A cricket player living just outside Cloncurry was forced to hitch a ride on a helicopter last month to compete in the 2023 National Indigenous Cricket Championships (NICC) after her property was flooded in.
Grace Abdy was selected in the Queensland team to compete at the competition in Alice Springs in late February.
However, Ms Abdy's journey to the Northern Territory proved complicated and earnt her the nickname "James Bond" amongst her fellow teammates.
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Floodwaters had begun surrounding her cattle station, located 50 kilometres outside of Cloncurry, ahead of her flight to Brisbane for the squad assembly.
"It was a bit of an adventure to get me to Brisbane," she said.
"I was flooded out from the Friday, we were leaving on the Sunday and I was the only one at home for a little bit."
Ms Abdy was forced to wait for a break in the rain before she could hitch a ride on a helicopter.
"There's a company in town and they have helicopters and Dad is mates with them," she said.
"We'd been talking to them for a few days before just to get it organised knowing that I was probably going to have to get choppered out.
"I had to get my grandparents to take me from Cloncurry to Mount Isa and then I had to wait around in the little airport."
Championships paving the way for Indigenous cricketers
It was an adventurous start to Ms Abdy's debut NICC appearance.
The competition, now in its sixth year, forms parts of Cricket Australia's elite development pathway which aims to have more Indigenous cricketers represent Australia.
Cricket Australia's Head of Social Impact & Sustainability Megan Barnett-Smith said was helping pave the way for the next generation of male and female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cricketers.
"These championships have produced outstanding players such as Ashleigh Gardner who recently made international headlines in the inaugural Women's Premier League action," Ms Barnett-Smith said.
"It is phenomenal that the NICC had an impactful role in her cricket development."
Ms Abdy said the carnival was "super important" in helping make a name for herself and for Indigenous and women's cricket in general.
"It's been really good to get to know everyone from all the states and get to know everyone's culture and come together as a big family," she said.
"It's really important."
