Photo Credit: Western Australian Cricket Association
WA Cricket will set about achieving an historic four-peat of Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup titles when the 2024-25 season gets underway on Sunday 22 September in Sydney.
The State’s rapidly improving female squad, meanwhile, has ambitions to win the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) ahead of a campaign that starts on Tuesday 24 September at the WACA Ground.
WA begin their One-Day Cup (ODC) season against New South Wales at Cricket Central in a rematch of last year’s Final, remembered for Hilton Cartwright’s clutch half-century and an outstanding spell from spearhead Joel Paris.
A fortnight later, Adam Voges’ men will be back in whites to face Queensland (starting Monday 7 October) at the WACA Ground – the team’s first match on home turf since lifting the coveted Shield in March.
Sheffield Shield and ODC games (starting Sunday 20 October and Friday 25 October, respectively) in Perth against Shield Final rivals Tasmania precede road trips to Hobart, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney before the KFC BBL|14 break.
This travel-heavy block means WA will spend the second half of the domestic regular season at home, barring one multi-format stint in Brisbane mid-February.
South Australia (Shield, starting Saturday 8 February, and ODC, starting Thursday 13 February), New South Wales (Shield, starting Thursday 6 March) and Victoria (Shield, starting Saturday 15 March) are all poised to travel west in the new year.
Should they qualify for the ODC Final on Saturday 1 March and the Sheffield Shield Final starting Wednesday 26 March, WA will sustain hopes of becoming the first team to win four consecutive ODC and Shield titles, simultaneously.
In the WNCL, Becky Grundy’s talented team has the chance to make an early statement when they open their season with back-to-back games (Tuesday 24 and Thursday 26 September) against three-time reigning champions Tasmania at the WACA Ground.
Queensland, runners-up in 2023-24, present the next challenge at Allan Border Field (Thursday 3 and Saturday 5 October), shortly before Perth Scorchers’ T20 Spring Challenge and Weber Women’s Big Bash League campaigns begin.
WA are back at the WACA Ground when the WNCL resumes, hosting New South Wales on Sunday 12 and Tuesday 14 January.
An extended run on the road against Victoria (Monday 27 and Wednesday 29 January) and the ACT (Friday 7 and Sunday 9 February) precedes home games against South Australia on Wednesday 19 and Friday 21 January, rounding out the regular season.
The WNCL Final will be held on Sunday 2 March.
Without factoring the possibility of finals, WA Cricket fans can look forward to as many as 29 days of WNCL, Sheffield Shield and ODC action at the WACA Ground in 2024-25.
This comes in addition to at least five WBBL games (starting 27 October) and the CommBank Women’s ODI between Australia and India (11 December).
Across the Matagarup Bridge, Optus Stadium will host no fewer than five MBBL contests (starting 15 December), as well as the Men’s ODI against Pakistan (10 November) and the Men’s NRMA Insurance Test between Australia and India (starting 22 November).
Broadcast information for all domestic competitions will be confirmed ahead of the season.
Comments attributable to WA Women’s Head Coach Becky Grundy:
“This group has been together for a while now and we feel like we have made some significant strides in our development over the past two seasons, so we cannot wait to see what the summer brings.
“Opening our campaign against Tasmania at the WACA Ground presents a wonderful opportunity to benchmark ourselves against the reigning champions.
“We have another strong block of fixtures at home, and we love playing in Perth. We had some excellent performances here last year and feel the WACA Ground suits our style, so we’ll be aiming to make it a fortress in 2024-25.
“I am really positive about the journey we’re on. We know our best cricket matches the competition’s best, so consistency is the next step in challenging for WA’s second WNCL title.”
Comments attributable to WA Men’s Head Coach Adam Voges:
“We are looking forward to starting our Sheffield Shield campaign at the WACA Ground in front of our Members and fans in October. We love playing at home and have been able to produce strong results here.
“Playing four games in succession on the road will be a great challenge and one that we are looking forward to. We want to be adaptable to all conditions and the boys are working hard to be well prepared for this.
“A rematch of the Final in Sydney to kick start our One-Day Cup campaign is one that we are very much looking forward to. We saw a number of our younger players step up and play important roles in our 50-over team last season.
“The last few years have been special, we have had the chance to reflect but the hard work now begins. Motivation isn’t an issue. The players are hungry for more success and can’t wait for the opportunity to start again.”
2024-25 Women’s National Cricket League
Tuesday 24 September: vs TAS at WACA Ground
Thursday 26 September: vs TAS at WACA Ground
Thursday 3 October: vs QLD at Allan Border Field
Saturday 5 October: vs QLD at Allan Border Field
Sunday 12 January: vs NSW at WACA Ground
Tuesday 14 January: vs NSW at WACA Ground
Monday 27 January: vs VIC at CitiPower Centre
Wednesday 29 January: vs VIC at CitiPower Centre
Friday 7 February: vs ACT at Philip Oval
Sunday 9 February: vs ACT at Philip Oval
Wednesday 19 February: vs SA at WACA Ground
Friday 21 February: vs SA at WACA Ground
Sunday 2 March: Final
2024-25 Sheffield Shield
Tuesday 8 – Friday 11 October: vs QLD at WACA Ground
Sunday 20 – Wednesday 23 October: vs TAS at WACA Ground
Friday 1 – Monday 4 November: v TAS at Blundstone Arena
Friday 15 – Monday 18 November: vs VIC at CitiPower Centre
Saturday 23 – Tuesday 26 November: vs SA at Adelaide Oval
Friday 6 – Monday 9 December: vs NSW at Sydney Cricket Ground
Saturday 8 – Tuesday 11 February: vs SA at WACA Ground
Tuesday 18 – Friday 21 February: vs QLD at Gabba
Thursday 6 – Sunday 9 March: vs NSW at WACA Ground
Saturday 15 – Tuesday 18 March: vs VIC at WACA Ground
Wednesday 26 – Sunday 30 March: Final
2024-25 One-Day Cup
Sunday 22 September: vs NSW at Cricket Central
Tuesday 24 September: vs SA at Cricket Central
Sunday 13 October: vs QLD at WACA Ground
Friday 25 October: vs TAS at WACA Ground
Wednesday 13 November: vs VIC at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Thursday 13 February: vs SA at WACA Ground
Sunday 23 February: vs QLD at Gabba
Saturday 1 March: Final
