Hannah Darlington becomes youngest contracted player

Erskine Park teenager, Hannah Darlington, has excelled at cricket ever since she took up the sport four years ago. The power-hitter made an impression at the under-18 nationals in Hobart, recently helping the Cricket Australia XI reach the final against NSW Metro. Her 10 wickets and 120 runs in the tournament, saw her finish second in the player of the series voting. Darlington had a great 2016 too, making her debut for the Australian national side at the World Indoor Cricket Federation Junior World Series.



 



Darlington recently signed a rookie contract with the Sydney Thunder for the Women’s Big Bash League this season. The 15-year- old has risen rapidly through the ranks and is the first graduate of the Thunder’s WBBL Academy.



 



“I’m really excited to join Sydney Thunder for WBBL03,” she said. “I want to take the opportunity with both hands to learn from the older girls and the experience they have and hopefully take some of that away. I like to think that I’m a pretty attacking batter, I like to take a few risks which might let me down at times, but I like to play an exciting game.”



 



The Sydney Thunder team were the inaugural champions of the competition but in 2016-17, dropped to sixth. Hannah trained at the academy alongside the top team last season, and also received one-on-one training with members of the squad. “I’ve always looked up to Alex Blackwell, I remember once getting to the SCG early for training and she was having a hit, I just sat there in awe watching her bat,” she recalls. “To be around her for three months with Thunder is really exciting. The way she leads Thunder is amazing.”



 



Hannah has had a strong start to the year, already impressing at the indigenous Australian training camp in August. Darlington scored the only century against universities in 2016/17 season, in second-grade cricket, but has scored 7 staggering half-centuries till date (staying not out in 4 instances). She's played both down the order, and as an opener, but her most successful innings have been at number three, including the lone century.



 



She currently attends West field Sports High School and has achieved significant milestones in both outdoor and indoor cricket. Outdoors, she has played on the state women’s indigenous team and was named the player of the tournament, and leading wicketkeeper, while playing in the Combined High Schools team. Indoors, she was named on the NSW U18 side in both 2015/16 and 2016/17, and represented Australia in the World Cup against New Zealand and South Africa, walking away a winner from both matches.



 



Thunder general manager Lee Germon said, that she has shown maturity beyond her years. “She deserves a full contract with the Thunder WBBL squad and although a large part of this season will be a learning experience for her, the coaching staff and I are confident she will contribute positively to the team,” Germon said. “Hannah is one of the exciting groups of young, talented, confident cricketers who have been brought up on T20 and short-form cricket and who will form an important part of the future success of the Sydney Thunder.”



 



Sydney Thunder opens their Rebel Women’s Big Bash League campaign against the Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers on 9 and 10 December at North Sydney, Oval.