Northland cricketers Makayla Templeton and Olivia Lobb leading the way for Spirit

Northland's dynamic duo. Olivia Lobb (left) and Makayla Templeton are flying the region's flag in the Northern Spirit women's cricket team which played at Cobham Oval last weekend. Photo / John Stone

Being from Northland and succeeding on New Zealand's national cricket circuit don't always go hand in hand.

However, two of Northland's best female cricket prospects, Makayla Templeton and Olivia Lobb, are defying the odds for Northern Districts' top women's cricket team, the Northern Spirit.

Lobb, 21, has played for the Spirit for about five years while Templeton, 17, made her debut on home turf last weekend when the Spirit took on Wellington Blaze in two Hallyburton Johnstone Shield 50-over games over two days at Cobham Oval.

After a few nervous full tosses in her first overs, Makayla Templeton showed her skills for the Spirit last weekend. Photo / John Stone

The Spirit were dominant right from the start with an emphatic 121-run win on Saturday, before claiming an edgy four-wicket win on Sunday.

While she featured only once with the bat for just six runs, the young leg-spinner picked up three wickets across the two matches to announce the start of her domestic career on home soil.

"I think it was pretty special to do it in Northland and have family and friends to be there with me," she said.

Templeton's debut was made even more special when Lobb was chosen to present Templeton with her first Northern Districts playing cap, as someone she'd idolised for about five years.

Olivia Lobb (right) chats with a teammate moments before presenting fellow Northland player Makayla Templeton with her debut cap last weekend. Photo / John Stone

"It was real cool to get [my hat] presented by Olivia, I've always looked up to her being from Northland, so that was a really special, proud moment for me."

While this was her first appearance on the park for the Spirit, the Whangārei Girls' High School student was first brought into the fold in August last year when she made the eight-hour round trip to attend a training in Hamilton.

Templeton's plans of a earlier debut were thwarted towards the end of last year when she went through surgery in November to repair a hole in her eardrum, which saw her forbidden from exercise for about eight weeks.

Makayla Templeton, 17, looked at ease with ball in hand as she picked up three wickets against Wellington across two games. Photo / John Stone

Now with two caps under her belt and set to attend a New Zealand under-19 cricket camp next weekend, Templeton said she was more focused than ever on building her skills and getting more time out in the middle.

"I think that biggest thing for me is to just back myself and trust my own planning when I'm playing.

"I like to try to keep it pretty simple and not overcomplicate everything."

Lobb, who had not played in Northland for about four years, couldn't play either of last weekend's games after she was diagnosed with appendicitis just four days before game day.

"To be honest, when they told me that [appendicitis] was what I had, that was probably one of the first things I thought, 'I can't play this weekend'," she said.

"It was probably going to be one of the highlights of the season coming up and playing at Cobham Oval, it's such a great ground to play at and I've got a lot of family up here, it would have been really cool."

While she was forced to sit on the sidelines last weekend, 21-year-old Olivia Lobb wants to see more Northlanders make the jump to domestic cricket. Photo / John Stone

Nevertheless, the wicketkeeper/batswoman was a committed supporter on the sidelines and said she was thrilled to see another Northlander join the Spirit ranks.

"She's always had very good hand-eye coordination, just a very natural cricketer so it's very cool to see that progression and know that there's that talent coming through from Northland."

Lobb, who works in Auckland as a physiotherapist, said travel was the biggest hurdle for Northland cricketers to overcome when pushing for selection for domestic teams.

However, she implored young female cricketers to embrace playing in mixed gender teams to get used to playing at a higher level.

"It is a little bit scary at times and it's tough because you're not playing with all your friends, but I definitely think that's shaped me as a cricketer, learning to face quick bowling and as a keeper."

Now based in Auckland, Lobb had her eyes set on making some New Zealand development squads in the future. Photo / John Stone

With goals of making New Zealand development squads, Lobb hopes to see more of Northland's young talent make it to the next level.

"Cricket is a challenging game, but it's a rewarding game at the same time," she said.

"You're going to have tough times but you're going to have amazing times as well, so just know that women's cricket is a really exciting sport to be a part of and it's going to be worth it in the end."

The Spirit play two more 50-over games - against the Auckland Heart at the end of the month - before they represent the region in their first-ever domestic one-day women's grand final.