Nagambie pair to lead Northern Rivers charge at VCCL women’s competition

Albers, a member of the side that conquered all comers last year, has been bestowed the honour of captaincy for the representative team, while her Nagambie captain in Shepherd will feature in 2025 having not played last year.

While thrilled to be included in the set-up, Shepherd conceded she wasn’t sure of what to expect, particularly with the remainder of the side being made up of Goulburn Murray and Bendigo District players, however, threw her full confidence behind Albers as skipper.

“Yeah it is really good, it’s exciting,” she said.

“I only know of (Moama’s) Delaney Laffy, obviously playing in the GMC last year against her, so it will be really good to have a strong bat like herself and good cricket knowledge in the team.

“And then the only other one is really Madi, who I've got all faith in to captain and do well with the bat and ball.”

Faith can often be blind, but there is plenty of reasoning behind Shepherd’s confidence in Albers.

Having played first-grade cricket in the Victorian Premier Cricket women’s competition for both Carlton and Essendon-Maribyrnong Park, as well as earning a Victorian cap against Queensland in the Women’s National Cricket League, Albers, a devastatingly quick seamer, is a proven talent at the higher level.

It is a talent that is at Shepherd’s disposal every weekend for Nagambie, and the Lakers captain couldn’t be more glowing in her appraisal of the young quick.

“We've got her opening the bowling for obvious reasons, and it's a real threat to everyone else,” she said.

“Like, even on the sidelines, they watch how fast she bowls and it already puts a bit of doubt in the batsman's head just seeing the pace that comes off her.

“And (even) the arm she's got in the field, a lot of the time we'll use her in close, if not out as a sweeper, and she can throw the ball from anywhere, her accuracy is unreal.

“She's just her own worst enemy with confidence, so she'll, you know, do one thing wrong and then she's kind of out for it, which is a tragedy to herself, but if she's on, she's really on.

“If she had the opinion (of herself) that of all of us had about her, she would be playing for Australia.”

Shepherd will be there for Albers to lean on for any captaincy tips on Saturday, with the Lakers skipper already advising her tearaway teammate to “back your own ability”, however, if they find themselves batting together at any stage, Albers might think twice about taking any advice on board.

While Shepherd belted a brilliant unbeaten half-century to guide the Lakers home against Mooroopna last Sunday, it came at Albers’ expense, with the latter having been run out for a diamond duck when the pair was pushing for a quick two.

The duty of placing the field falls to Albers on Saturday, however, Shepherd laughed off the suggestion she might have to run from fine leg to fine leg as revenge for torching her teammate.

“It was no-one's fault, really, it was just extremely unlucky with the throw,” she said with a laugh.

“Everyone that I batted with, we all said because you couldn't hear anything, you had to really exaggerate your lip reading because of the wind.

“But when we crossed in the middle, we'd talk to each other, and we both definitely wanted it. It was just an amazing throw, (the fielder) wouldn't be able to do it again. If she did, I'd be very impressed, but it was just, yeah, very unlucky.”

The fact that the Nagambie pair is the only Cricket Shepparton representatives in the Northern Rivers side speaks not only of the high regard in which they are held within cricketing circles, but also to the Lakers’ early dominance of the newly-formed women’s competition.

Having gone down to Mooroopna in the GMC final last season, Nagambie has opened the competition with two wins over the Cats, and three overall without loss, to already move a game clear at the top.

Shepherd puts it all down to hunger, with the grand final heartbreak galvanising the group to give it their all this season.

“The vibe's really good, I think, from our loss last year, it's just shown everyone how easy it is to lose, but also, how eager we are to want it this year, we came so close,” she said.

“In the first round against Mooroopna, we defended with our bowling and won, and then this time we chased down (the total), and it was very, very hit and miss in the middle there, so I think it just makes everyone so excited.

“The fact that, you know, we are definitely a chance, and we want to go the whole way, everyone's really keen.

“Everyone's keen to play their part, we've got girls that, they either bowled last year or they batted and they're like, ‘I don't care if I do nothing (this season), I just want to win’.”

Northern Rivers will begin their defence of the VCCL title against Gippsland Pride at 11am on Saturday, before facing Barwon at 2pm.