Never alone: Illing acknowledged the supportive and caring attitude of her teammates.
| Photo Credit: AP
In 2022, Breearne Illing came to Mumbai as part of the New Zealand Women’s Development Tour. Now, in 2025, she’s playing in her first World Cup, capping off a ‘whirlwind’ year which also saw her receive maiden ODI and T20I caps, and an “unexpected” central contract — all within seven months.
“To get offered a contract, which I wasn’t actually expecting at all, was just amazing — I couldn’t have thought of anything better,” Illing told The Hindu.
In the ongoing ODI World Cup, Illing has already snaffled a couple of wickets against Australia – including its skipper Alyssa Healy – after three scalps against India-A and India in the warm-up matches.
“My teammates are just so supportive and caring. Many of them were constantly checking in on me against Australia, making sure I was all right, if I was calm, feeling happy, or nervous. Leah [Tahuhu] has been amazing. She and Sophie [Devine] were on the drives, and they talked to me about every ball, just encouraging me to keep going,” the 22-year-old left-arm pacer said.
“The angle across the batter (and the ball) coming back in and just the fact that I’m a left-arm (pacer), it’s a different release point that the batters are probably not used to.”
When she was 13, Illing suffered a potential stress fracture to her back. She slowly returned to her run up, thanks to Martyn Sigley, a player-turned physio.
Illing was then forced to pull out of the 2023 under-19 Women’s World Cup after sustaining a back strain during the tour of India a year prior.
Studious and curious
New Zealand made the semifinals of the inaugural u-19 world event, but Illing had academics to keep her curious mind busy.
She graduated earlier this year from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor’s in Science, majoring in Exercise and Biology.
“In exercise science, just learning a lot about the biomechanics and how the body works is what I applied in cricket and while looking at footage during training.” She is now curiously exploring the nuances of forensic science.
Published – October 13, 2025 11:01 pm IST
