HE is a Bathurst native who has belted some of the world's best Twenty20 bowlers, she is an Orange teen creating headlines in the Women's Big Bash League and now they are set to unite.
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Bathurst District Cricket Association graduate Jono Dean has been named assistant coach of the under 19s Perry XI squad featuring Kinross student Phoebe Litchfield.
The team will play three under 19 exhibition matches against a Lanning XI squad in November, fixtures which serve to develop the next generation of talented Australian female cricketers.
For Litchfield, who has made an impressive start to her WBBL career at Sydney Thunder, it is a chance to further stake her claims for a spot in the Australian Under 19s squad which will tour South Africa next year.
The 16-year-old is someone already on the radar of national selectors.
"Phoebe Litchfield, you look at her now and think she is going to be an unbelievable player, but does she have the same work ethic as Meg [Lanning]?" Australian chief selector Shawn Flegler told AAP.
"Can she tour and perform under pressure? All of it is an unknown until 10 years down the track.
"But you look at her now and she's got some pretty good attributes ... I think she is going to be an extremely good player."
For Dean the three matches, to be played at Phillip Oval, Canberra, continues his transition from player to coach.
The man who once formed part of the Adelaide Strikers' Big Bash League line-up and impressed the likes of then Australian coach Darren Lehmann with his big hitting, has now scaled back his playing commitments.
In late May he took part in Cricket Australia's High-Performance Coaching program, while in July he was Dean named as ACT Meteors assistant and high performance coach.
"You've seen with the women's game of late, it's growth is exponential," Dean said.
"There is a definite pathway there now for young women, girls coming through from grassroots and young women coming through if they want to play cricket."
Dean will assist head Perry XI squad coach Shelley Nitschke, with the first match to be played on November 23.
