Player Diary: Laura Jackson reflects on pre-season and signs off her diary
What an unbelievable two weeks we’ve just had on pre-season tour in Dubai and Mumbai. It has set us up perfectly for the new summer, which starts in a couple of weeks.
Both on and off the field, it was so beneficial for us as a group - both players and coaches.
We had a week in each place and got the balance just right between cricket and the social life.
The bonding aspect of trips like this is so important, and I’ve said it before that everyone gets on so well. But this took it to the next level, which I didn’t think was possible.
We won four out of the five games we played, losing the last one on the day before we were due to fly home. I think that was more tired minds and bodies than anything else.
All the games we won, we won quite convincingly and were really happy with what we did. Everything we spoke about over the winter that we wanted to progress with, we did. Our fielding has come on so much. We look a completely different team now.
Batting, we’re sharing the load now. Each game, someone different stepped up. The bowling, our skills are so much better.
When we played the UAE women’s team, we had some comments come back to us that we looked a completely different team compared to the team of last year. It’s so positive.
Ellie Threlkeld actually sat out a couple of the games, and she said it was so nice to sit back, watch and see how much we’ve progressed from last year.
It was a bit more of a tactic that she didn’t play a couple of games. She’d scored a hundred in the heat of Dubai and obviously keeps wicket on top of that. The coaches just wanted to rest her and make sure she wasn’t overdoing it because it is one hell of an effort to do what she does.
Naturally as players you put pressure on yourself, but the coaches stressed that there was no pressure on tour, ‘Just go out and do what you’ve been training for’. That’s what people did. But winning four games with some great personal performances, it gives you one heck of a boost.
It will be a challenge to play with that same mindset when the competitive stuff starts, but what was good about this tour is that - as I mentioned - everyone chipped in. It wasn’t just one person. If we keep getting behind each other like we do, we can definitely transfer it.
Personally, it was really good. I’ve put a few yards of pace on in the winter, and I was interested to see how much the ball will swing - if at all - outside. I can confirm it’s still swinging, which is great news.
The first game in Mumbai, there was a bit of dew about and the ball swung miles, which I thrive off.
Off the field, Dubai was good - the bank account not so much!
We had a couple of days off and went to the beach as a team and on jet skis, which I’ve never done before.I’m an adrenaline junky, so I loved that. I must admit, though, I didn’t trust Liberty Heap on one of them. She was a bit sketchy. We did it in the sunset, which was just gorgeous.
I went to the big Burj in Dubai, where you get a sore neck looking up at all the buildings don’t you.
The food was fantastic as well. I wasn’t ill this year like last. That was brilliant news.
In India, we were about an hour and a half from the centre of Mumbai. So we were getting Tuk Tuks left, right and centre. That was an experience in itself - like a rollercoaster.
In Mumbai, there wasn’t too much touristy stuff, but I’m really close with Shachi Pai, and she took myself and a couple of others to go and see where she used to live out there.
That was quite emotional to be honest, to see how far she’s come, and I was honoured to do that with her.
I think she left India when she was seven, moved to Dublin for a bit, then Nottingham and then Lancashire. She’d not been to India for seven years, so a lot of her family came to the games. That was pretty cool.
I went to one WPL game to see Sophie Ecclestone, and we all shouted for her when she came to the boundary. I don’t know if she knew we were coming, but it was good to see her.
It was good to see a different tournament. I’ve been to watch the Big Bash and have obviously been a part of the Hundred, and I find it intriguing to see how different countries do their tournaments. It was so noisy and great fun.
There was a bit of fun poked at Kate Cross when she got picked up by the Northern Superchargers for this summer’s Hundred, which happened whilst we were in Mumbai.
Crossy was my room-mate, and I love her to bits. I speak to her all the time about my bowling. I trust her so much with advice and stuff like that.
We were all shocked when the draft came through, but what an opportunity to be in the top bracket of players.
She came onto the bus the next day, and Paul Shaw was chanting ‘Superchargers’ at her. That was very funny. Then when she was bowling that day, we’d be saying, ‘Come on the Supercharger’. It’s all in jest, and she’s absolutely fine with the move.
But it just shows that you never know what’s coming next.
I had a leadership workshop that I went to last week with Ellie. Shawsy ran it, and there were all sorts of different people there - lawyers, for example.
One of the questions was about your two-year, five-year and 10-year plan. I really struggled to answer it because there’s so much unknown with sport. There is with all sports, but for females in particular. It is constantly changing for the better, and you can’t predict what’s coming next.
You would never have guessed that we’d have nearly a full team of professionals a couple of years ago.
I said to everyone in that room that I’d love to stay at Lancashire my whole career, I really would. I love what direction they’re taking the women’s game and believe they are leading the way in this field. I feel a massive attachment to this place, but you just never know what will happen.
This will be my last column for a while. I’m passing on the baton to someone else. It’s time for a new voice.
I’ve loved the experience of doing it over the last couple of years, and it’s been really nice to talk about the game and reflect.
I’ve had some good feedback from it. When I’ve been to do some club appearances, it’s clear people have read the column and have asked me questions.
My highlight was the deer story. I went to a club and someone said, ‘Hey, how did you get here, where’s your car?’ That was quite funny.
I love the fact that people have read it and can get an insight into the game and also feel like they can get to know me a bit better.
You won’t be getting rid of me that easily, though. I’ll still be giving my opinion through match previews and things like that on the Lancashire website this season as we chase success.
Roll on the summer and roll on silverware.