Ebony Hoskin plays for Sydney Thunder in WBBL practice match

The 19-year-old, from Howlong, took part in a practice game against Sydney Sixers as she continues her development in the world of state cricket.

Hoskin shared the field with Australia vice-captain Rachael Haynes, who has noticed Hoskin's potential first-hand

"We've got Ebony around our squad at the moment," Haynes saud.

"She'll be around our group for the duration of the Big Bash, she played in our practice game and she's very much a young, exciting, up-and-coming cricketer.

"To have exposure to this sort of tournament and be around that calibre of player, in terms of those international players coming through and having the opportunity to bowl to them and understand how they go about playing you as a bowler, that's going to be invaluable for her development."

Haynes, who will retire after the WBBL, admits the cricketing landscape for Hoskin is very different to the one which existed at the start of her career.

ALSO IN SPORT:

"When I started, we had a domestic T20 competition and the WNCL but the volume of games just wasn't the same," Haynes said.

"There weren't really other domestic T20 competitions to go and play in.

"You could go and play county cricket in England but there weren't things like the Caribbean T20 League or The Hundred.

"We'll see, hopefully, the women's IPL come in next year as well so the amount of playing opportunities for domestic players and also internationally is far more than when I first started playing.

"To have the opportunity to play through the professionalisation of the game, it completely changed the landscape in terms of the time players now have to invest in their games and the amount of playing opportunities they get.

"It was everything we wanted and were asking for when I was growing up and coming through.

"To be able to experience that and see that transition has been really special and life-changing in a lot of ways."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: