Advice of star Gold Coast Dolphins teammates crucial for Grace Parsons ahead of National U18 Titles

“PLAY fearless cricket.” The words of the Gold Coast teammates she hopes to one day emulate may now hold the key to Grace Parsons’ future as she prepares to embark on her latest interstate assignment.

“PLAY fearless cricket.”

The words of the Gold Coast teammates she hopes to one day emulate may now hold the key to Grace Parsons’ future as she prepares to embark on her latest interstate assignment.

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A member of the NSW side that competed at the National Under-15 Championships two seasons ago, Parsons will make her Queensland debut when she makes the step up to the under-18 titles in Tasmania in January.

A legspinner and middle-order batter, the 16-year-old has made every post a winner since joining the Dolphins’ Katherine Raymont Shield side last season, taking 25 wickets and scoring 139 runs in her maiden campaign.

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She has continued in the same vain with nine wickets and 53 runs in 11 games this season and said the chance to learn from WBBL stars Delissa Kimmince, Georgia Redmayne and Sammy-Jo Johnson during her time with the club had been crucial in her development.

Gold Coast Dolphins all-rounder Grace Parsons has been picked in the Queensland women's team for the National Under-18 Championships in Tasmania in January. Picture: Jerad Williams

“They’ve been amazing … DK, Sammy and Georgia have been really good mentors and the girls at the club, as well as Garry (Lovett, coach), have been really good,” Parsons, a Year 10 student at Lismore’s Trinity College, said.

“(Their advice is to) play fearless cricket but not reckless, and just to let know it’s ok to bowl a bad ball or play a bad shot. I’ve taken a few wickets this season but last season was a lot better, I’m still getting into it a bit.

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“I was stoked (to make the Queensland team), I’m grateful for the opportunity. There’s a lot of talent in the squad.

“I just want to take every opportunity I’m given with the ball and bat and in the field.”

Still based at Caniaba on the outskirts of Lismore, Parsons’ arrival at Bill Pippen Oval followed a realisation Queensland offered a greater pathway to the elite level.

With sister Laura, 13, now a member of the Dolphins’ second grade side, it is a decision she has not once regretted.

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“I suppose I wanted to play women’s cricket and I couldn’t travel to Sydney every weekend to do that,” Parsons, who began playing with her two older brothers at the age of nine, said.

“(Before joining the Dolphins) I was playing with the boys in Lismore in the local competition. It’s been great, I’ve made some really good friends (at the club) and been given some really good opportunities so I’m really thankful for that.

Parsons at Bill Pippen Oval. Picture: Jerad Williams

“It’s very eye-opening to the talent in women’s cricket these days. Sometimes I have to give (training) a miss but we try to get up as much as we can. I have to thank mum and dad for that.”

While Parsons is the only Dolphins in the Queensland under-18 side, teammate Chelsea Gan will play for Northern Territory at the January 13-23 championships.

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Coming off a bye, ladder-leading Gold Coast will look to extend their perfect start to the Katherine Raymont Shield’s one-day competition when they play away to Ipswich-Logan tomorrow.

DOLPHINS TEAM

Belinda McDougall (c)

Rebecca van Helvoirt (wk)

Chelsea Gan

Amy Riddell

Tara Wheeler

Carly Fuller

Grace Parsons

Eliza Flynn

Mel Lewis

Roxanne Thompson

Ella Cornelius

Giselle Parmenter