NSW Breakers recruitment drive set to add Katie Mack in major coup after Ellyse Perry return

The rich are getting richer. Fresh from bringing superstar Ellyse Perry back to NSW, the Breakers are on the verge of adding another high-profile recruit for their title defence.

Reigning Women’s National Cricket League champions NSW are set to pull off another recruiting coup with Australia A batter and ACT captain Katie Mack set to defect from the Meteors to join the Breakers.

With superstar Ellyse Perry already on her way back to her home state after six seasons in Victoria, sources have confirmed that Mack, 31, will also be part of the NSW setup next season in what shapes as a major blow to ACT cricket.

Originally from NSW, Mack moved to Canberra more than a decage ago for greater opportunity.

She has since been a mainstay of the ACT side, playing 94 one-dayers and posting five centuries. Mack was a top-10 WNCL runscorer in the recently completed season after making a ton for Australia A against India A in Mackay last August.

She also made a century in the Green v Gold trial match this week.

Katie Mack is set to join the powerhouse NSW Breakers. Picture: Getty

Mack will leave a significant hole for the ACT, who finished second-bottom of the WNCL table with just three wins from 12 matches.

Conversely the Breakers, who beat Queensland in the competition’s final at the start of March, will only get stronger on paper with the acquisitions of Mack - who plays for the Adelaide Strikers in the Women’s Big Bash League - and Perry, albeit the latter is unlikely to be available for much of the season due to national and franchise commitments elsewhere.

PERRY POISED TO MAKE BIG STATE MOVE NEXT SEASON

Australian icon Ellyse Perry’s six-year stay in Victoria is set to end with the champion all-rounder poised to move back to NSW during the off-season.

Having grown up and started her career in Sydney, Perry shifted to Melbourne in 2019 to join her then-husband Matt To’omua, who was playing rugby with the Melbourne Rebels.

Perry with Alyssa Healy following her last match for the NSW Breakers, which just so happened to be a win in the Women’s National Cricket League final. Picture: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

Perry remained in Victoria following the couple’s split, which was announced in 2020.

Though national team and Women’s Premier League commitments limit the availability of top Australian players to feature for their states, Perry still managed 20 games for Victoria.

Remarkably prolific for the Vics, Perry made five centuries for her adopted state in the 50-over Women’s National Cricket League as well as taking 13 wickets. Her most recent match for Victoria was 13 months ago against the ACT at Junction Oval, a game in which she made 145.

Perry making one of her five centuries for Victoria in 2023. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

However cricket sources have confirmed this week that Perry, 34, will return to NSW and play for the Breakers – albeit likely not often given her Australian team schedule – from the 2025-26 season.

It’s understood the reasons for the move are personal.

Perry had remained with the Women’s Big Bash League’s Sydney Sixers throughout her time in Victoria.

As a nationally contracted player, Perry can choose her state independently of state contracting mechanisms. The move will be formalised in the coming months once with CA announces its national contract list for next season.

NSW hasn’t claimed the WNCL crown since Perry’s departure however that drought could end this Sunday with the Breakers involved in this season’s final against the Queensland Fire at Allan Border Field.

Victoria has not won the WNCL since 2004-05, only once making the final during Perry’s time with the state.

During her first NSW stint, Perry played 73 one-day matches to be a key part of a Breakers side that won 10 consecutive titles.

The former Matildas star is currently in India playing for the WPL’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru, scoring three half-centuries from four matches to start her campaign.

Originally published as NSW Breakers recruitment drive set to add Katie Mack in major coup after Ellyse Perry return