{"id":271707,"date":"2025-11-08T19:36:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T19:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/271707\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T19:36:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T19:36:11","slug":"erin-burn-returns-after-birth-of-child-sydney-sixers-squad-big-bash-fixtures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/271707\/","title":{"rendered":"Erin Burn returns after birth of child, Sydney Sixers squad, Big Bash fixtures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four months after giving birth to daughter Nina, all-rounder Erin Burns has been included in the Sydney Sixers squad for their Women\u2019s Big Bash League season opener against the Perth Scorchers.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old, who missed the start of last summer\u2019s WBBL campaign due to a heel injury, welcomed her second child in June, four years after wife Erin carried their son Jack.<\/p>\n

Under Cricket Australia\u2019s Parental Leave Policy, players can take up to 12 months of paid leave following a birth \u2014 with an option to return earlier pending medical clearance \u2014 but Burns made her comeback during last month\u2019s T20 Spring Challenge, playing two matches for the Sixers at North Sydney Oval.<\/p>\n

And the former Australian representative could make her Big Bash return this weekend, included in the Sixers squad for Sunday\u2019s contest at the WACA.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of the 2025 Weber WBBL LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports. | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1 ><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic. I\u2019ve had such an amazing experience,\u201d Burns said of her comeback journey.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that we wanted to expand our family and it just seemed like the right moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had incredible support from Cricket NSW, in everything from when I was pregnant all the way through to the birth, and now the return to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very fortunate that I\u2019m in a position in my career where I can utilise these amazing support networks and be able to get back on the park as quickly as I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sixers general manager Rachel Haynes reached out to Burns ahead of the season to work through a timeline for her return, with the right-hander initially expressing some uncertainty.<\/p>\n

But after a few weeks of training during the pre-season, Burns felt she was ready to dive back into T20 cricket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been getting back into the sport and into training and things, and I\u2019ve responded pretty well,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not putting too much pressure on myself to return too early … but to be able to come back to this level of playing so quickly, I think I feel pretty fortunate that I\u2019m in a position to be able to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t put too much pressure on myself, it\u2019s just how the cards fell.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI always get a bit of FOMO sitting on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the recent T20 Spring Challenge, when she posted scored of 15 and 0 against the Thunder and Renegades respectively, Burns\u2019 teammates were staggered to see her on the park 123 days after giving birth. They didn\u2019t previously see that as an possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard some of the girls during the series were saying, \u2018Oh my God, how incredible that we can play cricket after we have kids,\u2019\u201d Burns recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel pretty chuffed about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the return to play process, Burns sought advice from former New Zealand captain and Hobart Hurricanes teammate Amy Satterthwaite, as well as retired Tasmania representative Corinne Hall, who both played professional cricket after having a baby.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Satterthwaite) came back from her first pregnancy about eight months post-partum,\u201d Burn explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was talking to her a little bit about the ins and outs and logistics around travelling with little babies and the like.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a good help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns, who played five T20s and an ODI for Australia in 2019, is the Sixers\u2019 fourth-leading run-scorer in WBBL history with 1446 runs at 21.58, including seven fifties. She has also taken 32 wickets at 20.15 for the ladies in magenta.<\/p>\n

Regarded as one of the competition\u2019s best fielders, Burns has often produced exceptional catches in the outfield.<\/p>\n

Asked if she was ready for the challenges of Big Bash cricket, Burns emphasised that she didn\u2019t want to be picked purely as a novelty, a feel-good story \u2014 she wanted to help the Sixers win matches and qualify for the finals.<\/p>\n

The Sixers are the competition\u2019s perennial underperformers \u2014 despite a stacked roster, headlined by the likes of Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner, they have only progressed to the knockouts once in the last six years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a record Burns and her teammates are eager to rectify.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve got as much hunger now as I ever have,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically, I\u2019m feeling pretty good. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s never any guarantees, but if I get the nod, then I\u2019ll certainly feel pretty stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cI just want to do my best for the team to be able to put us in a position to be able to do well this season. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s any different from anyone else. <\/p>\n

\u201dWhen I got asked by Rachael (Haynes) about the potential of returning this season, I think it really sparked a fire in me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis season, what I want to get out of it essentially is just to be able to put my best foot forward for the team. I certainly don\u2019t want to be just something that\u2019s there as a bit of a novelty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be able to contribute. And that\u2019s what I plan on doing this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sixers get their WBBL season underway on Sunday, facing the Scorchers at the WACA on Sunday at 8.30pm AEDT. All-rounder Gardner has been unveiled as the Sixers\u2019 new captain, while wicketkeeper Healy will miss the season opener due to a hand injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four months after giving birth to daughter Nina, all-rounder Erin Burns has been included in the Sydney Sixers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-271707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}