In an alternative world, Caoimhe Bray would have been doing as most other year 9 students would on a Sunday night: finishing off some homework, perhaps, or preparing for the week ahead at school.
But Bray, who only turned 15 last month, is different and her studies were the last thing on her mind in Adelaide as she capped a sensational WBBL debut by hitting the winning runs for the Sydney Sixers.
With six balls to spare against the Melbourne Renegades, the latest rising star of women’s cricket defied her tender years with a meaty shot that flew over cover to secure a three-wicket win in the Sixers’ opening game of the new season – after earlier taking the Adelaide Oval to become the youngest player to feature in the WBBL.
Wow!
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) October 27, 2024
15-year-old Caoimhe Bray, on debut, belts the winning runs over cover for @SixersBBL!#WBBL10 pic.twitter.com/Avtc2IlPUF
Before the game, an emotional Bray was handed her cap by her idol and now teammate, Ellyse Perry, who herself shot to prominence as an all-rounder at a young age. And that’s not where the comparisons end – like dual-sport international Perry, Bray also excels in a second game – she is currently also a goalkeeper for the Young Matildas.
“It’s pretty cool,” Bray told the Seven Network of her debut. “I wasn’t expecting for it to go that well. It literally is a dream come true. She [Perry] gave me my cap before the game and I was crying a little bit, maybe more than a little bit.
“Perry is such a big player. I wouldn’t say I’m at that level, but obviously love people saying, ‘oh, you’re like Ellyse Perry? She’s definitely a big role model of mine.”
But like Perry, if she continues to excel at both sports, she may have to make a tough choice before too long. By the age of 16, Perry had featured for both the Australian national cricket and football teams and was eventually forced to pick one sport to focus on. In 2015 she opted to invest all her energies in cricket and call time on her football career.
It is a crossroads Bray knows she will also reach at some point in the future.
“I guess it’s a bit easier when soccer and cricket are in different seasons, but some teams are in the same season, so it gets a bit hard there,” Bray said. “But it is still working, still playing both. And I’ll try to do that for as long as I can.
“I still don’t know which one I will choose, but I know that will eventually have to come around, but hopefully not too soon.”
For now, Bray will continue to juggle the two sports and her education, all while living away from her home in Newcastle; she will stay temporarily in Sydney while playing for the Sixers, with her school supporting the move by facilitating online learning for the remainder of the year.
“The school posts a bit, whenever I make a team or something,” she said. “So they’re pretty good with that. And I feel my friends, they don’t really understand cricket, but they’re like, ‘good job’.”
It was Perry who laid the groundwork for Bray’s match-winning feat on Sunday – the 33-year-old hit 81 from 38 balls to set up the chance for victory and the third-highest run chase in WBBL history. The Sixers wobbled after her dismissal, but Sarah Bryce steadied the ship with 36 not out before Bray stepped up to settle the contest.
The youngster also chipped in with the key wicket of Deandra Dottin, after having been pulled for six by the West Indies star on her first delivery.
“For a 15-year-old to hit a ball over extra cover to win the game is amazing,” Perry said afterwards. “She bowled really well too. She’s a really special kid.”
