Molly Strano shouts out, goofing off and attracting attention while waiting to bowl in the nets.
Elyse Villani shares a joke with all-rounder Naomi Stalenberg in between batting rotations.
The mood at Tigers training is friendly and jovial, just like most suburban sporting clubs, but the smiles and laughter belie the steely determination evident in the eyes of the Tasmanian Women's Cricket Team.
The team is preparing to take on South Australia in the WNCL final at Bellerive on Saturday, and the Tigers' dedication to high-quality practice is obvious.
"We're very disciplined with our training and how we want to play our brand of cricket and we stay committed to that," 18-year-old leg spinner Amy Smith said.
A homegrown prodigy in a team largely filled with interstate and international recruits, Smith is on the cusp of winning her second-straight national title — if Tasmania can prevail in the 50-over day/night final.
Smith said the secret to the team's success was the professionalism of its training program and the camaraderie of the group.
"I think everyone has fun," she said. "We really enjoy playing cricket together, which I think is the main ingredient to any successful cricket team."
Left-arm fast bowler Julia Cavanough is in her debut WNCL season.
"I'm very excited,' she said.
Cavanough stunned cricket watchers earlier in the season with three wickets in the first over of the day against her home state, Queensland.
She was lured to Tasmania by the professionalism of the Tigers' program.
"To play alongside people like Elyse Villani, Molly Strano, they're the people you grow up watching. So to come down and be a part of a team with them is pretty cool," Cavanough said.
Eight of the Tigers' 11 have moved from interstate or overseas to be a part of the team's program.
All-rounder Nicola Carey moved from New South Wales in 2019 and helped recruit captain Villani from Victoria.
"We've got a lot of players from interstate and I love it down here personally," Carey said.
"I know the other girls love it down here too."
Tigers women provide an AFL blueprint for Tasmania
The Tasmanian Women's Cricket team is beating a path for a future Tasmanian AFL team that would be largely reliant on recruiting players from interstate.
Carey dismissed concerns an AFL team would struggle with retaining players in Tasmania.
"I don't think that would necessarily be the case," she said.
"If you can build a team and a squad and make that environment really enjoyable, people want to stay and they want to be a part of it, and that sort of lures other people who want to be part of that as well."
Carey does not know of any interstate recruits wanting to leave the Tigers.
"I certainly love it down here and [I'm] not looking to move out of Tasmania. I can't speak for everyone else but I think they're really enjoying it and probably likely to stay."
Tigers go into Saturday's final in hot form
The team made its highest-ever 50-over score of 3-339 in its previous game, against Western Australia.
Villani made a record 174 not out from 149 balls.
"She's a classy player," Tigers coach Jude Coleman said.
"She's got an all-round game with the bat, she can play 360 [degrees around the wicket], and she's very, very hard to bowl to."
While Villani will be the key wicket for the South Australian Scorpions on Saturday, Coleman thinks the home-ground advantage could be the Tigers' trump card.
"The group is very confident in our plan on Blundstone [Arena], and I think playing at home certainly means that we're feeling confident going into the game," Coleman said.
The match starts at 2:05pm and entry is free.
