DUBAI // After a winter of woe for English cricket, the nation’s leading players are readying themselves for a summer Ashes duel against Australia.
And that is not exclusively Alastair Cook’s men’s side, who are trying to get back on track in their series against West Indies in the Caribbean.
England’s women are also contesting the Ashes against the old enemy this summer.
A number of the players aspiring to be involved are in the UAE. The England women’s academy side play the last 50-over game of their hastily-arranged four-match series against their Australian equivalent, the Shooting Stars, in Dubai at the ICC Academy this afternoon.
The players are less recognisable than the likes of Cook and Kevin Pietersen from the men’s game, which is no surprise given the squad is mostly made up of university students and players with day jobs.
Professional contracts are now on offer for women in English cricket, though.
Four of the squad on tour in Dubai have central contracts with the England and Wales Cricket Board.
However, the chance to earn a living from playing sport is not the sole driving force for each of the younger members of the touring party.
“It is a massive drive, but that isn’t my aim at all,” said Alex Hartley, a left-arm spinner who is on her first tour with the England academy.
“I just want to play for England. If I get paid or not, it’s not the end of the world. To play for England is a dream.”
It is fair to suggest she is committed to her cause.
Hartley was initially a part of England’s academy when she was 15, but was dropped after being told her batting and fielding needed improving, and has been out of the set-up for six years.
At 17, she attended college for a year, then was in and out of part-time work, but always had her eye on a recall.
Knowing that only performances in women’s county cricket would get the attention of selectors, rather than in the men’s cricket she plays more regularly, she moved clubs to join a top-division side.
She spent last summer doing weekend commutes from Clitheroe, in the north of England, to London to play county matches for Middlesex.
It is a round trip of more than 600 kilometres, but she is hoping it is a means to an important end.
“To give myself the best chance of playing for England I thought I best be playing division one cricket,” said the 21-year-old spinner, who took four wickets in the two-wicket loss to Southern Stars on Monday.
“I basically picked Middlesex out of a hat.
“I have travelled down every weekend as I still live in Clitheroe, but I’m looking to move down there this summer.”
Each of the women’s Ashes matches will be shown live on Sky television in the UK and Hartley, who acknowledges she is a long way off selection, hopes the team can make the most of the exposure.
“For a lot of the girls, with the men not doing well in the World Cup, it is a massive drive for us to do well in the Ashes this summer, for the women to say, ‘Look, this is what we do’,” she said.
“The Ashes is on TV this year, and we are being shown as much as the men, so that is fantastic step forward for women’s cricket.”
The series in Dubai was organised at late notice after a tour to South Africa fell through.
Lisa Keightley, the Australian coach who is in charge of the England women’s academy, said the workload of six matches in 15 days, in the heat of early summer in Dubai, has been a good test for the players.
“It is a pretty tough tour and it is about getting used to the heat for when they go to tour the subcontinent and places where it is really hot,” Keightley said.
“It is a real eye-opener for them for how fit they have got to be to be able to cope with the workload.
“It is great exposure and really valuable, even though this is probably one of the nicest places to tour.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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