"At first I was a little bit shocked," she said.

"I knew I had made mistakes but I personally did not see it coming. I was emotional, sad, angry ... but the fact that I let myself be all those things helped me move on."

A few months, a knee operation and plenty of valuable advice later, the first female to play A-grade in the history of Cricket North has returned home to rejuvenate her career.

The highly-rater former Riverside wicket-keeper has teamed up with coaches Tim Coyle and Darren Simmonds to steer the Greater Northern Raiders into Cricket Tasmania's slimmed-down four-team Premier League.

In the week of her 20th birthday, Manix-Geeves said she had been planning to play club cricket in Melbourne before coronavirus and coaches intervened.

"Darren Simmonds got in contact with me but I think Coyley had been involved and dropping hints here and there," she said.

"Simmo asked what I was up to and put the feelers out and then Coyley got me over the line. We had a chat about what was best for me because I feel he has my best intentions at heart.

"In the end it was an easy decision and took a bit of weight off my shoulders having to decide where I was going to play."

Manix-Geeves learned plenty from her two years on a state contract.

Having not featured on field in her first year, she played all WNCL games in 2019 plus a handful for the Hurricanes before being cut from the program.

"I made a few too many mistakes for my liking but living that life where I get to travel and experience different places was incredible and something I've reflected on a lot since not having it. So when I do get my contract back, it's something I won't take for granted.

"After my knee operation I was not even able to run which was hard because I wanted to get out and prove people wrong. But I was able to put it into perspective that people were going through much worse than I was.

"I try and be as positive as I can and I've got really good friends, family and Tim with so much belief in me so there was never a point where they were telling me I was not good enough and that really helped. As much as I'd love to have my contract and continue living the dream, I'm looking forward to the next few months."

The former Trevallyn Primary, Riverside High and Launceston College student, who toured England with the Australian Indigenous team in 2018, coaches Cricket Tasmania's under-16s Hurricanes Academy and is a big fan of the Raiders concept.

"I love the idea and think we have some talented cricketers coming through. When I was 15-16, I made the decision to travel to Hobart but they don't have to and that's a massive win for the North and North-West because not everyone is in a position like I was to have parents willing to drive me to Hobart every Sunday. Having that team up here is great for the state as a whole."