By the time she was seven, she had joined a boys under-12s cricket team that one of her brothers was playing for – teams for girls weren’t common back then. And with all three of her brothers playing in different teams, Villani says it was impossible for her mum to transport all four children to different games. So it was easier for her to play in her brother’s team, despite the age difference, and the fact she was the only girl in the team.

Villani didn’t see other girls playing cricket, so she assumed she must be the only girl interested in the sport.

But that quickly changed when Villani was nine and received a letter in the mail, inviting her to try out for the under-12s state girls team.

“It actually kept me in cricket,’’ Villani recalls of receiving that important piece of mail.

“Because, from then on, I started to understand and learn that there was a pathway for female cricket as well. Until then, I didn’t see anyone else that looked like me that played cricket. But once I saw that pathway … that fuelled the fire a bit.’’

Villani has since become a well-recognised and well-regarded figure in domestic and international cricket, with the 35-year-old having played close to 100 matches for Australia across all formats of the game since 2019, as well as being the current captain of both the Tasmanian tigers Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) side and the Hobart Hurricanes Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) side.

The right-arm fast bowler and top-order right-hand batter has been described as one of the most damaging batters in international cricket – and earlier this year was rewarded for her stellar domestic form when she was named the Women’s Domestic Player of the Year for the third time in four seasons.

Villani says even in the three-and-a-half years since moving to Tasmania, she has noticed a huge boom in the profile of women’s cricket, which is heartening to see.

“When I first moved down (to Tasmania) I could go about my everyday business, but the last couple of years I often get spoken to down at the beach, with people wishing myself and the team good luck,’’ Villani says.

“There are definitely more eyes on female cricket in Tasmania, which is awesome to be a part of. When I was growing up, I often got asked ‘Who are your idols?’. I’d say Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden – no female cricketers really came to mind as I wasn’t seeing any.’’

But she says that is quickly changing with boys and girls becoming far more aware of the men’s and women’s cricket teams – and the high calibre of Australian cricketing talent – giving young hopefuls plenty of sporting idols to look up to.

“It genuinely feels like there’s a young role model out there for every type of boy or girl,’’ Villani says.

She made the move to Tasmania in 2021, when “the stars aligned”.

Her partner, cricketer Nicola Carey, was already in the state playing cricket, and Villani – who was fresh off a blistering 2020-21 WNCL season for Victoria, in which she smashed 611 runs, at an average of 87, including three centuries as two half-centuries to be named the competition’s leading run scorer – wanted to be closer to her.

But she also wanted to ensure it was a good professional move as well as a personal move. “My partner was here, but I had a really firm idea that I didn’t want to move just for her, I wanted to move to better my own personal career as well, and have that balance right,’’ Villani explains.

But things couldn’t have turned out better for Villani – she joined the Tasmanian tigers, assuming the captaincy in the process, and has helped steer the powerhouse side to continued success.

After years spent struggling at the bottom rungs of the ladder, the Tigers won three straight WNCL titles – between 2022 and 2024 – thanks to a mix of youth and experience, with the squad largely turning its fortunes around thanks to the strong form of veterans including Villani and Carey, as well as Heather Graham, Molly Strano and Sasha Moloney.

Villani says from the first conversations she had with Cricket Tasmania’s Salliann Beams (who was then the coach of the women’s Tassie Tigers) and chief executive Dominic Baker, she “felt really valued” and knew she was “going to be part of a great program that really cared about its athletes’’.

“To have the opportunity to come down (to Tasmania) and lead that, and be part of that, really spoke to me and allowed me to have great personal opportunity within my own career,’’ Villani says.

“To be able to merge career opportunities and be in the same place as my partner was too good to pass up … the stars aligned, really.’’

As well as leading the Tigers to victory, Villani continues to rack up an impressive list of stats since moving to Tasmania – in 2023 she scored 627 WNCL runs, at an average of 69.67, which included an outstanding 110 in the 2022/23 WNCL final against South Australia and a top score of 174 not out against Western Australia.

Villani also scored 324 runs in 12 innings at an average of 36, in the 2023-24 WBBL season.

She admits the Hurricanes have underperformed over the past few seasons, but as captain she is determined to bring the franchise some long-awaited success.

Villani re-signed with the Hurricanes on a two-year deal at the end of last season, after joining the side at the start of the 2022-23 season. With the Hurricanes yet to secure their first WBBL title, Villani revealed earlier this year that she’s keen to turn the team’s fortunes around sooner rather than later.

“I’m really passionate about looking to make the Hurricanes better,” Villani told The Mercury in July.

“I feel like we’ve underperformed for the last couple of years. I feel like we’ve got a great core list together and it’s just a great opportunity to actually change the narrative around the Hurricanes.”

While the Tassie Tigers WNCL side has won the past three 50-over titles, that success hasn’t been able to be replicated in the shorter format.

“We’re really clear on our processes in our 50-over game and it’s about trying to get that clarity as much as possible in the T20 game and finding out what our identity is as a Hurricanes team,” Villani explained.

“There’s obviously a lot more pressure moments and the game’s shorter, so you’ve got to adapt a lot quicker. But we’re certainly not shying away from those conversations. We’re all really excited to share the same vision in finding that identity and hopefully that’ll take us from strength to strength.”

Villani says traditionally, the pre-season focus has been on the Tigers and the 50-over games, with little preparation for the T20 competition. But it has been a “good challenge” to shake things up and do things differently in the hope of achieving greater success across both formats.

Villani had played cricket in Tasmania plenty of times before moving to the state, but says she’s been surprised by how quickly Hobart has felt like home. She has also been pleasantly surprised by the mild weather.

