Phoebe Litchfield was amongst the list of 17 women's players offered national contracts by Cricket Australia for 2023-24.
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This is the first time that the young star from Orange has been offered a CA contract. Litchfield, alongside fellow NSW players and contract-earners, Alyssa Healy and Ash Gardner, were recently named in Australia's squad for the Women's Ashes Tour scheduled for later this year.
Cricket Australia's head of performance (women's cricket) and national selector, Shawn Flegler said: "It's been an incredibly successful 12 months for the Australian women's team, but our attention now turns to the challenges ahead, particularly the upcoming Ashes Series in England.
"Phoebe Litchfield is a young talent who we believe has a big future, she's built her game upon a very sound technique and we're confident she can transfer those skills into international cricket.
"We've had a core group of players performing well over the last 12 months which means some talented players have missed out, it's certainly made selection tough but we're in a fortunate position to have such depth across Australian Cricket.
"Importantly, there is still the opportunity for players not offered contracts to earn upgrades through consistent performances. We're about to embark on a busy 12-month period, beginning with several training camps next month at the National Cricket Centre ahead of a Tour of the UK for Australia and Australia A squads."
The news came just days after a landmark deal was secured which would significantly increase the earnings of female cricket players across the country, with an extra $53 million in the player pool over the next five years and a pay rise of 66 per cent announced on Monday.
Those winnings will be felt most significantly at domestic level, where the average pay packet will sit at $151,000 for players with state and WBBL deals.
The CA contracts are primarily assessed on player performances during the past 12 months and identify those whom the National Selection Panel believe will represent Australian teams over the year ahead.
As outlined in the new MOU agreement, the number of women's CA contracts has increased and all of those holding contracts will now be recognised as full-time athletes.
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