Young gun on Indian odyssey
Long before rising cricket star Matiese Wadwell hit her first boundary, she had to find a way to cross one.
As a kid in Maitland, she first fell in love with cricket from the wrong side of the white picket fence, watching her dad and brothers wield the willow and wishing she could join in.
There was no girl’s cricket team in Maitland and the only chance to get in on the action was as a substitute fielder for her brother’s team.
That determination she exhibited as an 11-year-old has paid off with the Bond Bachelor of Sports Management student recently receiving a bursary from the National Council of Women Queensland which she plans to put towards an upcoming India tour in September.
“I used to go and watch my dad and brothers play every Saturday and I thought, I may as well play instead of sitting on the sideline,” she said.
“I started just running around on the field for my brother’s team if they needed a fill in because Maitland didn’t have much in terms of girl’s sport.”
Wadwell, 20, plays with the Gold Coast Dolphins under coach Richard Griffiths.
“One of the main reasons I moved to the Gold Coast is because cricket is quite big up here,” she said.
She was selected in Australia’s 15-strong squad for Cricket Mentoring’s India Tour in September.
“We will train in India for seven days and play for three days,” she said.
“When we’re over there we will play the Indian development team, which will be fun.”
Wadwell’s ambition is to follow in the footsteps of fellow country cricketer Phoebe Litchfield who plays for the NSW Breakers.
“I’d love to play in the Big Bash.