The highest wicket-taker in her debut season for Women National Cricket League’s most successful team, New South Wales back in 2008/09, bowling all-rounder Erin Osborne got into the Australian national team in 2009. Though, it was always a tough competition for her to make it to the playing XI due to the presence of spin bowling all-rounders Shelley Nitschke and Lisa Sthalekar who were ranked among the top 10 in the world.
She retired from international cricket in 2016 but continued to play domestic cricket. At that time, she also moved from NSW to ACT meteors for the WNCL and joined Sydney Thunder for the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) inaugural edition and an edition after that, before being signed by the Melbourne Stars since the 2017/18 season.
Osborne featured in this year’s WBBL which was sadly the last one of her playing careers as she moves her focus towards coaching now. The last league match of WBBL played on November 21 between Melbourne Stars and Adelaide Strikers was a farewell match for Osborne who would be happy to have finished with a win which recorded the fourth-highest WBBL run chase after the Strikers who are the last of the four qualifying teams for the knockouts, put up a score of 175 for 3, a result of Katie Mack’s and Madeline Penna’s unbeaten 89 and 56 respectively, something they would have surely have been satisfied with before coming to bowl. However, the top three batters of the Stars had the eagerness to win it, maybe for Osborne. Their captain, Meg Lanning falling to Megan Schutt after scoring 50 off 39 balls, was the only wicket the Strikers managed. The star of the match was Elyse Villani who went on to score an unbeaten century off just 65 balls hitting 13 fours and 2 sixes which came off the third ball of the last over when though the scores were level, but she needed a maximum for the ton which she successfully received. After Lanning, it was Villani along with a good 27 run contribution by Sutherland which helped the Stars chase the total with 3 balls to spare.
Though Osborne didn’t get a chance to contribute much to the game, bowling 2 overs for 12 runs and wasn’t required with the bat, she would be pleased to end her playing career on a positive note.
— Erin Osborne (@eosborne67) November 21, 2021
Osborne who was given a guard of honour, took to Instagram to express her gratitude to her teammates, the entire cricket committee, and of course her fans for all the support, good wishes she got. The post which saw a picture of the Melbourne Stars team was captioned,
“I have been overwhelmed with the well wishes and congratulations since announcing my WBBL retirement.
I have been fortunate to have played alongside great players throughout my career. I have shared in many moments, on and off the field, that have given me a lifetime worth of memories.
I believe the game is now in a better place than ever for the next generation of young girls and boys. With an eye to the future, I have found a passion for helping young cricketers develop and succeed. I look forward to staying involved with cricket and being able to give back to a sport that has given me so much.
Thank you to all the coaches, staff, players, and fans for making it such a great experience, and for the endless support, I received from my hometown, Tamworth.
Thank you to Cricket Australia, ACA, Cricket NSW, and the Sydney Thunder, Cricket Victoria, and my Team Green family the Melbourne Stars, and Cricket ACT.
Last of all a massive thank you to my biggest supporters my family.”
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