Hobart Hurricanes have called up 13-year-old Mia Barwick to their squad for the T20 Spring Challenge to replace Heather Graham who has traveled to the T20 World Cup after Tayla Vlaeminck's tournament-ending injury.
Barwick is a pace bowler who has impressed in the Cricket Tasmania Premier League and has been involved in the Under-16 and Under-19 Female National Championships.
She carried the drinks against Perth Scorchers on Monday and has a chance to feature in the closing stages of the new early-season competition which is acting as preparation to the WBBL.
"At only 13 years of age, the Hobart Hurricanes are proud to see a Cricket Tasmania pathways athlete given exposure to the professional game early on in Barwick's career," Hurricanes said.
With leading Australia players involved at the T20 World Cup and WBBL overseas players yet to join, the T20 Spring Challenge has seen opportunities for a number of young players to come into the squads.
At Sydney Sixers, 15-year-old allrounder Caoimhe Bray has made her mark following an impressive outing for Australia Under-19s earlier in the month. Bray took 2 for 19 on debut against ACT before claiming the wicket of Laura Harris when facing Brisbane Heat, the day after Harris had flayed a 46-ball century
The Spring Challenge was introduced to make up for the reduction of games in the WBBL which will be played across a 40-game regular season. It had initially been envisaged as a state competition but pressure from New South Wales and Victoria led it to being aligned with WBBL clubs.