By EWEN McRAE
DANDENONG Cricket Club’s Julie “Sniper’’ Hunter is fired up to
play a big part in Australia’s defence of the women’s Ashes in the UK.
While Michael Clarke’s men are struggling in their Ashes tour of
the Old Dart, the national women’s side – the Southern Stars – this week
fly over to defend their title against England.
Hunter, a medium-pace attacker, is eager to get stuck into her
first Ashes series after starring in the Southern Stars’ victory at the
Women’s World Twenty20 final in Colombo, Sri Lanka, last year.
“I can’t wait, it’ll be good to get over and be a part of it,” she
said. “I was on the tour for the last Ashes, but I was coming back from
shoulder rehab so didn’t play.’’
The young Australian squad escaped Melbourne’s winter last week
for a training camp in Brisbane, and Hunter said the players were all in
good touch ahead of the trip.
“We’re looking really good. Everyone’s been training really hard
so it was nice to come together before we go and now it’s just a matter
of fine-tuning a few things.”
Australia has the wood on the English in recent
times, beating them in last year’s T20 World Cup final and also on the
way to winning the ODI World Cup in February, but Hunter isn’t taking
anything for granted.
“We know there is some vulnerability in them, but acknowledging
that they’re coming off the back of their summer and have some girls in
good form, so we’re not reading too much into that,” Hunter said. “We’ll
just use what we know to the best of our ability.”
Australia is the No. 1 nation in all three cricket competition
formats, which is just as well with this year’s Ashes series taking on a
different look.
The series will be decided over the course of one Test, three
one-dayers, and three T20s – a better reflection of the way women’s
cricket is played internationally.
“We only get to play the one Test every few years anyway, so this puts a bit more emphasis on the one-day format and the T20s,” Hunter said.
“It’s also more of a challenge in the Test match, where in the
past you could just draw the Test to retain the Ashes, now you have to
do well in all the formats.”
The Test will be worth six points, with the other games worth two
points each. The nation with the most points after the final T20 will
raise the Ashes trophy.
And while Hunter was unwilling to make any Glenn McGrath-like
predictions of a whitewash, she was confident the Southern Stars would
retain their Ashes crown.
“I’d always say that we’re going to win, but we’ve just got to put
it on the park when we get over there and make it happen,” she said.
– emcrae@mmpgroup.com.au
