By Liam Grima, ACS Journalism Scholar (mentored by The Footy Almanac‘s John Harms).
Glenn Maxwell, Mel Jones, Brad Hodge and Annabel Sutherland are just some of the names that have been recognized as the Australian Cricket Society’s Young Cricketers of the Year.
Bronte Leishman and Tom Paddington joined elite company as this year’s winners on Friday the 24th July at the ACS annual dinner. Victorian Cricketer and Melbourne Renegades wicketkeeper, Nicole Faltum, was also in attendance to present Bronte and Tom their awards.
After outstanding individual seasons for Geelong and St Kilda over the past year, as well as impressive stints for Victoria Country and Victoria Metro, Bronte and Tom have already accomplished so much in a short period of time, achieving rookie contracts with Cricket Victoria for their hard work and determination throughout their time in Premier and representative cricket. With the 2026/27 season on the horizon, the sky is the limit for two of Victoria’s brightest young prospects.
From playing juniors at East Belmont Cricket Club to captaining Victoria Country on the big stage, the 2025/26 season saw Bronte help Geelong reach the Kookaburra Women’s Premier Firsts Grand Final and lead Victoria Country in the Under 19s National Championships.
A right arm quick with an emerging all-round game, and her best cricket still to come, Bronte emerged as the leading wicket-taker in her Under 19 campaign for Victoria Metro with 11 wickets at an average 12.73.
Bronte proved at the championships why she is not just an outstanding and natural leader, but one of Victoria’s most formidable and established young fast bowlers. Undoubtedly, her standout game at the championships came against South Australia opening the bowling and taking 2/15 off four overs.
However, when a valiant South Australia did just enough to tie the match with 112 runs at the conclusion of their 20 overs, Bronte was handed the responsibility of bowling the super over. Leading from the front, Bronte’s poise and calmness under pressure left South Australia only mustering four runs off her over, and along with a wicket to her name and a run out, she guided Victoria Country home.
Amazingly, having only played T20 and one-day cricket in more recent times, Bronte said, “I haven’t used a red cricket ball since I was playing junior boys cricket, because in women’s cricket we don’t play with red balls so we don’t really train with them either.” Yet, with a rookie contract under her belt and a WBBL campaign ahead with the Melbourne Renegades, Bronte can’t wait for the season to commence.
“I’m a couple of months into my pre-season now. I’ve also got some camps coming up in Mildura and the Sunny Coast, so hopefully I can have a bit of success in the lead up to round one and WBBL,” Bronte said.
After a whirlwind 12 months, Tom possesses the skills and versatility to excel in any format of the game, establishing himself as one of Victoria’s most promising young fast bowlers.
In 2025/26, he claimed the bowling aggregate in a premiership winning season for St Kilda in the Kookaburra Men’s Premier Firsts competition with an impressive 28 wickets at 14.68, all at the young age of 18.
“Glenn Lalor, who was coach of the ones last year, was massive for me,” Tom said. “He didn’t let me get on my high horse, he’s been a great mentor for me.”
The season brought many individual milestones for Tom including a 3/29 performance off 11 overs versus Melbourne, a five-wicket game across two innings (3/8 and 2/10) versus Northcote, along with a maiden five-wicket haul at First XI level against Casey South Melbourne, which was a great achievement.
After an impressive 2025/26 season, a rookie contract now awaits Tom at Cricket Victoria. The opportunity will allow Tom to continue to grow, add to his skillset and carve his own path forward alongside some of Victoria’s best.
“It’s pretty awesome at Cricket Victoria. I always see Peter Handscomb, he’s two lockers away from me, it’s great having that connection and being able to spend time with him,” Tom said.
While Tom sees himself as “more of a red-ball bowler now”, the young quick seeks to apply his skills across all formats with St Kilda chasing their third flag in a row in season 2026/27.
There is a genuine sense of excitement surrounding Bronte and Tom, but more importantly, their journeys, body of work and emergence to get to where they are now is a promising sign of the talent and the next generation coming through the ranks of Australia cricket.
Australian Cricket Society’s literary scholar Liam Grima is mentored by writer John Harms. His pieces are also published at www.footyalmanac.com.au .