Brooker shines in Australia ahead of 2026 Foxes return

Leicestershire Women’s batter Rebecca Brooker will return to Uptonsteel Grace Road this summer in excellent form after an impressive winter playing Grade cricket in Australia.

Brooker spent the English winter in Perth representing Wanneroo District Cricket Club in the highly competitive A-Grade Western Australia (WA) Premier Cricket competition - widely regarded as one of the strongest club structures outside the professional domestic system.

The opener saved her standout performance for her farewell fixture against Midland-Guildford, producing a superb unbeaten 112 from 162 balls, striking 11 boundaries.

Batting through the entire 50 overs, Brooker carried her bat from start to finish in a classic anchor innings.

The scorecard can be viewed here.

Across the campaign she finished as Wanneroo’s leading run scorer, accumulating 378 runs at an average of 34.36, a total 182 runs clear of the next highest scorer in the side.

The winter provided valuable experience on faster, bouncier pitches and in unfamiliar conditions - something Brooker believes will benefit her heading into the 2026 season with the Foxes.

“The experience has been amazing and I’ve loved my time in Australia. I could not have felt any more welcome or grateful for the opportunities I’ve had this winter.

Joining new environments, hearing different perspectives and needing to adapt my game to different pitches has been great for my development. Toby (Wanneroo Coach) has been awesome helping me work on some technical stuff and being able to implement that into game situations each week has been invaluable. I’m looking forward to re-joining the Foxes and I’m ready for another season in Tier 2.”

Brooker will now return to Leicestershire ahead of the 2026 campaign, bringing back both runs and experience gained from a winter competing in one of Australia’s strongest grade competitions.