A cricket legend’s impact on Samoa’s ICC T20 World Cup dreams

For sixteen years, Cathryn Fitzpatrick was the fastest bowler in women’s cricket, striking terror into the hearts of batting line-ups all over the world. She made her international debut in 1991 and went on to become the first female cricketer to claim 150 wickets in One Day Internationals (ODIs) in 2005. Eighteen years after her retirement from international competition, she is still the second-highest wicket-taker in women's ODI history, with 180 wickets.

In October 2024, Cathryn spent a week with Samoa’s Under-19 women’s cricket team, supporting their preparations for next year’s U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, hosted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Malaysia. The Cricket Australia initiative, funded by PacificAus Sports, was an opportunity for Samoa’s most promising young cricketers to learn from a champion.

Drawing on her experiences as both a player and a coach, Cathryn was able to zero in on the details that can transform talented players into match winners.

“Our primary focus was on centre-wicket scenarios to work on ‘cricket smarts’, exposing the girls to situations they may find themselves in during matches, and identifying some strategies for them to implement,” she says. “We had the scoreboard out there and updated it after each over to get the players thinking about run rates. We wanted both batters and fielders to consider their tactical options to get on top of the opposition.”

Cathryn took the Samoan team through a series of highly technical exercises, nudging batters to expand their range of shots, encouraging bowlers to experiment with bounce and swing, and pushing all the players to lift their game to a higher level. This was mixed in with an afternoon of fun at the beach, reeling off some classic catches.

“It was a great week with the girls, and there were a lot of key takeaways for all of us,” she said. “Perelini Mulitalo is one of the team coaches and, with the support of Cricket Samoa, has been doing a great job with the players. I am confident she will continue to put together a program that will keep challenging and developing the team.”

Samoa’s regional success

The team will be making history next year as the first U19 women’s team from Samoa to compete in a Women’s ICC T20 World Cup. Earlier this year, they travelled to Indonesia for the East Asia Pacific region qualifiers, playing against Papua New Guinea (PNG), Fiji and the home team, and winning five out of six games to earn a spot in the 16-nation tournament.

Avetia Fetu Mapu, who captained the Samoan side in the qualifiers, said after the event: "It is a moment of immense pride for Samoa, reflecting the growth and development of women's cricket in the region. This accomplishment not only brings attention to the sport within the country, but also serves to inspire future generations of female cricketers in Samoa.”

At the end of the qualifying event, Verra Farane, Masina Faimafili Loini Tafea and Olive Lefage Lemoe, all of whom took part in the training sessions with Cathryn, were named in the Team of the Tournament.

“A special salute to Samoa, who demonstrated exceptional skill and tenacity,” said ICC Tournament Director, Emily O’Brien, at the close of the event. “We wish them all the very best for the World Cup.”
 

Countdown to the Cup

Armed with Cathryn’s personalised insights and supported by the team at Cricket Samoa, the players are now focussed on their final preparations. In January 2025, they will head to Malaysia to play their first-round matches, having been grouped with New Zealand, South Africa and fellow tournament new-comers, Nigeria.

The Samoan squad will be doing everything they can to make it to the final of the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, set for 2 February 2025, and they will have all of Samoa behind them, with Luatua Seumanutafa Semi Epati, CEO of the Samoa Ministry of Sport & Recreation stating: "We are immensely proud of our U19 women’s cricket team and commend the courage they have displayed to reach the World Cup stage. We eagerly anticipate witnessing their journey and express our gratitude for the ongoing support and partnership from the Australian Government through initiatives such as Team Up & PacificAus Sports."

But whatever the outcome, they will have benefited enormously from the experience of playing in a tournament designed to introduce the future stars of women’s cricket to the world.