Jess Jonassen is an Australian cricketer. She has been part of the Australian team that won the T20I World Cup five times. She was also part of the Australian team that won the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Wiki/Biography
Jessica Louise Jonassen was born on Thursday, 5 November 1992 (age 30 years; as of 2022) in Emerald, Queensland, Australia. Her zodiac sign is Scorpio. She completed her schooling (2005-2009) at Emmaus College Rockhampton. After she finished her schooling she moved from Rockhampton, Central Queensland to Brisbane, Queensland. In December 2015, she graduated with a Law degree from Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia (2010-2015). After graduating from Griffith University she pursued a graduate diploma in Forensic Mental Health. She started playing cricket with her dad because none of her siblings was interested in playing with her. She was selected to play for the school team when she was in the fifth grade. She then played junior cricket for the Rockhampton Brothers Cricket Club. She is fondly called ‘JJ,’ ‘Jess,’ and ‘Jono’ by her friends and family.
A childhood picture of Jess Jonassen playing cricket
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Weight (approx.): 60 kg
Hair Colour: Blonde
Eye Colour: Hazel
Body Measurements (approx.): 32-28-34
Family
She belongs to a middle-class family in Rockhampton, Central Queensland, Australia. Jess Jonassen was born in Emerald, Queensland, Australia but grew up in Rockhampton, Central Queensland, Australia.
Parents & Siblings
Her father’s name was Raymond Jonassen. He was a teacher at the North Rockhampton State High School, Rockhampton, Australia. On 10 February 2021, her father died after battling cancer. Her mother’s name is Jayne Jonassen. She has two sisters Emma Pershouse and Laura Jonassen. Jess Jonassen is the youngest of three sisters. Her sister, Emma Pershouse, worked at The Cathedral College, Rockhampton.
Jess Jonassen with her parent
Jessica Jonassen with her sister Laura Jonassen
Jess Jonassen (second from left) with her family
Sexual Orientation
Jess Jonassen is a lesbian.
Relationships/Affairs
She was in a relationship with Sarah Wearn for over 10 years and proposed to her in 2018. Sarah Wearn worked at Wine Selectors Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. In an interview, she revealed that her family supported her when she came out as a lesbian and added that they accepted her relationship with Sarah Wearn. They initially planned to get married in 2020 but had to postpone the wedding because of the Covid-19 lockdown. The wedding was postponed again due to some personal issues.
Jess Jonassen proposing to Sarah Wearn
Jess Jonassen with Sarah Wearn
Signature/Autograph
Jess Jonassen signature
Religion
Jess Jonassen follows Christianity.
Cricket
Domestic
She captained Queensland’s Under-15 girls’ team to their first national title in the 2006-2007 season and was also named Player of the Tournament. She also played for the University of Queensland Cricket Club. When she started playing cricket there were no separate teams for girls and so she started playing cricket with the boys’ team. She played for different age categories of the Australia women’s cricket team played and was included in the Australia A Women’s squad at the age of 15.
Jess Jonassen playing for the Australian youth team
International
One Day International (ODI)
Jess Jonassen made her One Day International debut on 25 January 2012 against New Zealand Women in Sydney during the Rose Bowl series. She bowled 1.3 overs at an economy of 3.33, but the match was abandoned due to rain. On 29 January 2012, she took her first international ODI wicket when she dismissed New Zealand Women’s Katey Martin. She bowled five overs at an economy of 4.60. She took four wickets in the Australia Women’s tour of India in 2012.
Jess Jonassen batting for the Australian Women’s team
Her consistent performances earned her a place in the Australia Women’s squad for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2013 held in India. However, in January 2013, she underwent minor knee surgery on her medial meniscus and failed to recover on time for the T20I series against New Zealand Women ahead of the World Cup. She was replaced by Renee Chappell one week before the start of the tournament. On 20 August 2013, she returned to the ODI team during their tour of England. She took four wickets from 8.3 overs and they won by 27 runs.
Jess Jonassen bowling for the Australian Women’s team
In the second match of the series, she took 2 wickets and scored 34 runs and was not out. Jess was the leading wicket-taker in the ICC Women’s Championship held between 2014 and 2016, she took 31 wickets from 21 matches at an economy of 3.86. On 22 February 2016, during Australia Women’s match against New Zealand Women, she recorded her first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket at an economy of 5.56. She was named in the Australia Women’s squad for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 held in England and took nine wickets from seven matches at an economy of 4.18. Since she was ruled out of the 2013 World Cup, Jess made 36 consecutive ODI appearances for the Australia Women’s team. She suffered a hamstring strain during the 2017 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup group stage match against the West Indies and was left out of the Australian team in their victory against Sri Lanka on 29 June 2017. In 2019, she was included in the Australia Women’s squad for the series against New Zealand Women.
