Ava Dodd, 14, makes a stunning Country XI debut in two Statewide T20 Community Cup matches

At just 14, Leschenault star Ava Dodd has continued her stunning rise to becoming one of the best young cricketers in WA. The young gun made her Country XI debut on Sunday and featured in two Statewide T20 Community Cup fixtures after being named in the squad earlier this month. Dodds opened the bowling in both games after impressing for Leschenault with the new ball in the BDCA women’s competition this year where she claimed 11 wickets at an average of less than six. The 14-year-old had figures of 2-5 off four overs in the Country XI’s 71-run win over the WA Indigenous XI, before taking 1-23 off four in an 8-wicket win over the Cricket West XI. Dodds said before the games she was excited and proud of herself for making the side and thanked the rise of leagues like the WBBL and AFLW for highlighting a pathway in for young girls in sport. “It’s nice knowing that there is a way to get there,” she said. “I was a lot more involved with the boy’s pathway, playing boys cricket up in Perth, but now being involved with the women I can match my own level now.” In the 2020-21 season, Dodds, alongside her older brother Tyne who plays first grade for Leschenault, was a part of the Rockingham-Mandurah boys’ side who won the Premier U14 grand final in the WACA competition. Dodds said she loved to challenge herself in the boy’s competition as a youngster but was now thriving in a flourishing BDCA women’s competition. “I’ve played a lot more boys cricket than I have girls or women’s,” she said. “It’s really good because you can tell that women’s cricket is evolving, two years ago the competition wasn’t nearly as strong, but it has got a lot better.”