Former NSWIS athletes look to Big Bash

Former NSWIS scholarship holders Kate Hollywood and Kym Turnell are set to turn their hands to cricket in the highly successful Women’s Big Bash League.

Former Hockeyroo Hollywood and softball star Turnell are part of a Cricket New South Wales initiative to encourage elite sportswomen to translate their skills into top-level cricket.

They have less than a month to fine tune the differences in skills required for their new sport before the trials at the Sydney Cricket Ground on September 3.

“Having played hockey for so long it’s a very difficult change in a month, so it will be a challenge and something exciting to train for,” Olympian and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist in hockey, Hollywood told ABC’s Jennifer Browning.

“The different swinging motion and the timing is something I’ll have to get used to. It’s easier to swing right across but I’ll get bowled doing that.”

The best athletes will also be offered places in the Cricket NSW Women’s High Performance Cricket Academy.