Teen White Fern from Baradene wins further honour

The last few years have been a whirlwind journey for Baradene College cricketer Frances Jonas, with her being selected for the New Zealand White Ferns 50-over team, playing against England on the international stage, and now being named the 2021 Collegesport Auckland Young Sportswoman of the Year. 

Frances, 17, who is a left-arm spin bowler, has been a member of many successful sides in recent times – the Baradene College 1st XI, which won the College Sport Auckland Premier competition, the Cornwall club women’s premier team, and the Auckland Hearts, which made a semi-final of the T20 Super Smash competition and a final of the 50-over Hallyburton Johnston Shield. Frances was reportedly only 15 years old when she was first selected for the Hearts.  

According to her Collegesport citation, she was also selected to play for the New Zealand U19 Women’s team and for the New Zealand XI to play warm up games against England. She took two wickets against England in these games. She was then selected for the New Zealand White Ferns 50-over squad to play England, and bowled a maiden over in her first six deliveries in her international debut. She was also selected in the New Zealand women’s Twenty20 squad to play Australia earlier this year. 

Speaking to TVNZ’s Breakfast programme on November 26, Frances said it was an honour to receive the Collegesport award, and to be in the company of past award winners such as Dame Valerie Adams and Lydia Ko, both Olympic medallists. 

“It is such an honour, I am so happy,” Frances said. 

According to a Newsroom article last year, she started playing cricket at Cornwall when she was aged six, playing with and against boys, and moved to the hard ball version when she was aged 10. Her spin bowling really developed when she received coaching in this art in Year 7 at Baradene.  

Previously recognised as the Young Cricketer of the Year at the Auckland Cricket awards, she was also one of the recipients of a New Zealand Cricket development contract for the 2021/2022 season. This means she gets $7500 to attend high performance camps, and play in two domestic competitions, Newsroom reported. 

Frances is looking forward to taking a “gap year” in 2022, having finished her time at Baradene. 

She told Breakfast she would use the time “just to focus on cricket and work a bit, just have a break”. 

Praised by commentators for her maturity and calmness under pressure, she looks to have a bright future on the sporting field. The Women’s Cricket World Cup, to be played in Aotearoa New Zealand, is only a few months away. 

But for the last few years, she has had to juggle sport and study commitments, with the disruption of the pandemic thrown in as well. 

Frances told Breakfast that playing international cricket this year meant she had a bit of catching up to do in terms of schoolwork. 

“It was pretty difficult at the start of the year, because I was away for a while, so I did miss out on quite a bit, but my teachers were great, they all helped me so much to catch back up. I managed to pass the year, so I thank all my teachers for helping me through with everything,” she said. 

Speaking on a video on the Baradene College website, principal Sandy Pasley expressed her pride in Frances’s achievements.  

“It is just an amazing result,” Mrs Pasley said. “Well done Fran, and well done to the sports faculty who supported her here. Well done to the teachers, who encouraged her and looked after her, especially congratulations to her parents and her coaches. It is really tremendous.” 

It is the first time that a Baradene College student has won the top Collegesport award since the awards started in 1991.  

Mrs Palsey also expressed pride in Baradene having 11 finalists and seven winners in their codes at Collegesport awards. 

Three of the finalists for the overall sportswoman award were from Baradene, with Penelope Salmon (athletics and orienteering) and Elyse Tse (tennis) alongside Frances on the shortlist.