GO GEORGIA

Tiger Redmayne wins player of the tournament

TASMANIA’S rise from the WNCL doldrums into a genuine title contender has helped Georgia Redmayne create history for female cricket in the state.

The Tigers keeper-batter was crowned the 50-over player of the tournament after Saturday’s final between NSW and Queensland — becoming the first female representing the state to win the award.

Redmayne, who is based on the Gold Coast while she undertakes her medical internship, capped an incredible 12 months after she was named the Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year last summer.

The 25-year-old scored 275 runs, including three half-centuries, at an average of 45.83 this season, and also snared seven catches and four stumpings — the most dismissals by any wicketkeeper in the competition.

Her performances helped the Tigers, who narrowly missed reaching the final when they lost to Victoria in the last round, to a best-ever 4-2 record after years of struggles in the 50-over format.

Redmayne was awarded 15 votes from the umpires (on a 3-2-1 basis) to edge out Australian captain and multiple WNCL player of the year Meg Lanning, South Australian opening batter Bridget Patterson and West Australian allrounder Heather Graham, all of whom finished on 12.

“It was a very good year for Tassie, our most successful season so far and personally I just enjoyed being part of that improvement,” Redmayne told the Mercury yesterday. “We were devastated to miss the final but I think we made a really good step going forward.

“This tops off what was a really good season for Tassie and hopefully one more step in a positive direction for us.

“I didn’t start off the way I would have liked to — the first rounds I was pretty short on form.

“But I had a really good tour away with Australia A in October and that set me up really well for the back end of the season.”

During the week Redmayne was named the Australian Cricketers’ Association WNCL Captains’ MVP award, which is voted by the captains.

England skipper Heather Knight took out the WT20 player of the tournament the season before the WBBL was introduced, but no Tasmanian had previously been crowned the best player in the 50-over season from the umpires.

Redmayne now joins some of the country’s most decorated cricketers in Lanning, Rachael Haynes and Nicole Bolton who have won the award in recent seasons.

“I’m sure there are plenty of amazing players who have won the award, the WNCL competition is so respected by all the players and we all really enjoy playing in it.

“It is pretty humbling when you look back and think about other players who have won this before.”