Bunbury-raised WA cricket captains Sam Whiteman and Chloe Piparo confident sides will bounce back this season

The Bunbury-raised captains of WA’s cricket sides are confident their teams will bounce back from disappointing 2024-25 seasons in the campaign ahead. Sam Whiteman last year assumed the captaincy of WA’s all-conquering Sheffield Shield team on a full-time basis but oversaw a tough season in which the side’s streak of three consecutive titles came to an end. At WA cricket’s season launch last week, Whiteman said his side had looked to “move on pretty quickly” from their disappointing end to the run, where they remained in the mix to make the final until the very end of the season but ultimately finished last. “It didn’t feel right that we finished last after getting so close, so that definitely hurt. We’ll try and use that as a bit of motivation this year,” he said. “I think what hurt us last year was struggling at home, we lost a few games at home which we hadn’t done in the past. I think if we play some strong cricket at home, that’ll hold us in really good stead.” The State’s Women’s National Cricket League side, which has been led by Chloe Piparo since 2018, also finished 2024-25 at the foot of the ladder. But Piparo said she had no doubts her side was on the right track to match it with the competition’s best. “I think over the last few years with (coach) Becky (Grundy), we’ve got games into younger players,” she said. “It’s been a bit tumultuous, we’ve had a lot of injuries over the last few years, so hopefully we can have some stability and the older girls can perform.” Using her grandparents’ heritage, Piparo spent part of her off-season representing Italy’s fledgling cricket side in a series of T20 World Cup qualifiers, which she said was a “great experience”. “It was on (a synthetic pitch) — I haven’t played on syntho since I was about 12 or 13, which was interesting,” she said. “They just need to play more cricket, they’re still very much in the beginning stages of their cricket journey.” An international debut for Whiteman in the first Ashes Test against England in November is within the realms of possibility if he starts the shield season well, with Australian coach Andrew McDonald saying the early stages of the domestic red-ball season would have huge bearing on selection. The 33-year-old Whiteman, who has been among the best openers in domestic cricket since moving to the top of the order, said the speculation would not change anything in his approach. “It feels like at the start of every summer, there’s always talk about an opening spot,” he said. “I had a pretty rough run with injuries last year, so I didn’t really play too much cricket, so I’m just really excited to stay on the park this year and play a lot of cricket.” Whiteman said he was saddened to be without the services of Dunsborough-raised Lance Morris for this season after the speedster underwent major back surgery in the hope of improving his long-term injury outlook. “Unfortunately for Lance, he’s had these problems for the last few years, so hopefully it’s his last year out and there’s big things for him in the future,” he said. Piparo is a foundation player for Perth Scorchers’ women’s side but is yet to be offered a short-format contact for the upcoming Women’s Big Bash League season. The nine-year WBBL veteran said she was “keen to play T20 cricket, wherever that might be”. “We’ve got the Spring Bash and every team needs to keep a spot open for post-Spring Bash, so hopefully I can go and score some runs and put my name forward — hopefully at the Scorchers but wherever else, I’ll take a deal anywhere,” Piparo said. WA’s men’s side will start their season with a One-Day Cup game on the road against Queensland on Sunday and open their Sheffield Shield campaign from October 4 at the WACA Ground against New South Wales. The WNCL will again be played in a double-header format, with WA’s first games of 2025-26 coming at home against Queensland on September 24 and 26.