Jess Jonassen celebrating the fall of a wicket with her teammate
On 22 February 2019, she took four wickets and scored 36 runs in the opening match of the series and helped Australia to manage a win against New Zealand Women. Two days later, she achieved her second-five-wicket ODI haul as they defeated New Zealand Women by 95 runs. On 7 October 2019, she became the fourth Australian woman to take 100 ODI wickets. She was included in the Australia Women’s team for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 held in New Zealand. She took two wickets in the opening match against England Women at an economy of 6.00. Jess took three wickets from 8.4 overs in the final against the England Women at an economy of 6.57. Australia Women won the final by 71 runs and she was their leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets from 8 innings at an economy of 4.04. In 2023, she was named to the Australia Women’s squad for the Pakistan Women’s tour of Australia. She took four wickets from three matches during the series and made her 88th ODI match appearance for the Australia Women on 21 January 2023.
T20
She made her T20 international debut on 20 January 2012 against New Zealand Women at North Sydney Oval. In her debut match, she took two wickets from four overs.
A photograph of Jess Jonassen bowling on her debut match for the Australian Women’s team
In her first three months as an Australian T20I player, she took four wickets. She was included in the Australia Women’s team for the 2012 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. In the opening match against India Women, she took one wicket from three overs at an economy of 2.00. Indian skipper Mithali Raj was run out by Jess. In the final against the England Women, she took three wickets from four overs in an economy of 6.25. She was part of the Australia Women’s team for the 2014 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. Jess took six wickets in the tournament, including two in the opening match against the New Zealand Women. She and Elyse Villani were the opening batters for the Australia Women’s team in the semi-final and final matches of the tournament. She bowled four overs in the final and gave 16 runs at an economy of 4.00. Australia Women’s team defeated the England Women by six wickets in the final and secured a hat-trick of World T20 titles.
Jess Jonassen with her teammate
She remained the opening batter for the team in the next seven matches and scored 169 runs, including 46 runs from 51 balls and 47 runs from 31 balls during the West Indies Women’s team tour of Australia in November 2014. She was named to the Australia Women’s team for the 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20. She scored 43 runs from six matches and took a wicket in the tournament; Australia lost to the West Indies in the final by 8 wickets. In 2017, she was included in the Australia Women’s team for the Women’s Ashes and took the wicket of the England Women’s skipper Heather Knight in the opening T20 match at the North Sydney Oval. She underwent a fourth knee surgery in September 2018 and made her return to the T20 team in their match against the Pakistan women’s team on 29 October 2018. She did not feature in any of the matches during the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20, even though she was included in the Australia Women’s team. In July 2019, she was included in the Australian squad for the England Women’s tour of Australia and took four wickets from three matches.
Jess Jonassen celebrating with her teammates
On 18 September 2019, she took four wickets at an economy of 1.75 and was named the Player of the Match during their nine wickets victory against the West Indies Women’s team. On 12 February 2020, she achieved her first T20I five-wicket haul against the India Women’s team in the final of the Tri-Nation Series at the Junction Oval in St Kilda, Australia; She was named the Player of the Match and was instrumental in Australia’s victory. Jess was included in the Australia Women’s team for the 2020 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 held in Australia. In the opening match of the tournament, she took the wickets of Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur in their defeat against the India Women’s team. She took ten wickets from six matches including a three-wicket haul in the final against India Women. She finished behind her compatriot Megan Schutt and India’s Poonam Yadav as the tournament’s top wicket-takers. On 28 March 2021, during the Australia Women’s tour of New Zealand, she made a three-wicket haul in the opening match of the series as they defeated the New Zealand Women by 6 wickets.
Jess Jonassen celebrating the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup victory with her family
On 23 July 2022, she registered a four-wicket haul at an economy of 4.25 against Pakistan Women, during the 2022 Ireland Tri-Nation Women’s T20I Series. She was included in the Australia Women’s squad for the 2023 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 held in South Africa. She played in the opening match of the tournament against the New Zealand Women, but failed to score any runs and bowled an over at an economy of 11.00 and was dropped from the playing eleven for the rest of the group games. She was named in the starting eleven for their semi-final victory against India Women and took the wicket of Sneh Rana. She took a wicket from three overs during their victory in the final against South Africa Women and Australia Women clinched the sixth T20 World Cup title.
