Australian cricket continues to supply thrilling new expertise, and the most recent addition to Cricket Australia‘s nationwide contract checklist is Tess Flintoff – a reputation that’s been making waves within the home circuit for a couple of seasons now. Together with her all-round capabilities and fearless method to the sport, Flintoff is shaping up as one of many future stars of the Australian girls’s cricket workforce.
Youth and rise via the ranks
Born on March 31, 2003, in Melbourne, Victoria, Flintoff started her journey with cricket at a really younger age. She was a part of the Cricket Victoria Junior Milo program and rapidly climbed via the junior ranks, representing her state in Beneath-12, Beneath-15, and Beneath-18 age teams.
Her expertise was evident early, and he or she was fast-tracked into Victoria’s senior home workforce, making her debut as an adolescent in opposition to New South Wales. She was additionally a part of Australia’s squad for the 2019 ICC Ladies’s Beneath-19 T20 World Cup, which served as an early platform to showcase her potential on the large stage.
Inclusion in Australia A squad throughout the 2021–22 Ladies’s Ashes
Flintoff took one other vital step in her cricketing journey in January 2022, when she was named in Australia’s A squad for the sequence in opposition to England A. The matches had been scheduled alongside the high-profile Ladies’s Ashes, providing fringe gamers and rising stars like Flintoff an opportunity to carry out in a aggressive setting whereas being intently noticed by nationwide selectors.
Making a mark within the WBBL
Flintoff gained nationwide consideration throughout the 2022–23 Ladies’s Huge Bash League (WBBL) season. Taking part in for the Melbourne Stars, she smashed the file for the quickest half-century in WBBL historical past — scoring 50 off simply 16 balls in opposition to the Adelaide Strikers. That innings not solely lit up the event but in addition earned her a spot in cricket’s file books, because it grew to become the second-fastest fifty in girls’s T20 historical past.
Recognized for her power-hitting within the decrease order and her tidy right-arm medium tempo, Flintoff has grown right into a dependable all-rounder. Her means to contribute in each departments makes her a useful asset in T20 and 50-over codecs.
Additionally READ: All it is advisable to learn about Annabel Sutherland: Australia’s star all-rounder and the Belinda Clark awardee 2025
Incomes the central contract for 2025–26
Her performances haven’t gone unnoticed by the selectors. On April 17, 2025, Cricket Australia named Flintoff of their 18-player girls’s central contract checklist for the 2025–26 season, marking her first full-time nationwide contract.
This inclusion displays a broader shift in the direction of investing within the subsequent era of Australian cricketers, particularly with a number of huge tournaments just like the ODI World Cup and a multi-format sequence in opposition to India on the horizon.
A future prospect for Australia
Whereas she’s but to debut for the senior nationwide facet, Flintoff’s trajectory suggests it’s solely a matter of time. With depth in Australia’s pace-bowling group and robust competitors for all-rounder spots, Flintoff’s choice within the contract checklist positions her completely to interrupt into the worldwide setup quickly.
Additionally READ: Cricket Australia unveils Ladies’s contract for 2025-26; Tess Flintoff earns first nationwide deal
This text was first printed at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Instances firm.
