ENERGIZER BUNNY FIT FOR A KING
Why Australia’s newest spin sensation is ready to make an immediate Ashes impact
When Alana King was growing up in suburban Melbourne, she was the shadow to her brother, Marc – the elder by almost four years.
Following him everywhere meant she played the sports that he did. First it was tennis and then came cricket much to the annoyance of her mum
“We started playing cricket in the backyard and maybe broke a couple of windows and that forced us into the front yard,” the right arm legspinner recalls.
Now aged 26, King laughs that the move to the front yard made her mother happier because her children were hitting towards the road so there were fewer windows to break.
It was at one of Marc’s junior representative cricket games when a coach noticed King’s natural flair for the game as she mucked around with her brother’s teammates.
Her parents were initially not overly keen to see their young daughter play cricket, but such was her early love of the game, King insisted and started as a junior at the Oakleigh Cricket Club.
From there came the girls’ competition, junior school carnivals and then representing Victoria at under-18s level, before WBBL and WNCL contracts put her on the path to stardom.
“Mum hated it then, but she’s learning to love it now because she has to watch me a bit,” King said.
So when King received the call to join the 15-player squad for the 2022 Ashes series – it was her parents and her brother she told first.
“There were lots of tears of joy,” King says. “My parents tried to give me all the opportunities as a young kid. I’ve got a lot to thank them for, for driving me around all the years to cricket carnivals.
“I hope it’s all been worth it and I hope I’ve made them proud.”
King earned an Ashes call up after spin star Georgia Wareham suffered a long-term knee injury, with Sophie Molineux also unavailable through injury.
Her selection came on the back of 16 wickets and a WBBL championship for the Scorchers.
King hopes to bring her signature upbeat energy to the Australian team – along with her love of playing upbeat music before a match.
“I’m a big ‘Energiser bunny’ hopefully spreading plenty of energy around the group,” she says.