2024 Junior Women’s Strike League Squad Announced

Northern Territory Cricket (NTC) is excited to announce the selection of the NT Junior Women’s Strike League squad for the upcoming Junior Women’s Strike League (JWSL) competition, set to take place in Darwin from 8 – 12 July.

The 2024 edition of the JWSL will be a two-team competition with the local Junior Strike side taking on the Gippsland based ‘Victorian Big Cats’ in a combination of T20 and 40 over fixtures.  

The full fixture can be found here.

The 16-player NT squad features players from across the Territory, including 6 Alice Springs players.  

Among the Alice Springs talent is duo, Elizabeth Johnson, a skillful right-hand bowler who is currently based in South Australia and playing First Grade Women’s cricket with Glenelg, and Skylah Henwood, a genuine all-rounder who has represented Caulfield Grammar School in Victoria, who will both play in their fifth Junior Women’s Strike League in 2024.  

Darwin based Aeryn McCormack will come into the competition in strong form, currently making runs in the Darwin and Districts Women’s Competition for the Palmerston Cricket Club along with tall promising fast bowler from Tracy Village, Joanna Pickett, who played in the Under 12 NT Girls School Sport National Championship team in 2023.  

Coaches Micayla Roelofse and Zita Varatharajan have been working with Darwin based players ahead of the tournament while Chrissy Ponter has been leading the charge in Alice Springs and will travel to Darwin and act as the NT team manager for the week.  

Roelofse said both the Darwin and Alice players were preparing well with a focus on doing the fundamentals well. 

“We’ve got a competitive side with a lot of promising young talent coming through, and it’s great to see some of that talent coming from Alice Springs.” 

Northern Territory Junior Women’s Strike League Squad 

NAME 

CLUB 

AGE 

SKILL 

Elizabeth Johnson 

Federal 

17 

RHB, RAF 

Aeryn McCormack 

Palmerston  

16 

RHB, RAF 

Skylah Henwood 

Federal 

16 

RHB, RAF 

Vishali Bimbral 

Palmerston 

15 

RHB, RLS 

Jemima Anver-Raeck 

Nightcliff 

15 

RHB, RAMF 

Lara Duncum 

Federal 

15 

RHB, RAMF 

Naomi McMahon 

Palmerston 

14 

RHB, WK 

Zoe Trull 

Complete Construction  

14 

RHB, RAFM 

Joanna Pickett 

Tracy Village 

13 

RHB, RAF 

Eimi Smith 

PINT 

13 

RHB, RAF 

Jordi O’Toole 

PINT 

13 

LHB, LAF 

Ekam Dhillon 

Tracy Village 

12 

RHB, RAF 

Abby Warton 

Waratah 

12 

RHB, RAMF 

Sophie Cameron 

Palmerston 

11 

RHB, RAMF 

 

 

 

 

Olivia Schulz 

West 

13 

RHB, RAMF 

Hannah Fior 

Federal 

13 

RHB, RAMF 

 

Olivia Schulz and Hannah Fior will travel with the squad from Alice Springs, seeking valuable development opportunities and exposure to high-level coaching and competition. 

The Squad will further the growth and development of young female cricketers in the Territory as NTC builds toward entering a Northern Territory Female U16s Team in the Cricket Australia Underage National Championships for the first time in 2025. 

Note: The 16-Player Squad was selected by NT Cricket Coach Development Specialist Dylan Slater, Junior Strike League Coaches Micayla Roelofse and Zita Varatharajan, and an independent Alice Springs Representative. Selection was based on a number of considerations including but not limited to (1) Nominations by Clubs; (2) Selection Trial at DXC Arena and Traeger Park; (3) Prior Participation in NT Pathway Programs; and (4) Performances in Darwin and Districts Cricket Competition and Alice Springs Cricket Association (2023/24).