Sarah Coyte
Sarah Jane Coyte is an Australian cricketer from Camden, New South Wales. A right-arm medium fast bowler, Coyte has taken a total of 100 wickets for the national women's team across Tests, ODIs and T20Is. She currently plays for the Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League.
In addition to her bowling prowess, Coyte has proven to be a handy lower-order batter and notable performer in tournament finals. She has won two world championships with Australia, seven WNCL championships with New South Wales and South Australia, and one WBBL championship with the Sydney Sixers. Her successful cricket career was established and maintained despite an ongoing battle with anorexia nervosa and other mental health issues which prompted a premature, albeit temporary, retirement from the game in 2017.
Domestic career
Women's National Cricket League
New South Wales
On 7 November 2009, Coyte made her WNCL debut playing for New South Wales in a 15-run win against Queensland, managing impressive bowling figures of 4/25 from six overs and helping to defend a total of 198. She finished the 2009–10 season with twelve wickets at an average of 15.16, having played all eleven matches including the 59-run win against Victoria in the final.Coyte went on to be involved in five more successful campaigns with New South Wales in as many seasons. Her highlights included:
- In the 2010–11 final, she scored an unbeaten 44 from 47 balls in pursuit of Victoria's first innings total of 263. With rain prematurely ending play in the 35th over of the run chase, New South Wales were declared champions due to their score of 2/193 being comfortably ahead of the Duckworth–Lewis par by 49 runs.
- Coyte scored her first WNCL half-century on 3 December 2011 in a 37-run win against Victoria, scoring 54 off 57 balls. In the 2011–12 final, she took 4/53 from 9.4 overs to help secure a 70-run win, which was also against Victoria. She finished the season with eleven wickets, the third-most in the league, at an average of 21.27.
- In the 2012–13 final, Coyte took 2/34 from ten overs against Queensland. Chasing 233 for victory, she was not out on eleven with her team at 4/135 after 27 overs when rain interrupted and ultimately ended play. New South Wales were declared champions, having exceeded the Duckworth–Lewis par score by 15 runs.
- The 2013–14 final was also affected by rain, with the match reduced to 20-overs per innings. Coyte took 1/16 from four overs to help restrict Victoria to a total of 9/111 before New South Wales chased down the target with seven wickets and seven balls to spare.
- On 25 October 2014, Coyte recorded her best-ever WNCL bowling figures, taking 4/35 from ten overs in a two-wicket victory against Queensland. She also took 3/33 from 9.2 overs during the 2014–15 semi-final in a seven-wicket win over Victoria, then claimed 1/14 from seven overs in the final against South Australia which New South Wales went on to win by 144 runs. Coyte finished her last season with the team by taking ten wickets at an average of 20.70.
South Australia
Across the 2016–17 season, Coyte took nine wickets at an average of 24.88, although South Australia finished in fourth place and failed to qualify for the final. In March 2017, she announced her retirement from domestic cricket at the age of 25, citing a need to seek better balance in her life to combat mental health issues.
Australian Capital Territory
Coyte returned to the WNCL for the 2019–20 season, signing with the ACT Meteors in May 2019. She earned her first Player of the Match award with the team on 6 February 2020 against Tasmania, taking 2/30 from eight overs and then scoring 48 not out to help chase down a target of 199 with three wickets and 21 balls to spare. The Meteors finished the tournament in fifth place.Tasmania
Opting to focus solely on Twenty20 cricket, Coyte did not sign with a WNCL team ahead of the 2020–21 season. However, she joined Tasmania midway through their campaign, debuting on 25 February 2021 against New South Wales at Blundstone Arena in a tied match. On 7 March, Coyte recorded her second WNCL half-century and highest score in the league, coming in to bat at 5/89 and managing 66 runs off 88 balls, though her team would nevertheless lose the match to Queensland by eight wickets.In a similar scenario to the previous season, Coyte once again opted against signing with a state team during the 2021–22 contracting period, but Tasmania re-added her to their roster on the eve of the tournament.
