Carey and Bray Win Domestic Awards while Dooley earns Community Impact recognition

Caoimhe Bray and Nicola Carey have been announced as the winners of the peer-voted 2026 Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year and Women’s Domestic Player of the Year Awards respectively while Josie Dooley has received the Community Impact Award.

Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year – Caoimhe Bray (NSW/Sydney Sixers)

One of Australia’s brightest stars, 16-year-old Caoimhe Bray took eight wickets at an average of 21.75 for the Sixers in the Weber WBBL, with a standout performance against the Sydney Thunder, where she took a hattrick on her way to figures of 4-15 off four overs.

Bray made eight appearances in the WNCL during the voting period, scoring 71 runs at an average of 23.67, and taking eight wickets at an average of 25.38.

In the T20 Spring Challenge, she made 61 runs, while she took three wickets at an average of 25.0 in her four matches for the Sixers.

To be eligible for the Young Cricketer of the Year Award, players must be 24 years or less prior to the commencement of the award period and have not won the award previously. Prior to the award period, female players must also have played 25 or less combined List A and T20 matches (domestic or international).

Upon accepting the award, Bray said:

"It's a really big privilege knowing all the past names that have been selected for the award and knowing where most of them are at now - playing for Australia and playing in all different overseas tournaments - it's a pretty incredible achievement. Just to be in the voting selection for it I thought was a big achievement and really cool, and to now be part of those names as selected is even cooler.

"It's even more significant in that sense because it's not voted by coaches or other staff, it's by your peers who you play with and against, and they're really recognising your achievements, so, that's really awesome to know that the people around me support me and hopefully see a future in what I can do."

Women's Domestic Player of the Year – Nicola Carey (TAS/Hobart Hurricanes)

Nicola Carey has been named Women’s Domestic Player of the Year after dominating all three domestic competitions with bat and ball.

In 12 WNCL matches, Carey made 338 runs at an average of 30.73 which included a sensational century against Queensland, while with the ball she was just as damaging, taking 17 wickets at an average of 25.24.

In five matches in the T20 Spring Challenge, Carey starred with the bat as she made 191 runs at an average of 47.75 and with the ball, took three wickets at an average of 34.67.

Carey's scintillating form continued into Weber WBBL|11, where she made 186 runs at an average of 46.50, and took 10 wickets at an average of 25.60.

Her strong run of domestic form has culminated in a national call-up, being selected in the ODI and T20I squads for Australia’s upcoming white-ball matches against India.

Upon accepting the award, Carey said:

"It is special to be recognised by your peers. You obviously play against them in a lot of games, and I voted in the same thing and there were some tremendous performances throughout the couple of different tournaments that people played in.

"Particularly being a peer voted award, it's always special - probably makes it even more special actually. I guess it came as a bit of a shock, but it's a nice little award to win.

"Domestic competitions are extremely important. The WNCL and the WBBL - that's where the girls get picked to play for Australia and it's a really competitive environment in both tournaments. We've seen the domestic competitions grow over the last few years and hopefully we see it trend in that direction for years to come."

Community Impact Award - Josie Dooley

Josie Dooley has been voted the winner of the Community Impact Award. The award is given to a player who has gone above and beyond in charity or community work throughout the award period.

Dooley has had a significant impact on the community by raising awareness for stroke recovery through her Wave2Recovery account which documents her own journey.

In her role as ambassador, Dooley helped the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) Appeal raise over $50k, while she also raised funds for the Stroke Foundation by participating in the Bridge to Brisbane 5km walk.

Upon accepting the award, Dooley said:

"I definitely feel honoured. Raising money for the Stroke Foundation in the walk that we did, and then for the RBWH Foundation - I'm an ambassador for them - so shining a light on all the work that they do is obviously really close to me personally.

"The whole cricket community has been incredible in supporting me and getting me through some pretty dark times. I'm very grateful to everyone and all my teammates who were always there for me and are still checking on me now. I still feel very much a part of the game, and I'm just very grateful for all of them.

"Part of the award is $1K that I can give to a charity of my choice. I think that's such a great initiative from the ACA, and I'm very grateful for that."

Todd Greenberg, CA CEO said:

“We’re thrilled to join the Australian Cricketers’ Association in celebrating the outstanding individual seasons of Caoimhe Bray and Nicola Carey.

“Caoimhe is one of the brightest young stars in our game and her performances underscore her exceptional talent and highlight the strength of Australian cricket’s female pathways.

“Nicola’s brilliant all round season across multiple formats and subsequent national selection are a fitting reward for her consistent excellence at domestic level.

“It is also great to see Josie recognised for her incredible work and for sharing her inspiring story of resilience. She is thoroughly deserving of the Community Impact Award.”

Paul Marsh, ACA CEO said:

“Congratulations to Caoimhe and Nicola, who have both had an incredible 12 months and absolutely deserve to be voted the winners of these awards by their peers.

“What Caoimhe has achieved already at the age of 16 is remarkable, and should have Australian Cricket fans excited for what she can produce in the future.

“Nicola has long been one of the best domestic cricketers in Australia, and her impact on Tasmanian cricket and the Hurricanes playing groups has been substantial. It’s no surprise to see her peers vote for her.

"Josie's story of hard work and resilience is incredibly inspirational. The way in which she has told her story and raised awareness and funds is sure to leave a significant impact on the cricket community from the elite level all the way down to grassroots. I'd like to congratulate Josie who deserves this award immensely."

The voting period for these awards was 11 December 2024 - 13 December 2025.

Previous Winners of the Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year Award:

2017: Sophie Molineux
2018: Georgia Redmayne
2019: Georgia Wareham
2020: Tayla Vlaeminck
2021: Hannah Darlington
2022: Darcie Brown
2023: Courtney Sippel
2024: Emma de Broughe
2025: Chloe Ainsworth

Previous Winners of the Women’s Domestic Player of the Year Award:

2017: Meg Lanning
2018: Beth Mooney
2019: Heather Graham
2020: Molly Strano
2021: Elyse Villani
2022: Elyse Villani
2023: Annabel Sutherland
2024: Elyse Villani and Sophie Day
2025: Georgia Voll

Previous Winners of the Community Impact Award:

2019: Moises Henriques
2020: Corinne Hall
2021: Josh Lalor
2022: Zoe Cooke
2023: Usman Khawaja
2024: Ash Gardner
2025: Cameron Green