Alice Spring’s Skylah Henwood to Lead NT U16 Girls Team

The National Championships will take place on January 6-15, 2025, in Ballarat, Victoria, and is an important event in Cricket Australia’s junior girls’ pathway, which is aimed at nurturing young female cricketers and helping them progress through the ranks of the sport.

This will be the first time the NT has ever fielded a side at the U16 National Championships, and the team features a good mix of Darwin-based talents in Naomi McMahon (Palmerston), Joanna Pickett (Tracy Village), Ekam Dhillon (Tracy Village), Jordi O’Toole (Pint), Eimi Smith (Pint) and Abbey Warton (Waratah). Many of these players featured in the Darwin Districts Cricket Competition and Desert Rose Cup in 2024 and have been delivering exceptional performances throughout these tournaments.

Joining the squad from Alice Springs are the talented Skylah Henwood and Maisie Johnson, with Henwood rewarded with the captaincy following her dominant performances in the Junior Strike League, while Maisie Johnson was the second highest (5) wicket taker in the Desert Rose Cup.

NT Cricket have engaged with Cricket Australia and other State/Territory Talent Managers regarding the remainder of the squad – which has been filled by six players from Victoria in Anuki Dassanayake, Trisha Bajaj, Riva Guliya, Eloise Wood, Ruby Flett and Hannah Robins.

The coaching staff for this year’s team includes Bronte Stray as head coach. Meanwhile Karl Mayne has been appointed assistant coach and Ella Piccoli-Auckram will act as team manager.

The NT U16 team will play its first game on Monday 6^th of January 2025, with the final match of the tournament scheduled for Monday 13^th Jan 2025.

Match schedule

Click here for the full fixture