Hancock Lifts Heat

Nicola Hancock used to be her brother’s personal bowling machine, now she’s the Brisbane Heat’s new ball strike weapon in the Weber Women’s Big Bash League.

The Victorian product cut her teeth bowling to her older brother Jake, who would eventually carve out a career as an opening batsman for Tasmania, in what was a baptism of fire for the aspiring quick.

Starting off as the ball retriever, it wasn’t long until Hancock was thundering up the family driveway for hours on end attempting to topple her brother.

“He is four years older than me; I idolised him and I was desperate for him to be my best friend,” Hancock, 27, laughed.

“He would play out the back with my dad, or down at the local nets, it went from me collecting the balls, to me being thrown the ball slowly.

“It eventually developed into me bowling to him, ironically, he was an opening batter and I ended up being an opening bowler.

“We would spend literally hours and hours against each other when we got home from school.

“We had this really steep driveway, we would sprint up and I would have to get Jake out once, which would take hours.

“He’d then say he’d get me out 10 times, so 11 balls later he was batting again - you couldn't get out the first ball.

“It’s fair to say he got the bowler he wanted, and I probably didn’t get the best friend I wanted.”

The tear away quick has had three WBBL seasons in the Heat’s lineup but says her career has come on leaps and bounds in the Sunshine State.

Athletics and hockey once occupied Hancock’s thinking, but it was cricket that shone through, as a clear pathway emerged for the personal trainer.  

“I didn’t play a full season until I was 14 or 15, so I was late into cricket, but I always had the foundation of fast bowling,” she said.

“When I was in my teen years, athletics finishes at under 15, you then verse the seniors, which is an enormous jump to compete against women when you are a thrower – javelin, discus and shot put.

“Cricket was gaining momentum in the female space, and they were producing some really phenomenal role models like Elyse Perry.

After teaming up with Brisbane Heat coach Ashley Noffke, Hancock says her cricketing career has come on leaps and bounds, having played for Victoria, the Melbourne Stars and Renegades, along with the Hobart Hurricanes and ACT Meteors.

“When I was younger, bowling fast, into the deck, wasn’t encouraged as much as it is now, it was about being full and straight and trying to get a catch on the boundary because that's what was effective in that period of cricket,'' she said.

“That never worked for me because I bowled faster, and it ended up going for six.

“The Brisbane Heat play the form of cricket that is suited to me, the fast-paced bowler that can hit feet, helmets, and a length with the ball swinging, it is really empowering to me.

“I have gotten so much more out of my game in the last 18 months up here in Brisbane then I could have ever imagined.”

Her stunning outfield catch last week in the win over the Melbourne Stars at Allan Border Field coupled with key wickets and lower order runs has been integral in the first five games for Brisbane, with four wins and a loss on the ledger coming into this weekend's game against Hobart in Hobart.

She has played 45 WBBL games for Brisbane, taking 52 wickets at 20.86 with an economy rate of 7.62.

After bombing out in the finals last season, Hancock is desperate to get her hands on some WBBL silverware before her career is over.

“We have identified some holes we needed to fill,” she said.

“We have been super disciplined in executing things we needed to as a whole to give us more success.

“It is a younger group with some older sprinkling of players like me and a few others, but we have filled some gaps really well.

“I am looking forward to what we can produce this year, we have a really even balanced group.”