White Fern Bree Illing earns a black cap

It has been a cracking year for graduate Bree Illing, who received her Bachelor of Science double major in Exercise Science and Biology on 15 May.    

A couple of months ago, Bree, full name Breearne, made her debut for the White Ferns, the New Zealand women’s cricket team, for the series against Sri Lanka. In her first one-day international at Napier, she took two for 18, including the prized scalp of the SL captain, Chamari Athapaththu.   

“To play against any international team is amazing, but to get the wicket of their captain, a world-class batter, was pretty special.”    

The 21-year-old medium-fast bowler says despite being the new kid on the block, she wasn’t as nervous as she thought she’d be in her first match for the White Ferns.    

“The White Ferns environment is very supportive and encouraging, and it also helps that I’m playing alongside experienced players like Maddy Green and Brooke Haliday who are my Auckland Cricket teammates.”    

As an elite athlete, Bree has been part of the High Performance Support (HPS) Programme at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, a set-up that affords her some flexibility around her studies, especially if she’s away on tour.    

“The people in the programme make it much easier for me. If I am going to a New Zealand training camp or have a game, they work with me to request some leniency in coursework such as an extended deadline, so that I can focus on my sport when I need to.”

That has worked well for Bree, who is happy to be among the 1,354 Science graduates attending the ceremony at Spark Arena in person (and 371 in absentia), especially after a bit of a solitary start to her tertiary education.

"I started studying in 2022, which was peak Covid. I did a lot of my first year online at home, and wasn’t able to come into uni until the Second Semester. I was just starting domestic cricket training with the Auckland Hearts at the time, so while I wasn't having to juggle cricket training with work, since I was majoring in Exercise Science and Biology I did sometimes have clashes with the labs.”

But Bree persevered, and as she walked across the stage for the Science graduation ceremony, all that was behind her.

Bree has been involved in the Auckland and New Zealand Cricket set-up since she was in Year 11 at Epsom Girls Grammar school, but started playing cricket for Cornwall Cricket Club aged nine.

“I played prem club cricket at Cornwall when I was about 12 or 13 with Maddy Green and Katie Perkins who were both in the White Ferns at the time. I didn't know much about the pathway cricket could provide as most White Ferns players also had full-time jobs, so I thought I’d need to be able to do both. The women’s cricket game has become much more professional with White Ferns now paid to play."

Bree is currently contracted with Auckland Cricket from October to February, which works in pretty well with her uni studies, apart from the end of Semester Two.

“It does get a little iffy with exams at that point, but usually we're only just starting to train so I have been able to balance the workload.”

When Bree came to the end of last year, she realised she wanted to add more to her academic portfolio, so she decided to do forensic science for her postgraduate studies.

“It’s going well so far. It was a bit unexpected to be selected for the White Ferns series against Sri Lanka, but the University allowed me to enrol part time so I have started with two papers this semester.”

Does she fancy herself in a CSI career?

“What I've gathered so far is that if there's a crime committed, we're the people who collect the evidence, and then take it back to the lab for analysis and provide results to police. It’s a far less glamorous version of CSI, but it’s really interesting so far.”

Another focus for Bree in 2025 is to put herself into the frame for the Women’s Cricket World Cup, which takes place in India in September/October.

“It would be a big stretch for me, and amazing if I were to be selected. I’ll be devoting the second half of the year to that.”

Bree was born and raised in Auckland. Her brother Matthew, 24, graduated with a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Hons) from the University in 2023, and is now doing his PhD at Stanford University in the United States.

"My brother and I played a lot of sports growing up. I represented club, school and Auckland region for football and water polo as well as cricket, but I liked cricket the most so decided to focus on that when I finished school.”

Her proud parents, Graeme and Maree, attended her graduation along with her brother who was able to fly back from the US early before he heads to Fiordland to complete some research fieldwork.

Bree says despite perceptions that cricket takes up too much time, she has some positive messages for girls thinking of playing cricket.

“What other game can you get out in the sun and play with your friends, and maybe talk to friends on the boundary while you are fielding? And it’s great for fitness - you’ll also do around 20,000 steps in a game. That’s what I preach to the girls.”