Born November 5th, 1992 in Emerald, Queensland is current Australia Test, ODI and T20I player, Jess Jonassen.
Her left hand batting and slow left-arm orthodox bowling saw her selected in the Queensland team in 2008/9, playing her first 50 over match in November and her first T20 match in January against South Australia where she picked up 3/10.
Quietly, steadily honing her craft, Jess was gaining the attention of the Australian selectors and on January 20th 2012, under her Queensland skipper Jodie Fields, played her first T20 International, against New Zealand.
Against the same opposition she made her ODI debut five days later in a game that was washed out – in Sydney.
By 2015, Jonassen is selected to play for Australia in her first Test match. Anya Shrubsole rips the heart out of Australia’s batting and when Perry is out, the young Queenslander makes her way to the crease. Alex Blackwell falls victim to Brunt and Australia are 5/99. Jonassen is joined by Alyssa Healy and the two of them begin a repair job, run by run, over by over, in a partnership worth 77 valuable runs. When Healy goes for 39, Coyte and Schutt follow, then Jonassen is joined by Kristen Beams, also on debut. When stumps are drawn, Jess is 95 not out and Beams 24 not out, Australia in much safer territory with 8/268.
The following morning, a boundary gets Jess to 99. That cunning England quick, Katherine Brunt, slips one past the bat and thumps the pad. Jonassen LBW Brunt 99. One run from a century on debut! Jess backed up with 54 in the second innings, top scoring for a second time in the match, in fact the only player to pass 50 for either team.
Jonassen has since become one of the most potent bowlers in white ball cricket, consistently in the top ten bowlers in both formats and rarely far from the top.