Haynes: 'It's all in our hands'
Tue, 12 January 2010
VicSpirit captain Rachael Haynes says her team is primed to play the "best possible cricket" this weekend and onwards into the WNCL final in a fortnight. Fresh from making a career-best 126 at the Adelaide Oval last weekend, Haynes is hoping VicSpirit can clinch hosting rights to this year's final with strong wins against the ACT girls from Friday. A Twenty20 game at the MCG, preceding the Victoria-Tasmania game on Friday will be followed by two one-day games against the ACT, matches vital to the Victorians who hope to stop arch rivals NSW from again hosting this year's final. "This weekend's results will dictate who hosts (the finals)," she said. "We'll be looking to win both games and as strongly as we can. "The experience we have gained as a team over the last 12-18 months has been invaluable. Last year we went through a similar (winning) pattern in the lead-ups and tripped up at the final hurdle. We're better for that experience. We all know our own games better and having defeated NSW in two of the three games we played against them earlier in the year. We now know that we can beat them, which is a fantastic thing. "But right now out total focus is on ACT and playing consistently enough to win all three matches." Haynes says the improvement from Julie Hunter stepping into regular new ball duties has been a major factor in Victoria's improvement, along with the consistency of ex-captain and top-order bat Sarah Elliott who is in career-best form and along with Julie and others in prime contention for a call-up into the Australian team for the coming Rose Bowl challenge games. Haynes says Victoria's fielding has also been a big factor, "although we didn't execute things quite the way we wanted in Adelaide." Girls like Jess Cameron have been excellent in outrider positions, making the Vics truly menacing in the field. Haynes says she has enjoyed the challenges of being a first-time captain. "The position is made easier when you're winning," she says. "The girls have been very supportive of me which has made my role easier." Until the weekend her highest score all representative summer had been just 33, so she was relieved to make a big score on one of the great grounds of all, Adelaide. "I had been getting a lot of starts, lots of 20s and 30s so it was nice to go on this time," she said. Haynes said it was a bonus for all the girls to be playing on some of the marquee grounds like Adelaide and the Sydney Cricket Ground and the MCG. "Hopefully if we host, the final will be at the MCG which would be wonderful again for all of us," she said.
by Ken Piesse
