Northern Territory Cricket (NTC) is pleased to announce the squad for the upcoming Kookaburra Junior Girls' Strike League, set to take place in Darwin from 7 – 11 July.
NT Cricket Announces Squad for 2025 Kookaburra Junior Girls' Strike League
The Kookaburra Junior Girls' Strike League forms an important part of NT’s pathways for female players, providing the best young talent with an opportunity to represent the Territory and play representative cricket with an eye towards the National Championships in January.
The 2025 edition of the Kookaburra Junior Girls' Strike League will be a two-team competition, with the NT side taking on the returning ‘Victorian Big Cats’ in a combination of T20 and 50-over fixtures.
The 14-player squad features 6 girls from Alice Springs, including Skylah Henwood (Federal CC), who was the inaugural captain of NT’s first-ever U16 National Championship side last year, which claimed victory against Tasmania on the final day of the carnival. Jordi O’Toole (PINT), Abbey Warton (Waratah), Ekam Dhillon (Tracy Village), Joanna Pickett (Tracy Village) and Naomi McMahon (Palmerston) also featured in last year’s U16 Nationals side.
Jordi O’Toole has been one of the strongest performers in the Darwin & Districts Cricket Competition (DDCC) Senior Women’s Division, contributing 20 wickets at an average of 22, including a standout 5-23 (and hattrick) which saw her earn the DDCC’s ‘moment of the week’.
Abbey Warton has also been a prominent performer across the season, scoring 168 runs and taking 16 wickets across Senior Women’s, U15’s and Sunday Division 3.
The side will be coached by Hannah Armstrong (Southern Districts), who has been working closely with the NT’s girls Academy program in 2025, while Megan McCartney (Tracy Village) and Chrissie Ponter (Federal CC) will respectively act as the assistant coach and team manager.
Armstrong said, “it’s a great chance for the girls to put into practice the things we have been working on throughout the season but under match pressure”.
“We are really excited to see the talent coming from Alice Springs, and we must owe a big thank you to the hard work of Chrissie Ponter and Bronte Stray who have led training sessions for these girls despite it being their off-season”.
NT Squad:
Vishali Bimbral | Palmerston
Joanna Pickett | Tracy Village
Jordi O’Toole | PINT
Ekam Dhillon | Tracy Village
Abbey Warton | Waratah
Skylah Henwood | Federal CC
Lara Duncum | Federal CC
Hargun Kaur Johal | Federal CC
Olivia Schulz | West CC
Hannah Fior | Federal CC
Harshita Singh | Federal CC
Naomi McMahon | Palmerston
Sophie Cameron | Palmerston
Abbie Valhorsen (*Thu-Friday) | PINT
Draw:
Monday 7th July, 1pm to 4pm at Cazalys (T20) – NT v Victoria Big Cats
Tuesday 8th July, 10am to 5:30pm at DXC 2 (50-overs) – NT v Victoria Big Cats
Wednesday 9th July, 9am to 12:00pm at DXC 2 (T20) – NT v Victoria Big Cats
Thursday 10th July, 10am to 5:30pm at Cazalys (50-overs) – NT v Victoria Big Cats
Friday 11th July, 9am to 12pm at Cazalys (T20) – NT v Victoria Big Cats