Dandenong fast bowler Courtney Neale steps up for a Victorian debut

DANDENONG fast bowler Courtney Neale more than holds her own on debut for the Victorian women’s team.

A first wicket eluded her.

But Courtney Neale had catches missed in the slips, put in a couple of hearty LBW shouts and finished with a respectable economy rate in her first two matches for the Victorian women’s team.

Importantly, she came away from the experience in good heart.

The 20-year-old Dandenong fast bowler made her debut for the Vics against the ACT Meteors last Friday at Manuka Oval and followed up against NSW Breakers at Blacktown International Sports Park two days later.

The Victorian team featured five players new to the WNCL scene, including Neale and her Panthers teammate Lucy Cripps.

Ace spinner Alana King presents Courtney Neale with her Victorian cap.

Neale said she was nervous before the first match, but less so for the second and gradually felt comfortable with the level of cricket and her ability to put her mark on it.

She finished with 0-24 off six overs against the ACT and 0-18 off seven against NSW.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get the wins but I was just happy to have a trundle and get an understanding of where I sit when it comes to first-class cricket,’’ Neale said.

“There’s definitely room for improvement but I guess I didn’t feel out of my depth. It didn’t feel too hard. I have to stick to what I know best, bowling straight and full and set my fields.’’

Neale gained two understandings from the two matches: the batters invariably punished bad balls, and offered fewer chances to bowlers than at Premier level. Another thing was reinforced: the need for consistency.

Neale’s rise to first-class cricket came eight years after she began playing for Officer in a boys team.

She joined the Dandenong women’s club two years later but took time away from cricket to focus on her studies. A spell at Melbourne followed but she returned to Dandy last season, bowled well without getting the figures to show it and was added to the state squad over winter.

Courtney Neale after her selection in a Victorian under-age team in 2012.

She said she was surprised to be called up for a contract. As for the prospect of state appearances in 2018-19, “I didn’t have many expectations’’.

But with Meg Lanning, Sophie Molineux, Elyse Villani, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck playing for Australia at the T20 World Cup, the Vics pushed up Neale, Cripps, Rhiann O’Donnell, Elly Donald and Amy Vine. Young talent is on tap in Victorian women’s cricket.

Neale is training with the state squad four times a week. She said it had led to “massive improvements to my bowling’’.

“It’s a plus to get a game and hopefully I can get in the running for the next round when all the Aussie girls are back,’’ she said.

Neale is still living at Officer and combining her cricket with part-time studies as a paramedic. She was working as a lifeguard but had to set it aside.

“I did have to shuffle my life a bit … it was a bit overwhelming at the start, having different priorities, but I’m getting the hang of what’s needed,’’ she said.

“Cricket’s obviously a big focus for me. Since joining the program my understanding of the game and interest in the game and motivation to do well in it have skyrocketed.
“The ambition is there to go as high as I can but in the short-term I’m just focused on getting better and seeing what happens. I usually get caught by surprise when things happen.’’