Phoebe Litchfield, pictured here at the Australian Cricket Awards earlier this year, says she can't wait for Ashes to start. Photo: Brandon Thorne. /Getty Images
Ten-year-old Phoebe Litchfield had no idea Australia was playing Lord's as she passed Grace Gates. It was in 2013 when she was vacationing with her family when her father, an avid cricket fan, booked a tour of the Cricket House.
At the end, Phoebe sat in the stands with her brother and parents, the visit unexpectedly coinciding with the first women's one-day international tour of Australia. Litchfield never really thought about cricket, but when she watched Ellis Perry, Meg Lanning, Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt, she planted the seeds.
“I remember thinking, 'Oh, those girls are playing.' , Litchfield told Telegraph Sport ahead of this year's Women's Ashes. “We didn't plan to stay, but we looked around a bit, so it's a nice little coincidence. I played in the backyard with my brother and father. And then that same season I started playing real cricket, that was the first year.”
A decade later, Lichfield is ready to make her Ashes debut, playing alongside and against some of those she saw as a child at Lord's.
“I'm leaving camp with a beaming smile on my face because I just netted with Ellis Perry and batted with Alyssa Healy, who signed my bat when I was 12 and still have that bat!” Litchfield says. “I respected these people and I have the opportunity to play with them before they retire. It's pretty cool.”
Lichfield hits in a one day streak against Pakistan in January. Credit: Bradley Canaris/Getty Images
The 20-year-old made her international debut on the Australian tour of India last December, playing two T20s, but it was during the home series against Pakistan that it became clear why she was so eagerly awaited. Lichfield spent half a century in a row in her first two ODIs, starting to hit with a confidence that belied her age.
The absence of a permanent captain and top slugger, Lanning, who withdrew due to health issues, pushed Lichfield even higher up the pecking order.
“Going to India on my first tour, I was excited but very nervous, Litchfield says. “This tour has been in development for a while because the lineup was announced a while ago. I was just so excited and nervous, but I think I'm more excited and it's a good feeling.
“I grew up watching Ashes highlights for men and women on YouTube. . This year I was so excited watching Ashes and I was like, 'OK, no, I'm actually playing in it.' It was such an amazing event on the calendar and now I can be a part of it.”
The hype surrounding Lichfield, which hails from Orange — a country town about 160 miles west of Sydney — began when a social media video of the then 16-year-old thrashing the net went viral .
Some good shots.
Introducing Phoebe Litchfield. pic.twitter.com/IR1umhErky
— NSW Women's Cricket Team (@CricketNSWWomen), July 9, 2019
The word 'elegant' is often attributed to lefties, but it doesn't quite capture Litchfield's delightful fluidity , though the online rapture that followed took her by surprise.
“I didn’t even know my video was being filmed and then a friend showed me at school and I was like, ‘Oh, what is this?’ and then everything just exploded.”
“ People were asking for interview and she went from that nobody from Orange to the next girl with good technique and I didn't even play a game for New South Wales. It was rather strange. Such added pressure when I debuted, this young lady who has all this attention: is she even good at all?
The answer came in impressive performances at the national level – she made her Women's Big Bash debut shortly after the network's video was released – and the only question left is when she will get her first Australian baseball cap.
She got her chance due to the injury of the first left-hander Beth Mooney in India; Litchfield was the obvious replacement.
Bestowed with natural athleticism and fine hand-eye coordination, the teenage Litchfield was an athletic all-rounder who also excelled at hockey and tennis and lived in the countryside. Australia provided ideal conditions.
“We had a tennis court, which was very lucky, and I probably wouldn’t be the cricketer that I am if we didn’t have one in our backyard,” says Litchfield. “There was a small cricket field in the corner, so I went there every day and played cricket with my brother, and my dad threw balls, and then we got a bowling alley.
“We had a whole setup and that's all I remember from my childhood. Just hitting balls out of the ball machine and perfecting the technique and then as I got stronger I could hit it around the tennis court and into the paddock and it progressed from there.”
Lichfield had an impressive season in New South Wales earlier this year. Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
Litchfield's batting is perhaps a more natural fit for the 50-over format. She averaged almost 50 points for NSW in the last season of Australian domestic one-day competitions, although her T20 finishes have steadily increased.
But while her selection has yet to be confirmed, the possibility of making her Test debut at the Trent Bridge would fulfill a dream born when she honed the technique in her backyard with her older brother while wearing replica Australian Test caps won in the competition.
< p>“We dressed in white clothes, put on impromptu baggy greens and went outside. So I think I was not showing it, but it was always a dream. Potentially getting our hands on it would mean a lot, and my dad said, 'I'll be there no matter what,' because he missed both of my other debuts, and he was a huge part of that.”
Australia has a phenomenal depth of ball selection, but Lichfield is determined to take every opportunity that comes up during the multi-format Ashes series, which starts with the Nottingham test on Thursday.
“I'm ready if that space needs to be filled,” says Litchfield. “We have a lot of depth and that's why I'm very happy to be there. But if they need me, I will definitely raise my hand.”
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