Jemma Barsby's Mission to Whack MS for 6
5 December, 2025
‘Whack MS for 6’ has just been launched by Jemma Barsby, after months of hard work and ten years battling difficulties after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at the age of 20.
Jemma made her debut for Queensland at the age of 15 back in 2010-11 and has since forged an incredible career for Queensland and South Australia in the WNCL, along with over 140 appearances in the WBBL for the Heat, Scorchers and Strikers.
Alongside her impact on the cricket field, Jemma is now doing everything she can to make an impact off the field, for a cause incredibly close to her.
She has now launched ‘Whack MS for 6’ - a fundraising campaign to help bring life to a potential breakthrough treatment that could change the future for people living with MS. The goal is to raise $6 million, which is the amount required to fund the manufacture of a new oral therapy and its Phase 2 trial.
“$6 million is obviously a lot, but on the medical side of things, it’s not at all”, Jemma said.
“It's the first drug in quite a while that has really promising signs to help actually reverse the signs of MS, whereas a lot of the drugs out there at the moment just help reduce your symptoms, not necessarily reverse it. There's a lot of potential in this drug, hopefully we can raise this money, and they can get to the trial.”
As a professional cricketer, living with MS obviously has its challenges but Jemma is grateful that she’s able to do what she loves.
“Living with MS, I find myself quite grateful that I am still able to be a professional cricketer. I have it quite mild, so I'm able to get out there and run around, but it's about being smart and listening to my body.”
Jemma elaborated on her experiences, after ten years balancing life as an athlete with MS:
“One day it can be fine and I feel like I don't have it, the next I’ve got extreme fatigue and pins and needles all over my body.
“Sometimes my worst is blurred vision and proper numb hands.
“I just try to keep my core temperature as cool as possible, so, obviously playing cricket in the summer isn't ideal, but it's about having things in place to be able to keep it as cool as possible and stay out on the park.”
Launching the campaign while there’s plenty of eyes on the WBBL has paid dividends for Jemma and the cause, with $21,109 already raised from over 200 donations.
The support has brought about a number of emotions and feelings for Jemma, with messages of encouragement and donations coming in thick and fast.
“The amount of people that have MS that have reached out to me already to thank me and to say how overwhelmed they feel, having this cool goal of being able to raise money and spread awareness.
“It's been amazing, and so many of the girls have donated as well. It's touching and overwhelming at the same time.
“I’ve done a lot of interviews and stuff for it too. It's been pretty hectic on my side, but it's also been cool for people to ask me questions about it, what they can do to help and as I said, for them to be able to donate too, it's been pretty cool to see and hopefully that can continue over the journey of raising this money.
“I just want to thank everyone for the support.”
Along with the coverage on broadcast and social media, something fans may have seen, is Jemma, her Strikers teammates and even opponents post-game making the heart hand signal, which is the symbol of MS survivorship.
“We wanted to find a way of being able to get the conversation started when I'm out there playing.” Jemma said.
“Obviously it comes down to me taking a wicket or someone in the team to take a wicket and feel comfortable doing it. But the heart symbol in the MS world is survivorship. “
“We wanted to embrace that and get the conversation started with an easy one for us players to do when we're out there. It doesn't take much; it gets conversations going and spreads the word. Hopefully it can put a smile on people's faces too that are watching and know people that have MS.”
The goal for all of this is the $6 million to fund the production and trial of the new drug, but along with this, Jemma wants to spread the word far and wide, encouraging people to share the campaign.
“We're trying to educate people along the way as well as raising these funds. It's got two meanings behind it, and we're off to a good start but obviously we have a long way to go.
“It'd be greatly appreciated if people could find it in their hearts to donate money towards this and share it with all the people they know as well.”
Jemma is one of more than 30,000 Australians and almost 3 million around the world who suffer from MS, and she’s doing her bit to raise funds and awareness for a better future for all.
You can donate to Jemma’s cause here:
