New signing Claudie Cooper says Yorkshire’s women can’t wait to get started with the match action as the county’s squad begin their pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi.
Off-spinner Cooper signed her maiden professional contract at Headingley earlier this winter, swapping the home comforts of Surrey for life up North.
She is one of 12 contracted pros who have been joined in the Arabian Desert for the next week-and-a-half by six Academy players.
They will face Tasmania Tigers and the UAE national side in the three-day Abu Dhabi Women’s T20 competition, running from Friday through to Sunday. The winners and placings will be decided on the final day, with a third game scheduled against yet-to-be-decided opponents.
That event, also including The Blaze, Essex and Surrey, will be live streamed from the Sheikh Zayed International Stadium complex.
Yorkshire then face Surrey and Essex in a pair of 50-over matches next Tuesday and Wednesday. For obvious reasons, Cooper is particularly looking forward to the first of those 50-over clashes.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Yorkshire’s new signing Claudie Cooper is is in Abu Dhabi on pre-season tour.
“I’m really hoping to play in that game!” she said, with a smile. “I’m excited for that.
“I’m quite a competitive person by nature anyway. Being there for 11 years, I want to show myself and how far I’ve come. It should be really good for me.
“We’re ready to play. We’ve had a lot of conversations, and everybody feels like they’re ready to go.
“For this tour, we’re going to obviously put into practice what we’ve been doing over the winter, and I’m confident it will go really well for us.
“It’s a new team, and we have to work out how everyone plays together outside and not just in the nets indoors. But I’m sure it will go very well. I have really high hopes for us.”
Rebecca Duckworth and Sterre Kalis have linked up with Rich Pyrah’s squad in Abu Dhabi, flying in from Australia, where they have been playing winter club cricket.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Rebecca Duckworth, batting for the Northern Diamonds last summer, has been playing club cricket for Gold Coast Dolphins since early January.
Lauren Winfield-Hill has also been away for the vast majority of the winter playing Big Bash and State cricket Down Under, though she did return to Headingley earlier this month after her Queensland side finished runners-up in the WNCL competition.
“There’s some big, senior names there who are going to add that last little bit to our team,” said. “We’ve got some Academy players out with us, which will be really good for them as well.”
Before facing two, potentially three, Tier 1 counties whilst on tour, Yorkshire kick things off by facing Tasmania on Friday morning (6am UK).
For the Tigers, this is a post-season rather than a pre-season tour. They have included former Australia internationals Nicola Carey and Elyse Villani in their squad.
Yorkshire’s management have made no secret of the fact this summer is one of development, the primary aim being to set themselves up for Tier 1 cricket in 2026. And that is something 22-year-old Cooper referenced as she previewed this tour.
But once the players step across that boundary rope this season – starting on Friday morning – they will be desperate to win.
Picture by Steve Bell/Getty Images. Claudie Cooper and Yorkshire are set to come up against former Australia opener Elyse Villani later this week.
Cooper said: “We are seeing this year as a development year, building the foundations and getting ready for Tier 1. But we’ve got a very fiery team. There’s a lot of competitiveness in our group, and we want to show what we can do. I’m sure that will win us a lot of games.”
Cooper was recommended to Yorkshire by Winfield-Hill, the pair having been part of the same Oval Invincibles squad in the Hundred in recent years.
And the offie is loving life in Leeds.
She added: “I was quite scared moving to a new city. Living down south all my life, I’ve always been close to home. This is the furthest away I’ve ever been, but everyone has been so welcoming from the start.
“The coaches have been amazing – really, really supportive. We’ve got a really good group and a good environment, so it’s been super easy to settle in.
“I would say that I’ve really grown as a person these last few months. The support we have here, be it coaching, nutrition, psychology, strength and conditioning, I’m in the best position I’ve ever been in going into a summer. I feel like I’m in a really confident place.”
