Georgia Redmayne went from serving on the COVID-19 frontline to hitting 149 in the Gold Coast Dolphins Round 1 win

Standing at the crease to face some of Australia’s most fearsome seamers provided the perfect grounding for Georgia Redmayne to tackle a global pandemic head-on. READ HER INCREDIBLE STORY.

STANDING at the crease to face some of Australia’s most fearsome seamers provided the perfect grounding for Georgia Redmayne to tackle a global pandemic head-on.

The Australian cricketer had only just wrapped up her Katherine Raymont Shield campaign with the Gold Coast Dolphins when the unimaginable happened and COVID-19 entered Australian shores.

A doctor by trade, Redmayne and her colleagues at Tweed hospital launched into disaster planning in preparation for a global health emergency.

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“We weren’t flooded with cases immediately but we did a lot of planning for what would happen if X, Y and Z eventuated,” she said.

“The initial period of returning Australians gave us a good chance to prepare and put everything in place but with everyone staying at home, it was actually the quietest we’ve been for a while.

“Everyone was saying what a great job we were doing but we weren’t working very hard at all.

“Things eventually started to pick up again but there were a lot of protocols we had to go through with temperature checks and protective equipment.”

QLD Fire cricketer Georgia Redmayne is a doctor and worked on the COVID frontlines while their sporting season was shutdown, Crosby Park Albion. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

While initially “apprehensive” about what a global pandemic might look like, the 26-year-old is luckily still yet to encounter a COVID-19 positive patient.

Recently she’s been working the odd shift in Tweed’s fever clinic, wafting through a barrage of negative test results and phoning patients to inform them of their test result.

“We were still treating everyone who came in like a positive test result anyway and we burned through our PPE pretty quickly but we haven’t had anyone test positive,” Redmayne said.

After training with Queensland for the past few weeks, Redmayne finally got to return to the crease last weekend against the University of Queensland in Round 1 of the Katherine Raymont shield.

And according to the newly signed Brisbane Heat WBBL star, it was the most dominance she’s inflicted on an opposition in years.

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Redmayne put on a 232-run stand with opening partner Tara Wheeler, finishing on 146 runs as she prepares to inflict further pain on Sunday against Ipswich.

“I missed out on a tasty full toss in the second over so I was kicking myself then but it’s so nice to be playing again because it’s been seven months since the grand final,” she said.

“We’ve been pent up and wanting to play for months now.

“It was a nice little partnership for the first wicket and I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the fielding team but we had a lot of debutants as well so it was a great day.

“It might have been one of the quicker 100s I’ve made and I’ve played in a few high-pressure situations at higher levels so it wasn’t the best I’ve played, but it was so enjoyable.

“Everyone contributed to the game in some way and Ipswich had a convincing win as well so it should be a great game.”

The Dolphins host Ipswich on Sunday at Bill Pippen oval.

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VERY few people can claim this year has gone to plan.

But Linda Machin is one of them.

On the eve of her return to first grade Premier Cricket with the Gold Coast Dolphins, the 52-year-old still can’t believe her journey.

In late June, Machin brought her ageing parents up to the Gold Coast for a holiday and had planned to return home to Melbourne when an influx of COVID-19 cases enveloped the city.

“We were staying overlooking the border patrol and they told me that if I left, there was a very strong chance I wouldn’t be able to come back to get my parents so I decided to stay,” Machin said.

Carrying only her backpack and work laptop, the former Una Paisley medal winner (Premier grade best and fairest) has now called the Gold Coast home for two and a half months while her friends and family back home live through a state of emergency.

Gold Coast dolphin women players, Liana Rauf, Shinae Macdonal, Linda Machin, and Melissa Lewis. ahead of their season kicking off this weekend. Picture: Jerad Williams

And complicating things, just five days before elective surgery was suspended in Melbourne, Machin had a shoulder reconstruction.

“It got to the stage last year where I was regularly dislocating it when I was trying to play a hook shot so it was time to do it,” she said.

“I was getting to the critical stage of rehabilitation while I was up here and my physio said I needed to find a cricket team and start doing those actions so I could heal properly.

“And so here I am, making a very unexpected return to premier cricket.”

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After retiring from a 20-year first grade cricket career for Monash University 12 years ago, the former opening batswoman had recently returned to playing to help develop younger players.

Gold Coast dolphin women players, Melissa Lewis, Linda Machin, Shinae Macdonal, , and Liana Rauf. ahead of their season kicking off this weekend. Picture: Jerad Williams

Now she hopes to help her new teammates strive for Katherine Raymont Shield glory following a failed one-day premiership attempt last summer.

“I want to get as much out of it as I can for the girls in Victoria who can’t,” she said.

“I owe it to them to make the most out of every minute, training and playing.

“These last six months, everything has worked out amazingly for me.

“I can’t believe my luck.”

The Dolphins kick off their 2020/21 campaign on Sunday against the University of Queensland.