL cricket before embarking on an AFL career in February — should she be drafted into the inaugural national women’s league.

The World Cup winning batter skipped the debut WBBL last summer after announcing she wanted a break from elite cricket.

Now rejuvenated after dominating club cricket — scoring 578 runs at an average of 192.67 — she is also playing with Diamond Creek in the Victorian Women’s Football League this season.

Cameron’s former Australian teammate Ellyse Perry has battled to balance cricket and soccer and Cameron is thrilled she won’t have to make a call between her sports just yet.

On Tuesday she was announced as returning to the Vic Spirit state cricket team, where a teammate is Emma Kearney, who has played with the Western Bulldogs in the AFL exhibition matches.

“It can work,” Cameron said.

“I didn’t realise how quickly it (football) was going to grow — I thought that I was going to miss the boat.

Emma Kearney in action for the Bulldogs. Picture: Michael Klein

Emma Kearney in action for the Melbourne Stars. Picture: Colleen Petch

“Now you have that aspiration of playing at a top level of both and until someone says no, you’re not going to put those aspirations aside.

“I was pretty excited about it to be honest. I was like yes, finally I can play both at a level that you keep inspiring yourself to play because it’s at that top level.

“I know that when Pez went through that stage of soccer saying no, I thought it might be a bit hard, but I think the AFL has gone about it the right way.

“They’ve thought a little bit outside the square, they’ve gone if we’re going to do this then we need our best players, what sports are playing around that time? I don’t think other sports thought about that.”

Cameron said she was approaching cricket differently this time around and hadn’t considered the prospect of playing for Australia again.

“If that time comes I guess I’ve got a few decisions to make, but until that happens, I’m not really worried about it,” she said.

Diamond Creek coach Tanya Hetherington said the midfield-forward was a “freak” who had fitted in seamlessly and would be a natural selection for the women’s AFL.

“She came in Round 1 and kicked nine and that was way above my expectations,” Hetherington said.

“She has great hands, she stands out because she’s able to mark above her head and she can read the play really well too.

“She has the ability to kick goals from all angles, she’s got fantastic skills. She’s kind of a bit of the package.”

Originally published as Australian cricketer Jess Cameron eyes future in national women’s football league