England Cricket Captain Charlotte Edwards is just finishing up her last indoor training session with the rest of the squad, ahead of their departure down under, for their Twenty20 tour against New Zealand.
We managed to grab five minutes with her to ask how the team are feeling and find out what else is in store for 2012.
How are you and the rest of the team feeling in terms of preparation for your tour against New Zealand?
We’re really looking forward to it; we’ve practiced hard so I think we’re all ready to go. We’ve just finished our indoor training so we’re looking forward to getting outside and playing some good cricket.
You’ve got an important 18 months coming up with the T20 World Cup and The Women’s Cricket World Cup, how important is it for you to play international matches at the moment?
Every game in the next year is so important, every opportunity that we get to play is vital in preparation for the big ones.
We’re really pleased that we’ve got eight games over the next five weeks against New Zealand which are good opposition. It’s always good to test yourself against the best teams, and I’m sure it will be a great trip.
Hopefully it will be a successful one.
Have you got the complete team that you are after?
We are missing our opening bowler Katherine Brunt and Holly Colvin our left arm spinner – two very important members of our team. Katherine is being rested and Holly is finishing her university commitments this year.
Although it’s disappointing to not have them with us on this tour, it also gives other young girls the opportunity to showcase their skills which is great.
The first three matches are going to be televised on Sky; does this add any extra pressure?
The girls really love playing on TV, which is a good thing because sometimes pressure can come in, and your skills don’t come up to the mark, but we’re really looking forward to the games on Sky, so hopefully we’ll be successful.
How important is it for women’s cricket to be on television?
You can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get the Sky coverage. It’s great for the young girls who want to watch us and also in promoting the game and the Sky games really do that for us.
It’s important that we are not only on TV, but also give a good account of ourselves. We’re under pressure every time we play on TV, but I think that’s a good thing.
With London 2012 fast approaching, sport in England is huge at the moment; how do you feel about women’s cricket not being a part of the Games?
I think it’s something that we’ve always been used to, I’d be lying if I was to say I wasn’t jealous of the people who are taking part. It’s such a wonderful event to be a part of, and especially with it being in London. I’m really jealous, but obviously we’ll be cheering everyone on, and hopefully the GB team will be really successful in 2012.
What else is planned for the England cricket team this year?
Well after the New Zealand tour, we come back in March, and then it’s the summer series against India in June and July. We’ve then got the West Indies in September and then Twenty20 World Cup at the end of September and early October.
So quite a packed summer for us in cricket, but I know that it’s one that all the team are looking forward to, and we just can’t wait to get it under way.
Lizzie Flint, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
Picture credit Action Images/Steven Paston
