Elite athlete round up - January
There was no rest for our elite athletes in January as UNSW was well represented across some of the biggest summer sporting action.
Published on the 02 February 2021
UNSW Elite Athlete Program member Carly Leeson took player of the match honours for the ACT Meteors on the weekend.
The Men's Big Bash League has been a happy hunting ground for the two Sydney teams for most of the season, with the Sydney Sixers, featuring former UNSW Elite Athlete Program member and current UNSW Cricket Club member Dan Christian, becoming the first team to qualify for the grand final this season. Christian has been a huge part of the team's success in his first year in magenta, showing no signs of slowing down at 37 years old. He sits third on the list of highest strike rate for the season (186.67) and seventh for most sixes scored (17), while also also taking 13 wickets and 13 catches.
The Sydney Thunder unfortunately bowed out of the competition on Sunday night, but UNSW alumnus Usman Khawaja played a key role in getting his team to the knockout final, scoring 338 runs for the season at an average of 24.14 and a strike rate of 127.55. Khawaja was joined in the Thunder squad by UNSW Cricket Club members Matt Gilkes and Chris Tremain.
The Women's National Cricket League started on the weekend, with just one game taking place - the ACT Meteors hosted the Queensland Fire in Canberra. After a successful WBBL season, the players are now primed for an equally exciting 50 over series, which will thankfully be played under more normal conditions, rather than out of a single hub. It was a great start for the Meteors on the weekend, scoring the first win of the season, with Ben Lexcen scholar Carly Leeson named player of the match. Leeson was sensational with the ball, taking 4/33 from her five overs and claiming the wickets of four of the top five batters for the Fire in Georgia Voll, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen and Laura Kimmince. UNSW alumna Georgia Redmayne respresented the Fire but was unable to make too much of an impact, finishing with eight runs and relinquishing her WBBL keeping duties to Australian star Beth Mooney.
The AFLW also kicked off on the weekend, with UNSW alumna Rebecca Beeson in action for the GWS Giants. It's been a tumultuous start for the Giants, who were forced to relocate to Albury, then Adelaide, as domestic border closures made their home base in Sydney problematic. After a tough loss to the Fremantle Dockers in Perth, where Beeson worked hard for 28 disposals and five marks, the Giants had to take a chartered flight to Adelaide after Perth went into a five day lockdown. Once in Adelaide the team were required to self-isolate for 14 days, however fortunately Beeson and her teammates were able to be granted an exemption to fly to Sydney on Monday morning. Ticket sales for the upcoming games have been suspended as the AFL works through the solutions.