Little could a then seven-year old Erin Osborne know how much being roped in to fill in for older brother Troy’s junior cricket side would shape her life.
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As the now 29-year old told The Leader back in 2010: “It just so happens that my brother Troy’s team were short, and dad was coaching, so I was there just cheering them on from the sidelines. Then they gave me a set of whites and I jumped on the field and continued to play.”
And with that the seed was planted for a passion that would see Osborne achieve the pinnacle of not only representing her country but in all three formats of the game.
From there Osborne started playing for the St Edwards under-9s and represented Tamworth from the under-12s through to under-16s, where she was pretty well the only girl in the side.
State school and club representative honours followed, and culminated in Osborne earning her first senior cap for NSW in October 2008.
A few months later, she burst onto the international scene.
Making her debut on the Southern Stars tour of New Zealand in 2009, the 19-year old’s performances secured her a spot in the squad for the World Cup, which was held in Australia.
“To play for Australia was unreal,” Osborne said after returning from New Zealand.
The coveted baggy green followed in 2013, which she described as “a dream come true”.
Along the way she has tasted World Cup success in the one-day and Twenty20 arena, and in 2015 helped the Southern Stars reclaim the women’s Ashes.
These days she is is based in Canberra and was last month appointed the ACT Meteors captain for the upcoming Women’s National Cricket League season after leading them to fourth last season.
Osborne will be supported by all-rounder Angela Reakes and is excited about having the reins again.
“I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season. We have a few new faces to the squad in Anna Lanning, Tilly Lugg and our local Zoe Cooke,” Osborne said at the announcement.
“We also have a brand new facility which enables us to train all year round so I think this year we’ll be better prepared to have a real shot at the titles.”
She believes this years competition is shaping up to be evenly-poised one.
“Obviously NSW are always the hot contenders for the competition so we’ll be chasing them again, but there’s a bit of spread of talent this year.
“We’ve seen players move.”
“So, it’s going to be an evenly-poised competition but I’m confident that we’ll be able to play finals cricket this year.”
