How four current women’s cricket stars featured in inaugural Ipswich Logan Hornets premier grade team

Four generational stars: One premier cricket club holds claim to an incredible feat which few can match producing four current-day cricket stars from one team in its inaugural season. Find out who they are and how the club did it here.

Georgia Voll of Australia plays a shot during game two of the Women's One Day International Series between Australia and India at Allan Border Field. Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

When the Ipswich/Logan Hornets took their first steps into the women’s premier cricket scene in the 2018-19 summer, the club may not have known it, but it had four future stars in its ranks.

Darling Downs cricketers Georgia Voll, Ruth Johnston, Ellie Johnston and Kira Holmes were all pivotal members of that Hornets side and have since gone on to greater heights.

Inaugural Ipswich/Logan Hornets premier cricket coach Wayne Bichel recalls the “special time” he had coaching the four girls during their teenage years and how they changed the club.

“We’re very lucky, we’ve got Georgia (Voll) who’s doing really well in the Australia side, we’ve got Ruth Johnston, who’s at the Hobart Hurricanes, we’ve got Ellie Johnston who’s at the Adelaide Strikers and we’ve still got Kira Holmes who’s with the Fire,” he said.

“That’s very unique that from one women’s program we’ve had four girls who have gone on to play at that level.

“The key thing was that they individually pushed each other and that’s why they enjoyed their cricket.

“So from that early stage they pushed each other because the Johnstons and Georgia were playing for Queensland, Kira was in and out around that Queensland side and they pushed each other when they then played.

Hornets Ellie Johnston and Georgia Voll.

“We had a good team environment when they were always trying to be better.

“When we first went in (to premier grade), Georgia and the Johnston girls, they changed premier grade cricket because they were all so young and they were all so talented and that changed women’s premier cricket forever.

“We spoke about those girls probably being once in a generation their talent when they came through.”

Bichel said the four superstar talents were a major reason why the Hornets were able to enter premier grade in the first place after leading the side to an undefeated season in the 2017-18 second-grade campaign.

Despite the quartet playing against senior women as teenagers, they were still able to make an impact as they helped the Hornets to nine wins in all competitions during the 2018-19 summer.

It was throughout this season that Queensland cricket got its first glance of what was to come as Ruth Johnston was the side’s equal leading wicket-taker in the one-day format with 12 scalps at 20.17, while Voll scored a team-high 418 runs at 38 and took 11 wickets at 22.09 in the one-dayers.

Ellie Johnston also showed her class that season with 332 runs at 18.44 and 16 wickets at 23.06 in all formats, while Holmes ended the campaign with 191 runs at 14.69 despite not tuning 16 until midway through the season.

Ipswich Hornets cricketer Kira Holmes. Picture: Darren J McCabe Photography

Georgia Voll took the world by storm in her arrival to the Australian women’s team with an unbeaten 46 runs on debut before dominating with a century in her second clash.

During his time coaching Voll, Bichel said the 21-year-old’s ability to cash in on any opportunity when it came her way was what impressed him the most.

“You’d be playing a team and the wicket might have been really good or there might have been a bowler who might have been down on a particular day, Georgia always cashed in on all opportunities,” he said.

“When you coach players that get to the elite level, you want them to take an opportunity, and that is one thing about Georgia, if there was ever an opportunity for her to show her skills, she took it every time.

“You coach players that when they get on the big stage they get an opportunity and that’s exactly what she’s done playing for Australia.

“She’s got an opportunity and she’s taken an opportunity to go well.

“She’s been like that right from the very first time she came to us.”

Ipswich Logan Hornets coach Wayne Bichel with Ruth Johnston.

On a personal level, Bichel was delighted to have helped four of the girls he coached during the Hornets’ maiden premier venture.

“You start with a view of just being able to help people get to that and that’s probably what we did in those early days, was just to give them the base and once they get that base, then they can do what they’re doing now,” he said.