Test
Jess Jonassen was named to Australia Women’s Test squad for their one-off match against the England Women’s cricket team in June 2013. However, she was not included in the starting eleven. She made her Test debut on 15 August 2015 during the Women’s Ashes and scored 99 runs in the first innings. She made a 77-run sixth-wicket partnership with Alyssa Healy and a 68-run ninth-wicket partnership with Kristen Beams and took a wicket from 16 overs at an economy of 2.25. In the second innings, she scored 54 runs and bowled eight overs at an economy of 1.87 and was named the Player of the match.
Jess Jonassen bowling in a Test match
She was included in the Australia Women’s Test squad for the England Women’s tour of Australia in 2017. She took two wickets at an economy of 1.67 and scored 24 runs in the first innings. In 2019, she was named to the Test squad during the Australia Women’s tour of England and she scored 45 runs and took two wickets from two innings. In January 2022, she was included in the Test squad for the Women’s Ashes and took one wicket and scored 16 runs.
Commonwealth Games
In 2022, she was named to the Australia Women’s cricket squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. On 29 July 2022, she achieved a four-wicket haul during their victory against India Women in the opening match of the group stage; She took the wickets of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Harleen Deol. Australia Women faced India Women in the final of the 2022 Commonwealth Games and she took the wicket of Yastika Bhatia; Meghna Singh was run out by Jess. Jess scored one run and was run out by Smriti Mandhana, Australia Women defeated India Women by 9 runs to lift the trophy.
Jess Jonassen with her teammates
Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL)
In 2008, she made her WNCL debut for Queensland Fire and scored 12 runs from 16 balls and also bowled three overs in their 8-wicket loss against the New South Wales Breakers. She featured in all the games for them in the 2008/2009 season and took 12 wickets, including a three-wicket haul. She was 18 years when she first won the Queensland Fire Player of the Year Award in 2011. She was promoted to number three in the batting lineup and scored 228 runs during the 2010-2011 season and became the fifth-highest scorer in the league. She was the second-highest wicket-taker with 11 wickets at an average of 13.36 and also scored 197 runs from five games, during the 2014-2015 season of the WNCL. In 2020, she was named captain of the Queensland Fire.
Jess Jonassen (right) tossing a coin on her first match as the captain of the Queensland Fire
Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL)
In 2015, she was signed by the Brisbane Heat as their marquee player ahead of the inaugural season of the WBBL (2015-2016). She was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the 2016-2017 season with 17 wickets at an economy of 16.82. In 2019, she won her first title with the Brisbane Heat (2018-2019 season) when they defeated Sydney Sixers in the final. She bowled four overs and took a wicket at an economy of 7.00. She scored 419 runs in the 2019-2020 season of the WBBL and became the second-leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets.
Jess Jonassen with the Player of the Match Award
Brisbane Heat defeated the Adelaide Strikers by 6 wickets in the final of the 2019-2020 season. Jess took one wicket for 30 runs and also scored 33 runs in the final. Ahead of the 2020-2021 WBBL season, she announced that she signed a three-year contract extension with the Brisbane Heat and was also named Captain of the team following the retirement of Kirby Short.
Jess Jonassen (middle) with her Brisbane Heat teammates Nadine de Klerk (right) and Poonam Yadav
Kia Super League
She represented the Lancashire Thunder cricket club during the Kia Super League 2017.
Jess Jonassen (last row-extreme left) with her Lancashire Thunder teammates
Women’s Premier League (WPL)
In 2023, she was purchased by the Delhi Capitals for a sum of Rs. 50 Lakhs for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (2023-2024). On 5 March 20223, during their opening match victory against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, she bowled four overs at an economy of 7.00.
🗣️ I really love playing cricket in India. Some of the best supporters in the World 🙌
Jess Jonassen is hyped to join the #CapitalsUniverse! #YehHaiNayiDilli #WPL | @JJonassen21 pic.twitter.com/9hV7TJNJZU
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) February 16, 2023
Records
- Leading wicket-taker in the ICC Women’s Championship – 31 Wickets (2014-2016)
- She scored 153 runs against the England women’s team on her debut at Canterbury. This is the fourth-highest runs scored in a debut match in the Women’s Test competition.
