Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath celebrates her 26th birthday today and on her special day let’s look back at her successful cricketing journey till now since her debut to the national side in 2016.
This youngster who represents South Australia in domestic cricket and Adelaide Strikers in the Women Big Bash League (WBBL), got her maiden call up to the Australian national team in November 2016 for their five-match ODI series against South Africa which the host Australia won by 4-0 with the last match ending in a tie. McGrath was handed the cap during the fourth ODI of the series on November 27. However, she wasn’t able to give her best then as she went wicketless conceding 28 runs in the five overs she bowled and was run out on 4 while batting.
One of the most recent superstars that the world of women’s cricket has discovered – Tahlia McGrath turns 26 today.
If you followed the #AUSvIND series closely, you are already her fan 😉#HappyBirthday T-Mac 🎂😍 pic.twitter.com/ddqgmvcPsV
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) November 10, 2021
A year later in the same month, she got the call up for the only test match of the Women’s Ashes which resulted in a draw. McGrath performed well with both the bat and the ball. She scored 47 with the bat and took two wickets in the first innings while one in the second. Australia gave a follow-on to England and so didn’t get a chance to bat for the second innings due to lack of time.
Last month, McGrath made her T20I debut against India during the multi-format series between the teams which included a historic pink ball test, three T20Is, and the same number of ODIs. The first T20I didn’t lead to any result due to the rain. In the second T20I, McGrath wasn’t given the ball but with the bat scoring an unbeaten 42 of 33 deliveries which included six fours. She became the player of the match in the third match of the shortest format. She once again remained unbeaten on 44 of 31 balls with 6 fours and a six. Her great performance made her the player of the series as well.
McGrath was awarded a contract by Cricket Australia with the National Performance Squad ahead of the 2019–20 season and a year later she was given a central contract ahead of the 2020–21 season.
Career Stats as of 10th Nov, 2021
Batting
| Format | Matches | Innings Batted | Not Outs | Runs | Highest Score | Strike Rate |
| Test | 2 | 2 | 0 | 75 | 47 | 37.68 |
| ODI | 8 | 7 | 2 | 179 | 74 | 105.29 |
| T20I | 3 | 2 | 2 | 86 | 44* | 134.37 |
Bowling-:
| Format | Matches | Innings Bowled in | Overs | Wickets | Economy |
| Test | 2 | 4 | 48.0 | 3 | 2.14 |
| ODI | 8 | 7 | 39.2 | 5 | 5.61 |
| T20I | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 14.00 |
Wishing this talented youngster, a very Happy Birthday and a great cricketing year ahead!
Loves all things female cricket