Sarah Coyte

Sarah Jane Cady (née Coyte; born 30 March 1991) is an Australian cricketer from Camden, New South Wales.

A right-arm medium fast bowler, Coyte has taken a total of 100 wickets for the national women's team across Tests, ODIs and T20Is.

She currently plays for the Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).

In addition to her bowling prowess, Coyte has proven to be a handy lower-order batter and notable performer in tournament finals.

She has won two world championships with Australia, seven WNCL championships with New South Wales and South Australia, and one WBBL championship with the Sydney Sixers.

On 7 November 2009, Coyte made her WNCL debut playing for New South Wales in a 15-run win against Queensland, managing impressive bowling figures of 4/25 from six overs and helping to defend a total of 198.

She finished the 2009–10 season with twelve wickets at an average of 15.16, having played all eleven matches including the 59-run win against Victoria in the final.

Coyte went on to be involved in five more successful campaigns with New South Wales in as many seasons.

Her highlights included:

During August 2015, Coyte announced she would leave New South Wales to play for South Australia.

In the 2015–16 final, she took 1/24 from ten overs as South Australia claimed their first national title with a 54-run win.

The victory brought an end to New South Wales' streak of ten-consecutive championships which Coyte helped to build.

On 17 July 2015, the Adelaide Strikers announced they had signed Coyte for the inaugural Women's Big Bash League season.

Across the 2016–17 season, Coyte took nine wickets at an average of 24.88, although South Australia finished in fourth place and failed to qualify for the final.

She earned her first Player of the Match award in the WBBL on 1 January 2016 at Adelaide Oval against the Perth Scorchers, scoring 52 not out from 38 balls to help chase down a target of 137 with six wickets and nine balls to spare.

On 10 January, she delivered a dominant all-round performance against the Melbourne Stars at the Junction Oval, scoring 72 off 55 balls before taking 3/12 in a 50-run victory.

Although the Strikers only finished in seventh place, Coyte had a strong individual campaign as the team's leading wicket-taker with 14 and scoring 243 runs.

The Strikers struggled throughout WBBL|02, winning just three games and finishing in last place on the ladder.

Coyte experienced a slide in her own form, managing seven wickets at an average of 38.85 while contributing 26 runs from ten innings at a strike rate of 61.90.

At the conclusion of the season, she announced her retirement from domestic cricket at the age of 25, citing a need to seek better balance in her life to combat mental health issues.

Ahead of WBBL|03, Coyte turned down an offer to join the Hobart Hurricanes.

Her successful cricket career was established and maintained despite an ongoing battle with anorexia nervosa and other mental health issues which prompted a premature, albeit temporary, retirement from the game in 2017.

In March 2017, she announced her retirement from domestic cricket at the age of 25, citing a need to seek better balance in her life to combat mental health issues.

During the 2017–18 Australian summer, she occasionally played in local games for Penrith which motivated Sydney Sixers coach Ben Sawyer to approach her about a temporary comeback to top-level domestic cricket.

With South African pair Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk unavailable for the last few weeks of the WBBL season due to national team commitments, the Sixers signed Coyte as a marquee replacement player.

On 27 January 2018, in her return to the league, Coyte took match-best figures of 2/14 from four overs during a seven-wicket win against the Adelaide Strikers at Hurstville Oval.

The following day, playing against the Strikers at Hurstville Oval once more, she was named Player of the Match for her bowling figures of 3/18 from four overs which helped the Sixers to another seven-wicket victory and clinch the minor premiership.

In the final at Adelaide Oval on 4 February, she produced "exemplary bowling" to take 3/17 in the first innings which led to the Perth Scorchers being bowled out for just 99.

The Sixers chased the target down with nine wickets in hand and 30 balls remaining to win the championship, while Coyte was named Player of the Final.

Reflecting upon a whirlwind resurgence, which included ten wickets in four matches at an average of 8.10, Coyte commented that her true personal victory came when she "walked out (onto the ground) at Hurstville" a week earlier.

In a blog post for AthletesVoice, Coyte noted she hadn't committed to playing cricket full-time again: "I hope these last couple of weeks haven't added pressure with people asking me about coming back. That wasn't the intention... I wouldn't completely shut it down as an option but I wouldn't want to get everyone's hopes up either. I don't know what my state of mind is on this. It constantly changes. I ride the wave every single day."

On 14 June 2018, the Adelaide Strikers announced they had once again signed Coyte as a member of their squad.

Coyte returned to the WNCL for the 2019–20 season, signing with the ACT Meteors in May 2019.

She earned her first Player of the Match award with the team on 6 February 2020 against Tasmania, taking 2/30 from eight overs and then scoring 48 not out to help chase down a target of 199 with three wickets and 21 balls to spare.

The Meteors finished the tournament in fifth place.

Opting to focus solely on Twenty20 cricket, Coyte did not sign with a WNCL team ahead of the 2020–21 season.

However, she joined Tasmania midway through their campaign, debuting on 25 February 2021 against New South Wales at Blundstone Arena in a tied match.

On 7 March, Coyte recorded her second WNCL half-century and highest score in the league, coming in to bat at 5/89 and managing 66 runs off 88 balls, though her team would nevertheless lose the match to Queensland by eight wickets.

In a similar scenario to the previous season, Coyte once again opted against signing with a state team during the 2021–22 contracting period, but Tasmania re-added her to their roster on the eve of the tournament.

Ahead of the 2023–24 season, Coyte was poached by New South Wales, where she was expected to benefit the team's 'talented but youthful' pace attack.