Sarah Jane Cady (née Coyte; born 30 March 1991) is an Australian cricketer from Camden, New South Wales. A right-arm medium fast bowler, Coyte has taken a total of 100 wickets for the national women's team across Tests, ODIs and T20Is. She currently plays for the Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
In addition to her bowling prowess, Coyte has proven to be a handy lower-order batter and notable performer in tournament finals. She has won two world championships with Australia, seven WNCL championships with New South Wales and South Australia, and one WBBL championship with the Sydney Sixers. Her successful cricket career was established and maintained despite an ongoing battle with anorexia nervosa and other mental health issues which prompted a premature, albeit temporary, retirement from the game in 2017.
Domestic career
Women's National Cricket League
New South Wales
On 7 November 2009, Coyte made her WNCL debut playing for New South Wales in a 15-run win against Queensland, managing impressive bowling figures of 4/25 from six overs and helping to defend a total of 198. She finished the 2009–10 season with twelve wickets at an average of 15.16, having played all eleven matches including the 59-run win against Victoria in the final.
Coyte went on to be involved in five more successful campaigns with New South Wales in as many seasons. Her highlights included:
In the 2010–11 final, she scored an unbeaten 44 from 47 balls in pursuit of Victoria's first innings total of 263. With rain prematurely ending play in the 35th over of the run chase, New South Wales were declared champions due to their score of 2/193 being comfortably ahead of the Duckworth–Lewis par by 49 runs. Coyte scored her first WNCL half-century on 3 December 2011 in a 37-run win against Victoria, scoring 54 off 57 balls. In the 2011–12 final, she took 4/53 from 9.4 overs to help secure a 70-run win, which was also against Victoria. She finished the season with eleven wickets, the third-most in the league, at an average of 21.27. In the 2012–13 final, Coyte took 2/34 from ten overs against Queensland. Chasing 233 for victory, she was not out on eleven with her team at 4/135 after 27 overs when rain interrupted and ultimately ended play. New South Wales were declared champions, having exceeded the Duckworth–Lewis par score by 15 runs. The 2013–14 final was also affected by rain, with the match reduced to 20-overs per innings. Coyte took 1/16 from four overs to help restrict Victoria to a total of 9/111 before New South Wales chased down the target with seven wickets and seven balls to spare. On 25 October 2014, Coyte recorded her best-ever WNCL bowling figures, taking 4/35 from ten overs in a two-wicket victory against Queensland. She also took 3/33 from 9.2 overs during the 2014–15 semi-final in a seven-wicket win over Victoria, then claimed 1/14 from seven overs in the final against South Australia which New South Wales went on to win by 144 runs. Coyte finished her last season with the team by taking ten wickets at an average of 20.70.
South Australia
During August 2015, Coyte announced she would leave New South Wales to play for South Australia. In the 2015–16 final, she took 1/24 from ten overs as South Australia claimed their first national title with a 54-run win. The victory brought an end to New South Wales' streak of ten-consecutive championships which Coyte helped to build.
Across the 2016–17 season, Coyte took nine wickets at an average of 24.88, although South Australia finished in fourth place and failed to qualify for the final. In March 2017, she announced her retirement from domestic cricket at the age of 25, citing a need to seek better balance in her life to combat mental health issues.
Australian Capital Territory
Coyte returned to the WNCL for the 2019–20 season, signing with the ACT Meteors in May 2019. She earned her first Player of the Match award with the team on 6 February 2020 against Tasmania, taking 2/30 from eight overs and then scoring 48 not out to help chase down a target of 199 with three wickets and 21 balls to spare. The Meteors finished the tournament in fifth place.
Tasmania
Opting to focus solely on Twenty20 cricket, Coyte did not sign with a WNCL team ahead of the 2020–21 season. However, she joined Tasmania midway through their campaign, debuting on 25 February 2021 against New South Wales at Blundstone Arena in a tied match. On 7 March, Coyte recorded her second WNCL half-century and highest score in the league, coming in to bat at 5/89 and managing 66 runs off 88 balls, though her team would nevertheless lose the match to Queensland by eight wickets.