Young allrounder sets sights on Fire debut
CRICKET: South Burnett teen Courtney Sippel is a chance to make her Queensland Fire debut this weekend.
The 17-year-old allrounder (pictured) is one of three fresh faces in the squad alongside Charli Knott and Meagan Dixon.
With Australian players Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney and Delissa Kimmince away at the ICC Women’s World T20 Cup in the West Indies, the Fire named the trio in their 13player squad for the Women’s National Cricket League games against the Tasmanian Tigers and Southern Scorpions.
At 15 years and 11 months, allrounder Knott will be the second youngest player to debut for the Fire since the team adopted that identity in 1996.
Knott, a student at Brisbane State High School, played her junior cricket in Mackay with Magpies, Brothers and the Mackay Hurricanes girls team before her family moved to Brisbane.
A top order right-handed bat, she became one of the youngest players to score a century in the Katherine Raymont Shield Women’s Premier competition last summer when she produced 110 in a matchwinning stand against a Gold Coast Dolphins attack including Kimmince and Australia ‘A’ quick Sammy-Jo Johnson.
Dixon, also an Australian and Queensland Indoor representative, took 4-28 for Wests against Valley in the Katherine Raymont Shield on the weekend while Sippel took 2-5.
Queensland Fire coach Pete McGiffin said the weekend round provided Queensland with a glimpse of is future.
“It’s exciting to give these young players a chance to show their skills, and for us to consider how best we encourage and develop them at this stage of their careers,’’ he said.
“Charli is a very skilful and level-headed player while Courtney and Meagan have taken big strides this season.
“It also means our senior players get the opportunity to show how good they can be in the absence of the Australian players.
“I’m sure the Queensland girls in the West Indies will be thrilled for the players we have chosen and will wish them all the best as they go about the task at hand and perform at their best in the WT20.”
“It’s nice to note too that the three players we have named have all enjoyed the chance to play juniors and rep cricket within the Queensland female pathways where they have worked hard and made the most of the chances that have come their way.”