“When I played for another state and I’d see Tassie on the calendar, I’d think ‘oh no, it will probably be rain reduced, or cold, or windy’,’’ Villani says.

“But once I moved here I started singing Tassie’s praises to everyone, and selling Hobart to anyone who would listen. It surprised me in a pleasant way how much I like living in Tassie.’’

Villani and Carey live at Tranmere and can often be found strolling nearby beaches with their dog Nessa, a miniature schnauzer x bichon frise, or going out for coffee.

“It feels like home, it felt like home pretty early on,’’ Villani says of Tasmania.

“I’m really enjoying living on the Eastern Shore. I love walking the dog at the beach. And I love having so much time back as well. Previously, living in Melbourne – with traffic and visiting family – so much of the day was taken up in the car, it could be a really hectic lifestyle. But here everything is only a few minutes away. I’m a pretty simple person, I love being at home.’’

Another part of the appeal of Hobart is being able to “work alongside really good people, in terms of other cricketers and support staff as well”.

As a veteran of the game Villani enjoys being a mentor to younger players, although admits that keeping up with the vocab and slang of her younger teammates can sometimes be a challenge.

“I like to think it keeps me young,’’ Villani laughs.

“I used to be a bit of a ratbag myself and now I’ve got to set the standards as an older, more experienced player.

“Things have changed massively as I’ve come through the sport. Working with the younger athletes is something I genuinely enjoy … I am constantly learning at training and at games. The girls I get to work with are incredibly talented, they are really good people and really respectful.’’

Villani did some part-time teaching work earlier in her cricket career and says those skills have been “massively handy” when it comes to mentoring in cricket.

“No two people are the same so you’ve got to be a bit creative to understand what makes people tick and how to get the best out of people, that’s really helpful from a leadership point of view,’’ says Villani, who has Level 3 coaching accreditation and also works as a casual commentator for Channel 7.

“The team is made up of lots of different individuals who bring real strengths, as well as so many different ideas and perspectives. And yet you’re all working towards the same goal.’’

She likes that cricket enables her to work towards her own personal goals while also celebrating shared success as part of a team.

“I definitely enjoy being part of a team, I am someone who loves to achieve things with other people,” Villani says.

“I think having shared success is quite a unique feeling and something I thoroughly enjoy.’’

She says cricketers have to work hard to be successful, as there are many variable aspects of the sport, like the weather and pitch conditions, as well as changing opponents and the various tactics and strategies they employ.

“The ever-changing landscape of cricket is an awesome challenge which I enjoy, and being part of a team also makes that more enjoyable as well,’’ Villani says.

Despite her success now, Villani admits there were times when she considered ditching her cricketing aspirations in favour of a teaching career.

She was in the final stages of completing her Bachelor of Education, at the University of Victoria in 2012, when she was dropped from the Australian team and began to reassess her future.

After starting her career playing domestic cricket for Victoria, Villani played for the Australia Under-21 side in 2008 – the team beat the senior Australian team in a match where Villani scored 85 runs from 78 balls – and she was one of six members of the Under-21 team to be named in Australia’s 30-player preliminary squad for the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup, although she was not in the final squad for the tournament.

Villani made her international cricket debut for Australia in 2009 in a Women’s T20 International against New Zealand. She was part of the Victorian team that won the inaugural Australian Women’s T20 Cup and part of Australia’s team for the 2010 ICC Women’s World T20, but she lost her place in the national team after the tournament.

“I was fortunate to play for Australia when I was really young, which was really cool,’’ Villani recalls.

“Then when the decision was made, and I was dropped from the (Australian) team just as I’d finished my teacher’s degree, I started to wonder if it wasn’t really my career path to play cricket.

“I’d enjoyed my uni degree, I’d been at a school for my last placement and there were jobs going there. I thought ‘do I apply for a job here, I really like it? Or do I go and play one more season of County Cricket in England?’.’’

“I thought ‘you know what, I’m only in my early 20s, I’ll go over and have one more summer of fun before getting a full-time job’.’’

But her full-time job ended up becoming cricket, as she was again selected to play for Australia – in the 2013-14 Women’s Ashes series she played for Australia in all three formats, making her Test and ODI debuts – at a time when the profile of women’s cricket was booming.

“When I was reselected and the scope changed massively within a few years, cricket became a career path – you could do it as a job,’’ Villani says.

“I was very fortunate … when everything did start to change I just seemed to be there at the right time.

“I remember thinking when I was young, and you travel, and you have to fill out the (passenger declaration) card that asks what you do as your occupation. And one year, I remember thinking ‘how cool would it be to write ‘athlete’ as my occupation’ – I thought that would be living the dream.’’

She is grateful to all the female cricketers who came before her, who “put in so much time and made so many sacrifices”, often for little recognition, to help build the profile of the sport so that cricketers coming though in her generation were able to be part of the boom in women’s cricket.

“In my career I have been able to write down that my occupation is an athlete. So I feel like I’ve made it in a sense,’’ Villani says.

“To still be doing it at 35 is pretty unbelievable and something I’m extremely grateful to have been able to experience.’’

And being able to do that in Hobart is the icing on the cake.

“I always look forward to playing, I always really enjoy playing,’’ Villani says.

“I still love the game, I still love competing and ultimately to taste success in both formats for Tasmania – that’s the ultimate goal and something that we’re all striving for this season.’’•

The WBBL Hobart Hurricanes play Sydney Thunder at Bellerive Oval on October 28 at 6.10pm. Tickets are $10 for adults, juniors are free. See the full schedule at hobarthurricanes.com.au or book at ticketek.com.au. Meanwhile The Tasmanian tigers play their first WNCL home game at Bellerive Oval against NSW on December 14 at 10am. Entry is free, tickets aren’t required, just turn up. crickettas.com.au