I will be heading home from Tasmania during the final week of March, and I’m pleased to report that before then I will have played in a one-day final for Clarence if all goes to plan.
We had already qualified for the final before Sunday’s win over North Hobart, which included my second century of the winter.
It was actually a strange game because we found ourselves short on players due to a few injuries and the unavailability of our state players.
There was also a clash with our second-team girls, who were playing in a T20 semi-final later in the day. With us having already qualified for the final, their game took precedence as we ended up fielding the last 20 overs with just eight players.
We wanted to field first because of that, but ended being put in on a pretty flat pitch. Thankfully, we ended up with a big score – 288-7 from 50 overs – and defended it very comfortably.
Being without state players Emma Thompson, Heather Graham and Emily Smith, I knew my role was to bat for as long as possible and control the game, which I feel like I achieved.
I was quite reserved to start with, and I actually didn’t feel as good at the crease as the scorecard would suggest. It was a very big ground, and there were plenty of twos and threes rather than a large number of boundaries. I was definitely very sore on Monday morning!
Turning those starts into big scores is something I was keen to work on this winter. But helping the team win is more important than my own goals, and us getting through to the final is brilliant. It’s something I want to make sure I continue for the Northern Diamonds this summer and into the Hundred.
I saw the ECB release all the fixtures for the Northern Diamonds and also the Hundred a week or so ago, and I really like the look of the way the schedule works.
Playing T20 regional cricket immediately before the Hundred will help us transition into that period nicely, with players getting short form cricket under their belts.
In terms of the Diamonds, across the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the Regional T20, it’s also great we are getting to play teams more than once, which helps with analysis and match-ups. That will only help our development as players rather than playing a team once and never seeing them again.
The whole concept of the Hundred and how it’s going to progress women’s cricket is so exciting.
I see the girls will be the first ones to represent the Northern Superchargers against Welsh Fire at Emerald Headingley (July 24) as part of a double header on that day.
Some people will no doubt see that as added pressure on us to almost set the tone. But I just see it as an exciting opportunity.
I can’t imagine it will take too long for fans to get connected with the Hundred teams. For the Superchargers, there are a lot of local men’s and women’s players in the two respective squads, which will no doubt help.
We’ve signed Alyssa Healy as one of our overseas players, who everyone will know all about. But Nicola Carey, our other Aussie, will be just as important to us. She’s a player who just quietly gets on with things and gets the job done.
Nic is actually my landlord out here in Tasmania, and it will be great to play with her back at home.
I can’t wait for the summer to start now. First of all, though, we have a trophy to win with Clarence.
