For Georgia Prestwidge, cricket has always been about family.
Her first introduction to the game came as a baby, when her father Scott would carry her around the Gabba boundary after a Queensland Bulls win.
And growing up with two cricket-obsessed brothers meant the Prestwidge siblings spent many afternoons forging battles between bat and ball in the backyard.
It was here, as the middle child and self-appointed favourite, that Georgia established her competitive drive and a tough skin.
“There was no mercy shown. If I wanted to play with them, I knew what I was signing up for,” she said.
“We played a lot of rough sports. Rugby, wrestling … I kind of just got thrown in there with it, so I had a pretty fun childhood with those boys and it’s led me right here, I guess.”
All three children — Jack (24), Georgia (22) and Will (18) — progressed as juniors through the Queensland Cricket pathway system.
The family has strong ties with T20 cricket, with siblings Jack and Georgia having both played in the Big Bash, while dad Scott works as assistant coach of Georgia’s Brisbane Heat WBBL team.
Georgia has been with the Heat for five years, enjoying a breakout season with the ball last summer when she took 11 wickets with best figures of 3-29.
She has had an impact again this year, earning player of the match honours on Sunday for her 4-12 against the Melbourne Renegades.
Georgia has enjoyed the added responsibility of opening the bowling this season, a change facilitated by Sammy-Jo Johnson’s off-season move to the Sydney Thunder.
“It has kind of given me more of an opportunity to bowl inside the power play and open with the new ball,” she said.
“I’m just trying to grab opportunity where it is. To make the most of it and keep learning while enjoying the experience.”
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To leave it there would be selling her story short.
Georgia’s resilience was tested in the early stages of her career when, in 2016, she was suspended from bowling in any Cricket Australia-sanctioned matches for an illegal action.
It has taken a lot of hard work since then to perfect her craft, and Scott — a former all-rounder who also bowled fast-medium pace — says he is really proud of his daughter’s dedication.
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“Georgia’s had a really interesting journey,” he said.
“She really had to break down her action and I remember telling Queensland Cricket that it would take two-to-three years before we started to see the rewards of that, because it’s a big job to reshape somebody’s action and then get confidence in it.
“It was probably a result of her javelin throwing. She was a national champion as a young teenager and each of the sports required slightly different things, so it just crept into her bowling.
“It took her a good 18 months to actually get that out of her action. But she doesn’t shy away from a challenge and I think what you saw last year was the end of that journey, where she basically started believing.
“This year she’s developed even more. She’s probably gained another 5kph pace-wise — she hit 122kph this year and her average pace has increased too — as well as developing a couple of new balls which are still in process.”
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As a coach, Scott’s creativity has recently seen him take on roles at a higher level.
In 2019, he worked as an assistant coach on the Australia A women’s tour of England under Leah Poulton.
And in October this year, he was asked to fill in as a bowling coach for the top Australian women’s side in their bi-lateral series against New Zealand.
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He hasn’t seen much of Georgia while living in the WBBL hub, but she says it’s been nice to have a family member with her in Sydney.
“He knows when to put his coaching hat on and when to switch back to his dad cap after the game,” she said.
“I would definitely say he is harder on me, which I prefer because that’s how you get better and I’d hate to think that I’d get any special treatment.
“But he always pushes me to do better and he’s happy to give me a spray when I’m not cooperating.
“Overall, you can tell he really enjoys it, he loves talking with the girls and he brings a lot of creativity and new ideas.
“It’s pleasing for me to see him doing something that he has such a passion for and likewise that the girls in our team really get something out of his coaching.”
This Thursday, the Brisbane Heat will play the Sydney Thunder in the WBBL semi-finals.
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Currently on a seven-game winning streak, the two-time champions would love to be able to defend their title and pull off a three-peat.
And Scott thinks they’ll “give it a fair nudge”.
“Once you get into the semis it is pretty much how you turn up on the day,” he said.
“We just concentrate on our motto from here. Making sure we compete at 110 per cent and that we don’t leave anything on the ground.”
You can hear all the action of the WBBL finals on ABC Grandstand.
