Phoebe Litchfield was 16 when she watched, from the non-striker’s end, Brian Lara loft Andrew Symonds for a six over covers. In that charity match, the Bushfire Cricket Bash, at Melbourne in 2020, the left-hander also batted with Ricky Ponting.
Her teammates also included Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Wasim Akram, Brett Lee and Nathan Lyon. She got to meet Sachin Tendulkar, too. The little maestro was the coach of her side, the Ricky Ponting XI.
Litchfield would later say it was the best day of her life. She also said she felt so surreal that she had felt as if she was an imposter. She hadn’t played for Australia yet. But it was always going to be only a question of when, not if.
Litchfield had been recognised as a future star for Australian women’s cricket from a young age. She hasn’t disappointed. She is now one of the most exciting young talents in women’s cricket at the moment.
A fabulous strokeplayer who has shots all around the ground, she made an impact in the recent ODI series in India, too, though she played in just one match. That was the opening game of the series, at the spanking new PCA Stadium in Chandigarh, where her first contribution was a superb direct hit from extra cover, ending Smriti Mandhana’s innings. India’s danger woman was on 58 and was looking for much more – that innings would be the only one that didn’t turn into a hundred for her in the series – and her opening partnership with Pratika Rawal was worth 114.
The Smriti-Pratika combine has proved a huge success at the top of the order within a short span of time and Australia was desperate for a breakthrough.
Later, talking about that match, seasoned Australian batter Beth Mooney had acknowledged how vital that piece of fielding by Litchfield was. “After that first-wicket partnership for India, we dragged the momentum back through some amazing fielding by Litchfield,” she said.
India indeed lost a bit of momentum, but still managed to post its highest ever score against Australia – 281 for seven (a score which Harmanpreet Kaur’s women would go past twice in the three-match series).
But, the Aussie batters had little trouble in chasing it down, with eight wickets and nearly six overs to spare.
The chase was led by Litchfield with a fine 88 n.o off 80 balls. She was shaping up nicely for what would have been her third ODI hundred until she was caught while playing a reverse-sweep, one of her favourite shots, against Sneh Rana. But she had done her bit, and the task was completed by Mooney and Annabel Sutherland, another young star.
Shortly after walking away with the Player-of-the-Match award, Litchfield spoke of the way she was dismissed. “I live and die by the sword sometimes,” she said. “You have seen me get out today with the reverse.”
She also talked of the significance of batting, in what is the early stage of her career, alongside superstars like Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Mooney, all part of the golden generation of Australian women’s cricket.
“It is pretty good,” she said. “They keep me going but also bat ridiculously well. It is pretty nice to look down and have them batting at the other end. They make my job very easy. It is nice to have a calm head out there. Sometimes my head is racing, but they are masters of their craft.”
It didn’t take Litchfield long to make her presence felt even in the formidable Australian team, which has been the best in women’s cricket for a long time by some distance. She turned heads with her exploits in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). In 2019, playing for Sydney Thunder, she scored a fifty against Brisbane Heat in just her second game and became the youngest to hit a half-century in the league.
She was picked in the Australia-A team in early 2022 for the series at home against England-A. She made a couple of fifties in the One-Dayers. Later that year, she made it to the Australian side for the T20I series on the tour of India. She made her debut in the second game, at Navi Mumbai, but did not get to bat. In the last of the five-match series, she opened along with Mooney; she could make just 11, though.
A month later, in January 2023, she made her ODI debut against Pakistan. And quite a debut it turned out to be. She struck a splendid 78 not out off to lead Australia’s chase of the modest target set by the visitors, and she set the record, at 19, for the youngest Australian woman to score a fifty on debut. She followed it up with a 61-ball 67 not out in the second ODI. She was opening the innings in the series in place of the injured skipper Healy. And she made good use of the opportunity, cementing her place.
By June that year, she had also made her Test debut, against England at Nottingham. She scored 46 in the second innings. The year continued to get better for her, as she hit her maiden international hundred, in the third ODI against Ireland at Dublin. Then she smashed an 18-ball fifty against the West Indies in the second T20I at North Sydney.
She had worked hard on power-hitting. “I would really like to hit more sixes,” she said. “I am going to get in the gym and try to hit more sixes. That is the plan.”
The plan has worked. She added power to her technique and timing. And add to all that, her reverse sweep and switch hit, could cause headaches to the best of bowlers.
She also made a mark at the WPL, for Gujarat Giants, and The Hundred, in which she was the Most Valuable Player as she took Northern Superchargers to the title last month.
Now, she is looking forward to her maiden ODI World Cup. She certainly would be one of the players to watch out for in the tournament starting at Guwahati next week. New Chandigarh showed she was in good form, too. Mooney is hoping to see her flourish at the World Cup.
“I think Phoebe is an amazing player already at such a young age,” she said. “From my point of view, she is really clear on her own game plan and clear on her method, which helps when you walk out there having that clarity.”
Mooney is impressed about her attitude to the game, too. “She is quite fearless as a young player, likes to take the game on,” she said.
“She is a real deep thinker of the game as well. So you know she is going to come up with some kind of solution to whatever teams throw at her. And yes, it is nice to see her with her switch hits and reverses. Hopefully we will be seeing a bit more of that throughout the World Cup. She has been incredible for us and long may that continue.”
And she could be an Australian captain one day. In fact, last year, at 21, she was appointed the youngest full-time captain ever in the WBBL, taking over the reins of Sydney Thunder from Heather Knight.
Content Source: www.thehindu.com