Sydney Thunder leg spinner Maisy Gibson has labelled this month's double header in Wagga as crucial to her team's title hopes.
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The Thunder sit in second position on the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) ladder and face a double header against fourth-placed Adelaide Strikers at Robertson Oval on January 20-21.
Gibson said the Thunder squad are looking forward to the trip to Wagga for a number of different reasons.
"Whenever we've been to Albury we've always had really big crowds," Gibson said.
"The regional games are big for us because they do draw big crowds and we get to see a lot of our fans.
"We thrive off that. We've got quite a few regional players in our squad, Rachel Trenaman is from Wagga, so it's good to come out to the regional areas."
The Thunder have a double header in Perth against the Scorchers starting on Sunday, and then just have the one more match before they travel to Robertson Oval.
Gibson believes the Wagga weekend will have a big impact on both team's title aspirations.
"Every game is important, but in the second half of the season we play all the top teams," Gibson said.
"We play the top four teams so every game we play we definitely want to go out and win because we can't afford to give away too many losses."
The Thunder have won five out of their opening six matches with Rachael Haynes in brilliant form with the bat, while West Indies star Stafanie Taylor has been destructive with the ball.
Such has been the performance of the Thunder, Gibson has not had to bat yet, but she has claimed four wickets with the ball.
"I've taken one wicket per game and have been happy with how I've been bowling and fielding," she said.
"It's good, I haven't had to bat yet. Our opening bats have been making 50 off the powerplay and getting us off to good starts, which is really good.
"All the girls are chipping in."
Gibson said the Thunder will need to be at their best in Wagga.
"Definitely, there is going to be some key wickets for us to take," she said.
"Our middle order hasn't batted for a couple of games so preparation is going to be crucial in terms of making sure we're ready to go."
Both games in Wagga on the Saturday and Sunday will start at 2pm.
