Player Diary: Laura Jackson on U19s T20 World Cup and winter training
What an experience it will be for our five Thunder players representing their countries in the Under 19s T20 World Cup being played in South Africa at the moment.
From the senior squad, Lib Heap and Seren Smale are playing for England, with Academy players Olivia Bell, Orla Montgomery and Mahika Gaur playing for Scotland and the UAE respectively.
I don’t think I’m the only one who is jealous of what they’re doing.
I really wish this competition, which is in its first year, was around when I was younger. Going to South Africa, playing for your country, out in the sun whilst we’re shivering over here, what more do you want?
This is not just a brilliant thing for the players involved but also for the game as a whole. It’s just further proof that the women’s game is developing quickly all around the world.
England have already qualified for the Super Six phase with three wins against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Rwanda.
The majority of the girls in that squad have either been in the Hundred or playing regular regional cricket, so it’s not unrealistic to expect an England win. I would be very upset with anything less to be honest.
When Seren first came into the Thunder group, she was quite quiet. But she has really come out of her shell in the last year. She’s a lovely person to be around, and she has a lot of talent and potential.
She top-scored (with 37) against Pakistan, which was fantastic for her having not played in the first game. Hopefully she can kick on now to bigger and better things.
She is someone with a Tennis background, and I’m convinced that will have helped her progress her cricket given her good hand-eye co-ordination.
I’ve always said that you should play as many sports as you when you’re younger.
For example, I did gymnastics. I’ve been complimented by our strength and conditioning coach and physio about how mobile and flexible I am. That really helps with certain aspects of bowling and fielding.
My badminton background has also been picked up by our fielding coach without him even knowing, with him saying, ‘Hey, did you play Badminton - your footwork’s really good’.
We saw what Lib could do in the last game of last season with the bat when she scored 36 very quickly down the order against the Storm at Emirates Old Trafford.
With Lib, she’s got the potential to be a frontline contributor with both bat and ball, so it will be interesting to see how she develops.
She’s been opening the batting for England in the first three games and top-scored with 64 against Rwanda earlier today. Opening is actually something I didn't realise she could do. But that’s brilliant for her and shows her in a different light.
Honestly, I haven’t seen a great deal or Olivia and Orla, but Mahika is someone who I’m quite close to
I was with her in the Originals squad last summer, and I kind of took her under my wing a bit. I text her every week to see how she’s getting on.
Mahika’s around 6ft 2inches and still growing. She’s left-arm fast, swings it a mile and is lovely girl with the world at her feet.
She played against us on our pre-season tour of Dubai last winter, did quite well and was offered a contract by the Originals. She came over, trained with us and has stayed over. She will be going to school at Sedbergh, so she won’t be with Thunder all the time. But we’ll still see plenty of her, I’m sure.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see her playing a few senior games this summer. I wouldn’t want to be facing her bowling, that’s for sure. It looks pretty nasty.
Phoebe Graham is also abroad at present, playing T20 cricket for Northern Brave in New Zealand. We’re all missing her here, but it’s fantastic to see her going well. Hopefully she can bring that form back to us and hit the ground running in April.
Those of us who have stayed at Emirates Old Trafford have increased our training loads in the first few weeks of the new year. I’m bowling three days a week, whereas it was one or two before Christmas. We’re also into scenario based training now, batting and bowling against each other.
I’m loving it. I’ve said in previous blogs how much I love playing and training more, so it suits me down to the ground. Also being in at Emirates Old Trafford more, the increased hours, means we get our lunch there. Food always puts a smile on your face, doesn’t it!
It has just been confirmed that Stephen Parry, one of our assistant coaches at Thunder, will take over from Paul Shaw as head coach of the Manchester Originals in the Hundred this summer.
I fully expect Paz to be a real success in the role.
He hasn’t been out of the game too long, and he’s a relaxed guy who is fun to be around.
Him and Shawsy complement each other really well.
Shawsy is quite level-headed, whereas Paz is a bit more excitable. Either Shawsy tones Paz down or Paz cranks him up. They work brilliantly together.
Christmas was a bit different to what I’ve been used to. I went up to Cumbria and spent time with Sophia Turner and her family. We’re like two peas in a pod, and it was a lot of fun.
I also had lot of the girls at my house for my birthday a couple of days later, and that was brilliant as well.