By Hollie Armitage
Christmas was a bit different to what we were expecting, but it was still a good one here in Tasmania.
The initial plan for myself and Maisy, my partner, was to go to back to see her parents in Singleton in New South Wales. But Coronavirus halted our plans.
Sydney has had a few issues with Covid, and we were a bit worried about the prospect of that stretching out to Singleton and us having to isolate upon our return back to Hobart.
I had a wedding to go to on January 2 as a witness, which you can’t really change that. Plus, Maisy pointed out that me doing another two weeks of isolation wouldn’t be great having already done it to get into the country.
So we ended up staying here and having a big feast on Christmas Day and a friend over on Boxing Day for a few drinks. It was all pretty chilled.
It would have great to get out to Maisy’s family. She’s not seen some of them since last Christmas because of all that’s been going on. But it was still a nice couple of weeks.
It actually ended up costing us a bit of money because we had opened our presents prior to cancelling our trip. We weren’t going to take our presents with us.
So we ended up having to buy some more to open on Christmas morning. That’s the best part of Christmas, isn’t it. You can’t not have presents to open on Christmas morning!
We’ve watched a fair bit of the Big Bash as well.
Melbourne Stars are my side because I have to admit to being a big Marcus Stoinis fan. I don’t know where it’s come from, but he’s someone I really look to, personality wise and cricket skills I guess.
We went to the Hurricanes v Stars game at Blundstone Arena just after Christmas when he got 97, so that was great to watch.
He has an imposing presence on the field, which is something I’ve heard a few people say about me. It’s not something I consciously look to have. I just look to go about my business as normal.
One thing I do know I have is a bit of white line fever. I’m certainly a bit more fiery on the field than I am off it. I guess that’s just the will to win. But if someone, or something gets on my nerves, I will definitely let them know.
From what I’ve seen of the Big Bash, I have quite enjoyed the new rule changes, especially the power surge. It’s added a bit of something different and excitement to it.
But I’m not sure how I’d deal with it if Dani Hazell subbed me out for an X-factor player in a Northern Diamonds game. I guess you’d just have to take it on the chin and trust the coach is doing it as the best thing for the team, which they obviously are, and explain it well enough.
In truth, though, if you are being subbed out, I suspect deep down you already know why.
What would a perfect 2021 look like for me? First of all, it would be minus Covid. But I guess everyone would say that.
I certainly want to be able to high five and hug my team-mates again, that’s for sure.
My first target is to finish off this season in Tasmania well and get in some real form before I come back home.
I want to dominate the games I play, both here and at home, as an all-rounder and not just a batter.
What I’ve found here in club cricket is that the captain trusts me to bowl my 10 overs in a one-day game, and I don’t think I’ve ever had that before in my career.
It’s been a case of me coming on first change and always bowling my 10, even bowling in the powerplay, which has given me a lot of confidence.
In an ideal world, if it’s the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy again, play a full competition and score some runs and wickets and get us to the final again and go one step further.
Then it’s about trying out this Hundred ball stuff and make an impact for the Superchargers for that. It’s a really big build-up. We can’t wait to get started.
I’ve done quite a bit of bowling work with Kristen Beams this winter, who used to play for Australia and is doing a lot of working with the Tasmanian Academy. She’s been really helpful.
Hopefully one day I can be picked as a genuine all-rounder. If I’m not scoring runs, I can still get in because of my bowling and be relied upon. I want to be used more than for just a couple of overs to snag a wicket.
The Clarence girls had a great 50-over win on Sunday to start the year with a bang.
We beat New Town chasing a target of 240. Their two openers, one being the New Zealander Rachel Priest, both scored nineties.
I bowled 10 overs for 40 and got seven with the bat. But, more importantly, it says a lot about our side that we were able to survive a few missed chances in the field and then a wobble with the bat to get over the line.
