Relief, joy for Darlington in long-awaited comeback

Hannah Darlington says her much-awaited return to the Big Bash came with a sense of relief, after the Sydney Thunder allrounder underwent major surgery to fix a stubborn leg injury earlier this year.

Darlington almost had the perfect welcome back to the WBBL on Thursday afternoon, when she found the edge of Hayley Matthews' bat with her first delivery at Melbourne's Junction Oval, only for Laura Harris to shell a sharp chance at cover.

She did not have to wait long to celebrate, however, becoming the first wicket taker of Weber WBBL|12 when she had Renegades opener Courtney Webb caught behind with her eighth delivery.

The allrounder then secured the prized wicket of Matthews with her first ball after the drinks break, finishing with figures of 2-29 from her four overs.

"A bit of a relief to be back out in the lime green today, I've had this date pencilled in the calendar for a while," Darlington told cricket.com.au following the Thunder's six-wicket win.

"I was unsure it was going to happen for a little bit there, especially with the strength of this squad and having to get picked as well – that was in the forefront of the mind – but happy to be backed by this club and they've supported me the whole way so it was nice to tick this one off.

"I would have been happy with one (wicket), but to get two big ones at the start there when they were ticking along quite easily felt pretty good."

Earlier this year, Darlington became the first cricketer to undergo an osteotomy; major leg surgery that was necessary to ensure the 24-year-old could continue playing the game.

Surgical intervention was needed after Darlington spent most of 2025 on the sidelines, having injured her knee playing for Australia A against England A.

Later, further scans found a fracture at the top of her left tibia (also known as the shinbone). Initially, it had been hoped that staying off her feet would allow the fracture to heal naturally, but scans throughout the second half of the year and in early 2026 found no improvement.

After missing the entire 2025-26 summer and unsure whether she had a future in the game, Darlington made the decision to go down the surgery route in March.

The osteotomy required surgeons to break her leg, remove a wedge of bone and insert a plate and screws to realign her leg.

"Pretty much as soon as we realised it wasn't going to heal, we made the call to go in and get it done," Darlington explained.

"I basically had my leg broken, is the simple way to put it. I had a fracture found in my knee about 18 months ago that never healed and ended up getting worse.

"The only way to fix it was to offload it, so hence the little bit of a break in the leg, then a big plate (inserted) to offset a little bit of an angle change, and then seven screws in the tibia, so there's a little bit going on there at the moment.

"But it was honestly an incredible piece of work from the surgeon, and I don't know how they do it, but I'm very grateful ... won't be going through that again."

Darlington had hoped to feature at some point in WBBL|12, with the decision made for the allrounder to focus on a return through T20 cricket rather than the 50-over Women's National Cricket League.

After a faster than expected recovery, she was able to feature in one Spring Challenge game ahead of Thursday's season opener.

"Going through an injury like that is no easy feat," Thunder captain Phoebe Litchfield said of Darlington last week. "I think credit to her for her persistence and commitment to her body and her mind as well.

"It's been a really amazing process with the surgery and it's a cool story so I'm really excited for her and she's playing some good cricket already, ahead of schedule ... it's a credit to her and the Thunder's very lucky to have her."

During her time on the sidelines, Darlington had thrown herself into different opportunities, including working with Fox Cricket as an analyst and boundary rider.

She was also the lead designer of Cricket NSW's new First Nations motif Mirrung, unveiled on Thursday. Darlington worked alongside the state's four other contracted players of First Nations heritage to create a design that will feature on the sleeve of all Cricket NSW team playing shirts, including the Thunder and Sixers.

"For me, it was all about representing belonging, so that players across all our teams could feel that connection to Country, First Nations communities across NSW and the game itself," Darlington said of the design.

"I’m proud that this will be worn by all Cricket NSW teams going forward, a sign that we are truly embracing reconciliation each time we take the field."

Weber WBBL|12 Standings

Round 1

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	Drawn D	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	1	1	0	0	0	0	3.422	0	0	0	2
2 Sydney Thunder Women THU	1	1	0	0	0	0	1.335	0	0	0	2
3 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	1	1	0	0	0	0	1.05	0	0	0	2
4 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.15	0	0	0	2
5 Melbourne Stars Women STA	2	1	1	0	0	0	-0.075	0	0	0	2
6 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.15	0	0	0	0
7 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	1	0	1	0	0	0	-0.9	0	0	0	0
8 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	2	0	2	0	0	0	-2.265	0	0	0	0

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points