After a breakout year on the world stage, Georgia Voll is back in Sydney – and ready to light up the Sydney Smash.
In one of the biggest events on the WBBL calendar, the 22-year-old Sydney Thunder star and captain Phoebe Litchfield will take on Aussie teammates Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy in a Sydney derby against the Sixers at Drummoyne Oval on Saturday evening.
“I’m excited to be back. It feels like where everything started to be honest,” Voll says. “It’s always exciting coming up against the Sixers. There have been great clashes over the years, and hopefully we can get one up on them. Coming back from spending so much time away with those players and coming up against them will be a bit fun.”
Thunder also announced Friday she will extent her contract with the team through to the 2027/28 season.
“It’s been a tough start for us, but we know we’re building something really special,” Voll says. I can’t wait to get back to Drummoyne Oval tomorrow for the Sydney Smash in front of our Thunder Nation.
“There’s a clear direction and culture we’re building, and I’m really excited to see where this group can go over the next few years.”
It has been a huge year for Voll. Having joined the Thunder last summer, she was still waiting for her first call-up to the Australian team. Fast forward 12 months and she’s represented her country in all three formats, debuted alongside Litchfield, and walked out at an ODI World Cup on cricket’s biggest stage in India.
“I probably didn’t think how cool and exciting it actually is until I got there,” she says. “In that moment I realised how big the occasion actually was and to be over in India where they live and breathe it, to be able to walk out on the ground and play in front of that many people – it was pretty cool.”
Since then, Voll’s reputation has soared. She was selected as the No. 1 draft pick in The Hundred while a late call-up to the Women’s Premier League in India saw her smash an unbeaten 99 – the highest score in the league’s history at the time.
Her blend of power and composure at the crease has made her one of the most exciting young players in the game.
But amid the international success, Voll says there’s nothing quite like pulling on the Thunder green.
“It’s a great group to be a part of and I really enjoy playing my cricket here, which is always when I play my best – when I’m having fun and enjoying who I’m playing with,” she says.
That connection is strongest with fellow Thunder opener Phoebe Litchfield, her close friend and batting partner since their under-15s Australian days.
“We’ve always been great mates,” Voll says. “We sort of pinch ourselves that seven years ago we first played together and pulled on the under-15s Aussie colours, and to think now we’re doing it for the actual Australian team is pretty crazy.”
The Thunder will rely on that chemistry in Saturday’s Sydney Smash, as Voll, Litchfield and Chamari Athapaththu take on Sixers superstars Perry and Healy under lights at Drummoyne Oval.
Off the pitch, fans can soak up the atmosphere at Taplin Park’s Cricket & Culture Festival, a free family-friendly celebration featuring food trucks, cultural performances, music, henna, face painting, inflatables, mascots and tape-ball cricket.
The Sydney Smash headlines a blockbuster WBBL double-header following Hobart Hurricanes versus Brisbane Heat, featuring international stars Jemimah Rodrigues, Grace Harris, Heather Graham and Nat Sciver-Brunt.
“Every team is super strong now,” Voll says. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how it pans out – hopefully with the lime greens up the top.”
The next Sydney Smash will be at North Sydney Oval November 30. Get tickets at bigbash.com.au/matches
