Nicola Carey returns to Canberra for cricket victory

Posted on 5 October, 2018

Nicola Carey began playing cricket the same way that most Australians do: in the backyard with her brothers.

At ten, she began playing for the local boys’ team, before being picked as a junior representative for New South Wales.

“I suppose I didn’t see myself ending up as a professional athlete when I was little, because I never really saw any professional women’s cricket teams on TV or anything” says Nicola. “I never really knew it was out there.”

Nicola is part of an exciting chapter in Australian sporting history, one where our women athletes have a much higher degree of visibility, and the opportunity to act as role models for our young girls and women – an excitement that was captured recently in the #watchme campaign.

“It’s really cool. It’s something I didn’t have when I was younger, but now we get to go out to schools and show kids that is what you can actually do. Now little girls can grow up and say, ‘I want to be just like that person I saw on TV’ and know that it’s a career path for them.”

“It’s pretty cool to see how far women’s sport in general has come, and for it to now be a professional sport that I can do as a job is cool.”

In addition to acting as an inspiration to young athletes, Nicola says that one of the best things about being a professional cricket player is the people that she’s met along the way.

“I’ve made some really good friends through playing cricket” she says. “I have some friends that I made playing under 15s cricket with, and I’m still in their team today.”

Cricket has also presented opportunities to explore exotic international destinations including Dubai, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

“You get to travel to some pretty unique places that you might not have thought would be a holiday destination, so you get to experience different cultures.”

Nicola’s trip to India earlier in the year was particularly memorable, as it was her international debut and experience India’s cricket fever.

“I got told the day before that I’d be playing, that was really exciting. They had a really good atmosphere, a decent turnout to our games, the crowd was crazy. I’d never experienced that before, they’re cricket mad over there, they love it.”

Nicola will be playing on Manuka Oval this evening in the women’s international T20, with Australia having already clinched a series win over New Zealand.

“I think that it’ll be a really exciting game. I’ve had a few games in Manuka and they’ve all been pretty high scoring. It’s a pretty good batting wicket, so it would be awesome if we could get a big crowd out there to watch the game.”

the essentials

What: Women’s Commonwealth Bank T20
Where: Manuka Oval
When: Gates open 6:50 pm, Friday 5 October 2018
Tickets: Available online.

Feature image credit: Matt King/Getty Images