ACT Meteors cricket captain Katie Mack has given national selectors something to think about ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup after a lightning quick 129 for Australia A on Wednesday.
Mack scored her match-winning innings off only 126 balls, hitting 11 boundaries along the way, to lead the team to a four wicket win against India A in Mackay.
With the World Cup scheduled to take place in Bangladesh in October, Mack's performance shouldn't go unnoticed. The diminutive opener has been in great form across all formats of the game in recent seasons, for the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash and for the ACT Meteors, and has been knocking on the door of full national selection for a few years.
"It was a bit of slog, there was a lot of running," said Mack. "I was just super-focussed to make sure I made most of the start after getting some starts in the T20s I just wanted to make sure I capitalised today."
After surviving chances where she was dropped on one and again on 12, Mack controlled the chase as she added 122 in 20 overs in a third wicket partnership with captain Tahlia McGrath.
Bringing up her century with a neat single behind square, Mack celebrated with McGrath mid-pitch.
"That's great to see, Mack's a favourite of the team. A bit of a larrikin," one of the commentators on the live stream said.
Mack said she was super keen to score a century wearing the Aussie colours.
"I kept saying that to myself during that last little bit to just stay focused," she said.
"I was like, okay, I have to score 100 in Aussie colours because it might never happen again.
"You've worked so hard, so make sure this one's the one, so I'm really glad that it came up.
She was bowled by Meghna Singh just five runs short of the winning total, with a good yorker.
Mack was one of a handful of players selected in all teams across all three formats of the multi-format series against India A.
Australia A won the three-match T20 series three-nil and will now play two more one-dayers on August 16 and 18.
There will also be a four-day match beginning August 25.
ACT COMETS: How a Canberran went from being 'a bit of a pest' to an ACT cricketer
Kai Brunker has always been desperate to play cricket.
He spent his childhood convincing the cricketers of the Queanbeyan club to train with him, he says.
"I was always trying to get people to throw balls at me in the nets when they've been out on the field all day and they just wanted to sit down," he said.
"I was a bit of a pest around the club, I guess, a lot of the older guys at the club will know that."
It's a long way from the nets of Queabeyan's cricket club to the Northern Territory for Brunker; the 19-year-old is heading to Darwin to compete in the Top End Series with the ACT Comets.
He had also been selected in the wider squad for Australia's under-19 team, but missed selection in the team heading to India for a multi-format series.
The level of cricket he's playing at the moment is commonly thought to be the most difficult, with players training like professionals, and also working on the side to support themselves.
Brunker is hoping to crack the professional circuit this year.
"For me to become a professional is ... performing well at my underage nationals and hopefully getting recognised by another state," he said.
"Then hopefully moving elsewhere and getting a contract would be ideal."
The young cricketer is hoping to get a few tips off the professionals at the Top End games with players coming from all over Australia and overseas to play.
But it was in the humble grounds of Queanbeyan where the young cricketer got his start, playing in the club's under-nine team when he was six or seven, and batting for his first rep team when he was 10.
Brunker credits his dad for his love of the game.
"My dad definitely got me into it, he's played since he was a kid as well," he said.
And for those who can't understand why anyone would want to stand out in a field for hours every weekend, Brunker had some insights.
"Cricket is a team sport, and I feel like people don't understand that the cricket culture is incredible," he explained.
"You're with your mates all day and I guess standing out in the field might seem like it's not all that but it is an attitude as well.
"If you want to be out there and you are with your mates and you're trying to do well, then I feel like you can make it not boring for sure."
