Sarah Andrews

Early career

In January 2000, Andrews played for New South Wales in Under-19 interstate championships. She took 11 wickets at 6.00, with a best of 4/13 in the qualifying match against Victoria. New South Wales won all of their seven matches, defeating Victoria in the final. New South Wales' batting was rarely challenged by their outclassed opposition, so Andrews was only required to bat three times in the lower-order, scoring 15 runs at 7.50. She also took six catches.

In 2000–01, Andrews played in three Second XI fixtures for New South Wales. She scored a total of 19 runs in three brief innings that all ended in not outs, and took two wickets at 38.50 and an economy rate of 3.34.

Domestic debut

Andrews made her senior debut for New South Wales in the 2001–02 Women's National Cricket League, playing in seven matches, all of which ended in victory. Although she was a specialist bowler who batted at the end of the tail and was never required in matches during the season, she was not entrusted with a substantial workload with the ball, sending down an average of only four overs per match. She took 0/10 from five overs in her debut against South Australia, before taking her maiden wickets in the second match of the double-header, claiming 2/7 from three overs. She took only one wicket in the next two matches against Queensland and was dropped for the double-header against Western Australia, before being recalled for the last two round-robin matches against Victoria. She did not bowl in the first, and took 1/17 from six overs in the next. The two teams met again in the finals series, and Andrews was dropped for the first match, before being recalled and taking 1/16 from four overs in the next match as New South Wales won their sixth title in a row with a 2–0 triumph. Andrews ended her first season with five wickets at 16.80 and an economy rate of 3.00.

At the end of the season, Andrews was selected for Australia Youth team to play against New Zealand and New Zealand A. She bowled her full quota of 30 overs in three matches, taking three wickets at 19.00 at an economy rate of 1.90. She also scored 21 runs at 21.00 in three innings. Her best performance was 2/13 in the last match against the senior New Zealand team.

The following season, Andrews missed the first four matches of the WNCL. She took 3/18 in her second match of the season against Queensland and took one wicket in the three other group matches. In the first final against Victoria, Andrew took 0/15 from four overs in a three-wicket defeat. She was dropped for the second final, which Victoria won to end New South Wales' six-year run. Andrews ended with six wickets at 14.83 at an economy rate of 3.17 and scored 3 runs at 3.00. She averaged less than six overs a match. At the end of the summer, she played for the Australian Under-23 team against England; she took a total of 0/47 from 19 overs in a two-innings match and scored 21 in Australia's only innings.

In 2003–04, Andrews played her first full season in the WNCL, taking to the field in all 11 of New South Wales' matches. She took only five wickets in the first five matches, including figures of 2/30 from seven overs in a tie against Victoria. She then went wicketless in the last three fixtures of the round-robin stage. In the first final against defending champions Victoria, she took 0/18 from five overs in a six-wicket defeat. She was retained for the second final despite the four consecutive wicketless matches, and took 2/28 from her ten overs to set up a five-wicket win. This was the first time in her 21 WNCL matches that Andrews had bowled a full quota of overs. In the deciding final, she was taken out of the attack after being hit for 17 runs in three overs; New South Wales ended up winning by three wickets to regain the WNCL title. Andrews ended the season with seven wickets at 36.14 at an economy rate of 3.51 and eight runs at 8.00.

International debut

Andrews was rewarded with selection for Australia for the home series against India held in Adelaide at the end of the season. She made her debut in the one-off Test at the Adelaide Oval, and came in at No. 11 after Australia batted first. she made three from six balls before being run out as the hosts made 250. Opening the bowling with Cathryn Fitzpatrick, she took 2/29 from nine overs in the first innings. She had opener Monica Sumra caught by Karen Rolton in her second over, and then trapped the other opener Karu Jain for 21 to leave the Indians at 2/41. In the following over, without further addition to the score, Andrews took her maiden Test catch to dismiss leading Indian batsman and captain Mithali Raj from the bowling of Fitzpatrick. The Indians eventually collapsed to be all out for 93. Australia enforced the follow on and Andrews took 0/19 from 17 overs and caught Sunetra Paranjpe in the second innings as the tourists lost by an innings. After missing the first ODI, she made her debut in the second match, coming in at No. 11 and scoring four not out from seven balls in Australia's 173 all out. She then took 3/21 from six overs to help secure a 12-run win. In the next match she took 1/33 in a nine-wicket win and ended the series with four wickets at 13.50 and an economy rate of 3.33. Andrews is the 148th woman to play Test cricket for Australia, and the 106th woman to play One Day International cricket for Australia.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Andrews made her Twenty20 international debut against New Zealand at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, having never played in the format at domestic level. She was attacked by the opposition batsmen, ending with 1/42 from four overs in a tied match. The rest of the Australians conceded their runs at 6.18 per over. After missing the first ODI, she returned to take two wickets in each of the next three matches before going wicketless in the fifth match. She ended with six wickets at 24.50 at the relatively high economy rate of 4.59; Australia won all of the last four matches. The second ODI was a close call as Australia won by one wicket from the penultimate ball of the match. Andrews came in upon the fall of the eighth wicket and scored two from three balls before being run out, but Karen Rolton and Clea Smith saw Australia to victory.

