Leah Joy Poulton (born 27 February 1984[2]) is an Australian former cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia.

Poulton was rewarded with international selection in the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand at the start of the 2006–07 season and scored her maiden century, 101, in the third match.

Playing in ten matches, she made many starts, reaching double figures in all but one of her nine innings, but managed only a best score of 36 run out, against Western Australia.

[9] At the end of the season she was appointed captain of the Australian Youth team and played in four matches against New Zealand A,[18] scoring 127 runs at 31.75 with a best of 75 in the second of these fixtures.

New South Wales won seven of their eight round-robin matches to qualify to host the three-match finals series against Queensland.

[9][21] Up to this point, Poulton had only scored 24 runs at 6.00 in four WNCL finals matches and had been dropped ahead of the deciding series the previous season.

[9] In the first match at North Sydney Oval, Poulton top-scored with an unbeaten 70 to guide New South Wales to their target of 175 for an eight-wicket win.

[9] Poulton won the Belinda Clark Medal four times, for the best performance for New South Wales in a season.

However, Poulton was called up for her senior international debut against New Zealand in the Rose Bowl series staged at Allan Border Field in Brisbane at the start of the 2006–07 season because of an injury to fellow New South Wales batsman Alex Blackwell.

[26] The chairman of selectors Margaret Jennings said "She is a talented player with a free-flowing game, and we are keen to see how she performs against New Zealand, whom we expect to provide some very tough competition.

[9] In her One Day International (ODI) debut, Poulton opened the batting with Melissa Bulow and occupied the crease for nine balls before being trapped leg before wicket by Sarah Burke for a duck.

New South Wales scraped home by one wicket in the first match, but the hosts levelled the series with an eight-wicket win the next day.

In the third game, she made only nine, but New South Wales eventually reached the target of 206 with three wickets in hand to take the finals 2–1.

[9] Poulton took her first WNCL wicket in the season, bowling a full quota of ten overs against Western Australia, taking 1/23.

[9] After the end of the Australian season, Poulton was selected for the ODI team the ICC Women's Quadrangular Series in Chennai, India.

However, Poulton was then bowled for a golden duck from the first ball of the innings from Lauren Ebsary as New South Wales lost the match by 37 runs.

[9] New South Wales reached the final and were awarded the title because they placed first in the qualifying matches after rain washed out the deciding game without a ball being bowled.

[9] After her poor WNCL season, Poulton was overlooked for Australian selection for the home series against England and then the Rose Bowl tour of New Zealand that followed.

[32] These performances earned Poulton a recall for the five-match home ODI series against India ahead of the 2008–09 Australian season, which the hosts swept easily; the margins of victory in each match were at least 54 runs or seven wickets.

[28][29] Poulton took her maiden international wicket in the fourth match at Manuka Oval in Canberra, trapping Indian wicket-keeper Anagha Deshpande lbw.

New South Wales thus earned the right to host the final against the same team, and Poulton made 43 as they chased down 118 and won the title by six wickets.

She then returned to her customary opening position and scored 81 from 97 balls, including 11 fours, in the fourth match, helping to set up an Australia victory by 44 runs.

[9] Australia reached 6/229 in their 50 overs, and Poulton then took 2/9, claiming the lower-order wickets of Javeria Khan and Qanita Jalil as the hosts won by 107 runs.

[9] Poulton was selected for the 2009 World Twenty20 in England and Australia hosted New Zealand for three T20 matches in tropical Brisbane during the southern hemisphere winter before the teams departed for the tournament.

[36] Poulton scored 39 to push Australia to 5/163 but the hosts reached the target with eight wickets in hand and progressed to the final, which they won.

She made 31, her second best effort of the competition, in the final, as New South Wales defeated Victoria by 59 runs to take their fifth WNCL title in a row.

[28][38] After making a duck in her first innings back, Poulton struck an unbeaten 104 from 116 balls in the fourth match, hitting nine fours and three sixes,[28] putting on an unbroken opening stand of 163 with Shelley Nitschke as the Australians won by ten wickets.

[40][41][42][43][44][45][46] In the first warm-up match, she scored one from six balls before being dismissed by Sian Ruck as Australia lost to New Zealand by 18 runs.

[40] In the last warm-up match, she hammered 44 from 21 balls including two sixes and then took a catch to remove Armaan Khan as Australians made 5/166 and defeated Pakistan by 82 runs.

In the first match against England, Poulton ran out Laura Marsh, triggering the loss of the last four wickets without the addition of a run, in six balls, leaving 15 deliveries unused.