Teenagers Reanna Browne and Kasee Marxsen will make their Women's
National Cricket League debuts for the Konica Queensland Fire team in
their opening round of matches at Allan Border Field this weekend.
Browne, 18, and Marxsen, 17, are the only new faces in the Fire team
that meet the Southern Scorpions in one-day matches on Saturday and
Sunday.
Browne, a leg-spinner who is regarded as one of the best fielders in the
team, is originally from Longreach. She played for Queensland in
practice matches last season against World Cup champions New Zealand but
will make her official Fire debut this weekend.
Marxsen is a right-hand bat who scored 134 for her club side
Sandgate-Redcliffe in her first game in first grade late last season
after moving to Brisbane from Gladstone.
The Fire will also welcome in their ranks the presence of former
Australian player Joanne Broadbent who is making a comeback after
retiring at the end of the 2000-01 season.
Broadbent, an Australian player for more than a decade, will play
against her old team that is led by Southern Stars trump Karen Rolton.
The left-handed Rolton scored a century and 59 last week for South
Australia against defending champions NSW and is regarded as one of the
top two batters in the world along with Australian captain Belinda
Clark.
Broadbent, a 36-year-old left-hander, was the first woman to score a
Test double century, on the 1998 Ashes tour.
She moved to Brisbane in 2001 to work as a Regional Cricket Manager for
Queensland Cricket and coached the Konica Queensland U-17 and U-19
women's teams last season.
Also returning to the Fire team is former Australian Youth allrounder
Kelly Klibbe who missed all of last season after having a shoulder
operation.
The team will be captained by Australian wicket-keeper Julia Price, one
of six Australian squad members in the team along with Melissa Bulow,
Sally Cooper, Tricia Brown, Cindy Kross and Belinda Matheson.
This weekend will also mark the WNCL debut of Fire coach Richard
McInnes, who coached the Queensland Country men's team to the Australian
Country Cricket title in Warrnambool last season.
Konica Queensland Fire v Southern Scorpions, Saturday and Sunday, at
Allan Border Field: Julia Price (c), Belinda Matheson, Melissa Bulow,
Joanne Broadbent, Sally Cooper, Tricia Brown, Kasee Marxsen, Megan
White, Reanna Browne, Cindy Kross, Kelly Klibbe, Kristen Pike. Coach:
Richard McInnes.