Having broken into international cricket, Andrews started the 2006–07 WNCL season strongly, taking 3/18 to set up a three-wicket win over Victoria in the opening matches of the season. In the fourth match of the tournament, against Queensland, she made a tail-wagging 16 and took 3/27 from her ten overs, but was not able to defend New South Wales' meagre 9/162 as they lost by six wickets. In the sixth match, she made an unbeaten 13 help New South Wales scrape home by two wickets against Western Australia. Andrews took 13 wickets in the eight qualifying matches. New South Wales reached the finals hosted by Victoria after winning five of their eight matches. She took 0/39 from nine overs as the hosts were dismissed for 136 in the first match. New South Wales struggled in the run-chase and Andrews made 17 in the lower order before the defending champions scraped home by one wicket. In the second final, New South Wales's batsmen against struggled and Andrews made 36 to push the total to 144. She took 0/31 from ten overs as the home team reached their target with eight wickets in hand. In the deciding match, Andrews took 2/40 to help restrict Victoria to 7/205 and then made one as New South Wales took a hard-fought three-wicket win and a second consecutive WNCL title. Andrews ended the season with 15 wickets at 22.60 and an economy rate of 3.53. She was also more prominent with the bat than in the past, scoring 107 runs at 21.40.

Omission and recall for the 2009 World Cup and World Twenty20

Andrews was dropped from the Australia team for the home series against India before the start of the 2008–09 WNCL season. She responded by taking 12 wickets in the first six matches of the WNCL season, including a haul of 3/23 in an eight-wicket win over Western Australia and 3/43 in a losing cause against South Australia. In these six matches, she conceded 3.10 runs per over. She was unable to maintain this form throughout the season, going wicketless in the final two round-robin matches against Victoria, which New South Wales won to earn hosting rights for the final. Andrews then took 1/11 from seven overs as New South Wales won by six wickets to take a fourth consecutive WNCL title. She ended with 13 wickets at 18.53 and an economy rate of 3.23 and made a duck in her only innings.

Andrews was also effective in New South Wales's two T20 matches, taking four wickets at 5.75 at and economy rate of 3.28.

Andrews' strong WNCL performances earned her a recall into the Australian team ahead of the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup to be held in New South Wales and Canberra. Before the World Cup, the Australians headed to New Zealand for the Rose Bowl series. Andrews was called into the playing XI for the second match, but was ineffective taking 1/52 from ten overs. She was dropped before being recalled for the fourth match, taking 1/17 from four overs in a victory; the final ODI was washed out.

In two warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup, Andrews had promising results although she bowled only briefly. She took 1/7 from three overs against England and then took 2/12 from four overs against Sri Lanka, as the hosts won both matches.

Despite these results, Andrews was left out of the first two group matches against New Zealand and South Africa; Australia lost the first and won the latter and needed to win the last group match against the West Indies to ensure progression to the next round. Andrews took 1/34 from eight overs as Australia took a 47-run win. However, she was substantially more expensive than her colleagues—the run rate in the remaining 42 overs was 3.14—and was dropped for the first Super Six match against India, which Australia lost by 18 runs. She was recalled and took 1/20 from 7.1 overs against Pakistan in a 107-run win. By this time, Australia's two losses had already made it impossible to make the final. Andrews took 3/35 from 8.3 overs in the final super Six match against England, which Australia won by eight wickets, and they met India in the third-place playoff. Andrews batted for the only time in the tournament and was unbeaten on zero as Australia were out for 142. She took 0/23 from five overs as the hosts lost by three wickets. Andrews ended the World Cup with five wickets at 22.40 and an economy rate of 3.90.

Final season

In the first match of the 2009–10 WNCL season, Andrews scored 22 to push New South Wales to 198 before taking 0/28 from seven overs in a 15-run win. The following day, she took 3/26 in a 19-run win. After taking only one wicket in the two matches against the Australian Capital Territory, Andrews claimed 2/21 and 3/29 in the two matches against Victoria. She took only one wicket in the double-header against Western Australia before taking 2/8 from six overs and 1/33 in the last two matches against South Australia, which New South Wales won to qualify for the final. Andrews scored two not out as the defending champions batted first and made 9/206. She then took 1/18 from 5.1 overs as they bowled the Victorians out for 147 to claim a fifth successive WNCL title. Andrews finished the season with 14 wickets at 19.28 and an economy rate of 3.22. She scored 42 runs at 14.00 for the season.

During the season, the T20 matches were expanded into a six-round competition and final. Andrews played in all of New South Wales' seven matches and took five wickets at 21.20 and an economy rate of 4.60; she added 21 runs at 21.00. Her best bowling of 2/22 came from four overs in the qualifying match against Victoria, which New South Wales lost by seven runs. The two teams met again in the final and Andrews took 1/12 from four overs including a maiden as Victoria reached 5/127. In reply, Andrews made 15, one of the few batsmen to reach double figures as New South Wales capitulated for 75 and lost the title-deciding match.

In the 2010 Rose Bowl series after the WNCL, Andrews played in the first four of the five ODIs during the Australian leg of the competition. She took 2/18 and 2/20, both from five overs as Australia won both of the matches at the Adelaide Oval. The series then moved to the Junction Oval in Melbourne and Andrews took 1/12 from four overs and 2/29 from nine overs in the next two matches. She was not required to bat and ended with seven wickets at 11.28 at an economy rate of 3.43 as Australia completed a clean sweep.

The ODIs were followed by five T20 internationals, three at Bellerive Oval in Hobart and the last two in New Zealand. Andrews played in all but the last match, but had little success, taking one wicket at 97.00 and an economy rate of 6.46 and she batted once, scoring one not out. New Zealand won all five T20s. Andrews then played in all three ODIs on New Zealand soil, taking one wicket in each match as Australia completed a clean sweep. She ended with three wickets at 38.00 at an economy rate of 4.07.