Voll's eleventh-hour WPL call-up hinders Fire's title hopes

Captain Georgia Redmayne is adamant her Queensland side can turn their recent finals fortunes around in Sunday's WNCL showdown with NSW, despite their eleventh-hour loss of star top-order batter Georgia Voll.

Voll, who debuted for Australia in all three formats this summer and loomed as a genuine X-factor for Queensland against the Breakers in the day-night decider at Allan Border Field, was today added to the UP Warriorz squad in the Women's Premier League in India, ruling her out of the final.

It is a bitter late pill for the Fire to swallow, particularly considering the WPL franchise does not play until next Tuesday morning (AEDT).

"It's disappointing – we would have loved her to play, and I know she would have loved to have played as well, but it's a great opportunity for her and a good reward for her season so far," Queensland captain Georgia Redmayne said.

"Considering the urgency to get her to India, I really hope they give her the opportunity she deserves on Tuesday."

Voll joins her seasoned Fire teammates Jess Jonassen and Grace Harris in the WPL and all three represent significant losses.

Jonassen's absence is the leading wicket-taker for the Fire this season (20 at 19.80), though Nicola Hancock (16) and Sianna Ginger (15) have also enjoyed productive campaigns, while Harris has been in devastating touch with the bat, clubbing 288 runs in six innings at the ridiculous strike-rate of 159.11.

Voll meanwhile is averaging 60 from 60 matches, striking at 112 with a top score of 98.

Redmayne though was able to find a positive spin.

"The good thing about having so many players in and out is that we've been able to give a lot of opportunities to a lot of girls throughout the season," she said.

"Everyone in our squad of 13 has played games this season, so everyone's been there and been exposed to it – we're not bringing new players into the team suddenly for a final so I think that bodes well for us."

The Fire's losses are offset by the fact the Breakers – who touched down in Brisbane on Friday and had a training session under lights last night – are missing their own star quartet in Alyssa Healy, Erin Burns, Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield.

Queensland were runners-up in last year's competition then repeated that result in this year's pre-season T20 tournament, while through the same stretch the Brisbane Heat have suffered back-to-back final defeats in the WBBL.

Redmayne, who was skipper and player of the match with 134no in the Fire's lone WNCL final triumph back in 2021, believes the big-game experience gained from such matches will have her young side well placed to go a step further come Sunday afternoon.

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"We're coming off quite a few finals in a row … so there's a lot of girls who are quite experienced with finals," the captain said. "That experience in high-pressure moments should hopefully put us in good stead.

"Obviously we want to turn the result around. You play tournaments like this because you want to be in the final, but you also want to win the final. And that's something that's definitely been driving us.

"I know each final (defeat) does hit really hard, and you sit in the changeroom and there's a lot of people hurting. It's good incentive to not do that again."

New South Wales have traditionally heaped misery on Queensland in the WNCL, and although the powerhouse has now gone five seasons without lifting the Ruth Preddey Cup, they head into this decider confident off the back of two wins at the same venue over Queensland to open the season.

"Thatt feels like a lifetime ago now ... but it's nice to have the upper hand, coming here with the two wins being here," said the Breakers' English skipper, Georgia Adams.

"It didn't faze us in the slightest that it was an away final. (But) you can't take anything for granted. They're a very, very good team, and we fully respect that they're going to be a tough side to beat, and they're going to come out as hard."

The Fire have been bolstered this summer by a breakout batting campaign from 22-year-old allrounder Charli Knott, who has piled on 542 runs at an average of 54.20 and a strike-rate of 90.18.

The consistent Redmayne will be another key figure for the hosts, having tallied 449 runs at 40.81 through this WNCL season, and the 31-year-old New South Wales native is hopeful she can repeat her 2021 final exploits come Sunday.

"I'd definitely take it," she smiled. "Whenever you bat, you want to go out and have a match-winning contribution, so yeah, definitely, that would be the aim, but I don't care who scores a hundred, as long as it's someone on our team and not their team.

"Hopefully we can have a few people put their hand up on Sunday."

Final: Queensland v New South Wales | Allan Border Field | Sunday, March 2 at 2.35pm AEDT (1.35pm AED)

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