- On 11 March 2018, ICC ranked her the No. 1 ODI bowler in Women’s cricket.
- On 28 July 2022, ICC ranked her the No. 3 T20I bowler in Women’s cricket.
- She was the fourth person to take 100 ODI wickets for the Australia women’s cricket team.
- In 2021, she became the second person to take 100 wickets in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and later became the leading wicket-taker in the WBBL.
- In November 2021, she became the first player in the history of the Women’s Big Bash League to play 100 matches.
Jess Jonassen with her mother celebrating her 100th appearance in the WBBL
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- 2011: Queensland Fire Player of the Year
- 2014: Griffith Award for Academic Excellence
- 2015: Queensland Fire Player of the Year
- 2015: Women’s International Cricket League Player of the Year
- 2016: Griffith Award for Academic Excellence
- 2020: Heat’s Most Valuable Player Award
Favourites
- Cricket Ground: WACA Ground, Allan Border Field
- Sporting Idol: Anna Meares
- Film: We Are Marshall, Coach Carter, Inside Out
Facts/Trivia
- She received the Clem Jones Scholarship provided by Griffith University for three years between 2010 and 2013.
- In an interview, she said that her father was her biggest influence in cricket and that it was hard for her to accept his death. She pointed out that the Australian Women’s team travelled for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup on the first death anniversary of her dad and it was a difficult experience for her as she could not be with her family.
Jess Jonassen with her father
- Her jersey number is #21.
Jess Jonassen (jersey number)
- In an interview, she said that she loves reading and playing the guitar during her leisure time.
Jess Jonassen and her father playing the guitar
- Her last name, ‘Jonassen,’ was misspelt in her T20 international debut for the Australia women’s cricket team.
Jess Jonassen’s jersey name on her debut match
- On 21 July 2015, she opened the batting and bowling for the Australia women’s cricket team in their match against the England women’s cricket team.
- In an interview, she revealed that she started playing cricket as a medium-pace bowler and it was the junior cricketer coach in Rockhampton, Scott Deeth, who changed her into a spinner.
- On 9 March 2020, she was included in the Team of the Tournament following her stellar performances in the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
- Following her father’s death, Jess and her sisters paid tribute to him by getting a matching tattoo of a ladybug on their right-hand wrists. In an interview, she revealed that her dad loved ladybugs and used to add a ladybug emoji whenever he sent them a text. She said that after her father’s death, there were multiple instances when ladybugs randomly landed on her, which reminded her of her father.
Jess Jonassen and her sister tattooed a ladybug on their right wrists
- In an interview, she revealed that the Australia Women’s victory against India Women in the 2023 ICC World T20 semi-final was one of her best victories as an Australian player.
- In 2021, she was announced as a marquee signing for the Welsh Fire team for the inaugural season of The Hundred. Later she announced that she was withdrawing from the competition due to some personal reasons and her compatriot Georgia Wareham replaced her in the squad. In July 2021, in an interview, she revealed that her father’s death was the primary reason for her withdrawal from The Hundred.
- She was among the centrally contracted players of the Australian women’s cricket team for the 2022-2023 season.
- In an interview, she revealed that she underwent four knee surgeries before she turned 26 years old and also missed a series against India Women in 2022 following a hamstring injury. She added that it was hard for her to not play cricket and that it affected her mental health. Jess pointed out that it was her family and teammates who supported her to complete her recovery.
- In an interview, she revealed that homemade pizza or salmon was her favourite meal to cook.
- Her 100th international T20 appearance was Australia’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final win against the South Africa Women on 26 February 2023.
- She follows a non-vegetarian diet and consumes alcohol.
Jess Jonassen and Sarah were spotted drinking beer
- She was an ardent supporter of the Western Bulldogs team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL).
- She has two pet French bulldogs named Alfie and Freddie.
Jess Jonassen and Sarah Wearn with Alfie (left) and Freddie
- In an interview, she revealed that she loved bowling in the death overs and was also comfortable with opening the overs for the team.
- In 2022, Jess Jonassen lambasted the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Greg Barclay, for his contentious comments on women’s cricket.
Well it won’t without genuine support from the top… 🙄👎🏽
Disappointing to see these comments, the hunger and drive is there from multiple countries regardless of some significant hurdles that need to be overcome by some. It should never be solely about money.. https://t.co/BPikD4ulwF
— Jessica Jonassen (@JJonassen21) June 4, 2022
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education