New South Wales
Ahead of the 2023–24 season, Coyte was poached by New South Wales, where she was expected to benefit the team's 'talented but youthful' pace attack.Women's Big Bash League
Adelaide Strikers: First stint
On 17 July 2015, the Adelaide Strikers announced they had signed Coyte for the inaugural Women's Big Bash League season. She earned her first Player of the Match award in the WBBL on 1 January 2016 at Adelaide Oval against the Perth Scorchers, scoring 52 not out from 38 balls to help chase down a target of 137 with six wickets and nine balls to spare. On 10 January, she delivered a dominant all-round performance against the Melbourne Stars at the Junction Oval, scoring 72 off 55 balls before taking 3/12 in a 50-run victory. Although the Strikers only finished in seventh place, Coyte had a strong individual campaign as the team's leading wicket-taker with 14 and scoring 243 runs.The Strikers struggled throughout 2016–17 Women's Big Bash League season|WBBL|02, winning just three games and finishing in last place on the ladder. Coyte experienced a slide in her own form, managing seven wickets at an average of 38.85 while contributing 26 runs from ten innings at a strike rate of 61.90. At the conclusion of the season, she announced her retirement from domestic cricket at the age of 25, citing a need to seek better balance in her life to combat mental health issues.
Sydney Sixers
Ahead of 2017–18 Women's Big Bash League season|WBBL|03, Coyte turned down an offer to join the Hobart Hurricanes. During the 2017–18 Australian summer, she occasionally played in local games for Penrith which motivated Sydney Sixers coach Ben Sawyer to approach her about a temporary comeback to top-level domestic cricket. With South African pair Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk unavailable for the last few weeks of the WBBL season due to national team commitments, the Sixers signed Coyte as a marquee replacement player.On 27 January 2018, in her return to the league, Coyte took match-best figures of 2/14 from four overs during a seven-wicket win against the Adelaide Strikers at Hurstville Oval. The following day, playing against the Strikers at Hurstville Oval once more, she was named Player of the Match for her bowling figures of 3/18 from four overs which helped the Sixers to another seven-wicket victory and clinch the minor premiership. In the final at Adelaide Oval on 4 February, she produced "exemplary bowling" to take 3/17 in the first innings which led to the Perth Scorchers being bowled out for just 99. The Sixers chased the target down with nine wickets in hand and 30 balls remaining to win the championship, while Coyte was named Player of the Final.
Reflecting upon a whirlwind resurgence, which included ten wickets in four matches at an average of 8.10, Coyte commented that her true personal victory came when she "walked out at Hurstville" a week earlier. In a blog post for AthletesVoice, Coyte noted she hadn't committed to playing cricket full-time again: "I hope these last couple of weeks haven't added pressure with people asking me about coming back. That wasn't the intention... I wouldn't completely shut it down as an option but I wouldn't want to get everyone's hopes up either. I don't know what my state of mind is on this. It constantly changes. I ride the wave every single day."
Adelaide Strikers: Return
On 14 June 2018, the Adelaide Strikers announced they had once again signed Coyte as a member of their squad. Speaking about her new two-season contract with the Strikers, she said: "I've been working really hard to find balance in my life over the last year or so and I feel I'm in a great place both physically and mentally. Now there is no pressure on me for national selection, I'm able to train and play well because I want to, not because I feel I have to."Coyte enjoyed a highly productive 2019–20 Women's Big Bash League season|WBBL|05 campaign, taking 19 wickets and helping the Strikers to reach their first championship final. She pulled off her first Player of the Match award of the season on 26 October 2019 in a low-scoring encounter with the Hobart Hurricanes at Allan Border Field. Her late-innings cameo of 24 from 13 balls proved critical in what would be a narrow three-run victory. She earned her second Player of the Match award of the season on 30 November, taking 3/9 off four overs in an eight-wicket win over the Sydney Sixers at Hurstville Oval. Coyte managed bowling figures of 1/27 from four overs in the WBBL|05 final on 8 December against the Brisbane Heat at Allan Border Field. The Strikers ended up losing the match by six wickets to finish the tournament as runners-up.
Although the Strikers failed to qualify for the 2020–21 finals series, Coyte earned acclaim for her individual WBBL|06 exploits. Finishing with 18 wickets at an economy rate of 6.51, she excelled in the high-pressure death bowling role and was subsequently selected in the Team of the Tournament.