In the second of an exclusive blog, Kent and England all-rounder Lydia Greenway writes from Australia ahead of the ICC Women's World Cup.
After having a convincing win against New South Wales we knew our final warm-up game against Australia was going to be a tough one.
The Aussies are always very competitive but going into the game we felt confident and eager to get amongst it.
Winning the toss we put them in. This is something we have done in the past as we feel confident as a team about chasing down the runs.
Their openers got off to not a bad start but our first breakthrough came from a great caught behind by Squirt (Sarah Taylor) off Isa Guha’s bowling. This brought their captain Karen Rolton to the crease. She didn’t last long as Nunny (Katherine Brunt) was straight on the money and got her first ball LBW.
Next in was Lisa Sthalekar who was run out going for a third run by a magnificent throw from Nicky Shaw from the boundary. Alex Blackwell was the rock of their innings, making 91 not out.
We were pleased to restrict them to 214 with some great bowling in the middle, but also from our spinners, Boggy (Laura Marsh), Hol (Holly Colvin) and Lot (Charlotte Edwards) at the end.
Our batting didn’t get off to the greatest of starts with Squirt getting out first ball of the innings to Emma Sampson. This brought Tails (Claire Taylor) to the crease who rebuilt well with Shaggy (Caroline Atkins) and got us back on track with our chase of just over four an over.
Up until the 30th over we looked comfortable but we fell short by 20-odd runs. The words “frustrated” and “disappointed” were an understatement of what we were all feeling.
There was however no to time to dwell on our mistakes, only time to reflect and move forward in time for our final warm-up game against West Indies. We had training the day after we lost to the Aussies and we all went quietly about our business but with a lot of intent after seriously motivating words from our coach. We beat the West Indies comfortably by 116 runs on Wednesday and now we feel ready to get our World Cup campaign on the road.
Off the field my parents have arrived in Sydney for the World Cup. It’s been great to see them and catch up as I haven’t seen them for ages because I have been playing over here since October. They’re staying out at Coogee so they can go to the beach on a regular basis and we’ve had a couple of catch-up meals together.
It’s been great staying in Sydney as I still get to see all my friends that I have made playing cricket over the past couple of years. We’ve managed to see them pretty much every other evening and now we’ve moved into our new hotel we’re all regulars at the Max Brenners Chocolate café just round the corner!
Lydia Greenway will be exclusively blogging for KOS Media from Australia where the England women’s cricket team are challenging for the ICC Women’s World Cup.
After having a convincing win against New South Wales we knew our final warm-up game against Australia was going to be a tough one.
The Aussies are always very competitive but going into the game we felt confident and eager to get amongst it.
Winning the toss we put them in. This is something we have done in the past as we feel confident as a team about chasing down the runs.
Their openers got off to not a bad start but our first breakthrough came from a great caught behind by Squirt (Sarah Taylor) off Isa Guha’s bowling. This brought their captain Karen Rolton to the crease. She didn’t last long as Nunny (Katherine Brunt) was straight on the money and got her first ball LBW.
Next in was Lisa Sthalekar who was run out going for a third run by a magnificent throw from Nicky Shaw from the boundary. Alex Blackwell was the rock of their innings, making 91 not out.
We were pleased to restrict them to 214 with some great bowling in the middle, but also from our spinners, Boggy (Laura Marsh), Hol (Holly Colvin) and Lot (Charlotte Edwards) at the end.
Our batting didn’t get off to the greatest of starts with Squirt getting out first ball of the innings to Emma Sampson. This brought Tails (Claire Taylor) to the crease who rebuilt well with Shaggy (Caroline Atkins) and got us back on track with our chase of just over four an over.
Up until the 30th over we looked comfortable but we fell short by 20-odd runs. The words “frustrated” and “disappointed” were an understatement of what we were all feeling.
There was however no to time to dwell on our mistakes, only time to reflect and move forward in time for our final warm-up game against West Indies. We had training the day after we lost to the Aussies and we all went quietly about our business but with a lot of intent after seriously motivating words from our coach. We beat the West Indies comfortably by 116 runs on Wednesday and now we feel ready to get our World Cup campaign on the road.
Off the field my parents have arrived in Sydney for the World Cup. It’s been great to see them and catch up as I haven’t seen them for ages because I have been playing over here since October. They’re staying out at Coogee so they can go to the beach on a regular basis and we’ve had a couple of catch-up meals together.
It’s been great staying in Sydney as I still get to see all my friends that I have made playing cricket over the past couple of years. We’ve managed to see them pretty much every other evening and now we’ve moved into our new hotel we’re all regulars at the Max Brenners Chocolate café just round the corner!
Lydia Greenway will be exclusively blogging for KOS Media from Australia where the England women’s cricket team are challenging for the ICC Women’s World Cup.
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