NEW ZEALAND spinner Fran Jonas, 19, is one of the rising talents in women's cricket.
Jonas will be suiting up for the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) at the 2023 Massy Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) which bowls off in Barbados on Thursday.
The left-arm orthodox bowler made her One-Day International debut in February 2021 and began her international T20 career against South Africa in July 2022.
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At age 17, Jonas was selected to New Zealand's squad for the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
“I didn’t know what to believe, to be honest. It was a shock and just really exciting," she said.
Jonas continues to showcase her class around the world and helped New Zealand to a historic bronze medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. Against the hosts in the third-place playoff, Jonas took two for 22 from her four overs to set up an eight-wicket victory.
Jonas began playing cricket at the age of six and competed primarily against boys until age ten.
As her skills began to improve, Jonas was snapped up by Auckland Hearts women’s side and made her debut at age 15.
She later caught the eyes of New Zealand's cricket officials and became the youngest player to be awarded a development contract in 2020.
She said this has allowed her potential to flourish.
"I think just being able to go to camps and be around the girls and just learn as much as I can and bowl against the best players in New Zealand has been really important."
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Jonas also recently weighed on New Zealand Cricket's decision to pay their men's and women's teams equally. "Yeah, I think it's a big step forward for New Zealand cricket. It will make a lot of girls more intrigued and the fact that you can make a career out of it is really important for younger people growing up."
New Zealand veteran and Auckland Hearts player Anna Peterson gave Jonas a glowing endorsement in an interview with LockerRoom. She said, “Spin bowling is an art, and Fran’s bowling is amazing. She has a really nice, fluid, repeatable action. She doesn’t need to overthink; the ball comes out really beautifully."
TKR fans will be hoping Jonas magic with the ball can spin TKR to their second straight WCPL crown.
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