Julie hunting for home final
Thu, 14 January 2010
The DEC VicSpirit are well and truly up to the challenge of securing a WNCL home final, according to leading pace bowler, Julie Hunter. Four points clear of New South Wales heading into the last round of the season, the Spirit are already assured a place in the WNCL final, but victories over the ACT Meteors this weekend will guarantee a home final at the MCG on January 30. Hunter, who's taken 10 WNCL wickets so far this season at 22.3 with a best of 4-34, said the Spirit are pleased to have their fate in their own hands. "The home final would be an advantage for us and certainly the idea of finishing on top and taking that momentum with us into the final is something that we would really like to do," Hunter said. "Our goal is to win both of our games and finish on top of the ladder." The Spirit, who are undefeated in the Women's Twenty20 competition this season, will host the Meteors in the last of their Twenty20 round robin matches at the MCG on Friday before the WNCL double-header to be played at the Junction Oval on Saturday and the 'G' on Sunday. Hunter said the Spirit are taking nothing for granted and have the utmost respect for the Meteors who are sitting third on the WNCL competition table and fourth in the T20. "They've proven that they're capable of winning games," she said. "They've beaten New South Wales and they've got players that have had a bit of experience at WNCL level and some players that have not had as much opportunity and are really keen to prove themselves." "They've got nothing to lose so we really expect them to come out firing." "Our challenge will be to play our style of play and approach them with the same style that we have with every other team." "Fitness-wise we need to approach it like we are playing three games and do our recovery and all our preparation the right way, but our focus for the Twenty20 on Friday and our style of play will be different from the two one-dayers." The absence through injury early in the season of Victoria's senior pace bowler Clea Smith provided Hunter with a challenge to fill the breach. She feels she's a better bowler for it and is now looking forward to working in tandem with a fit-again Smith who will open the bowling in Friday's Twenty20 clash and the second of the WNCL matches at the MCG on Sunday. "It's been a big opportunity and one that I've really enjoyed, as much as I've missed working with her and love it when she's there," said Hunter of Smith. "It's been a good chance for me to step up and take on a different role and so far I've really enjoyed it." "It's been different for me where Clea's usually been the one helping me develop and I've now stepped up into a different role and it's great to see some other young partnerships coming through." Hunter credits the evenness of the Spirit squad for the team's excellent season. "One of the biggest things we've got going for us is the depth that we've got in our batting line-up and the fact that we don't rely on one or two players to do the job," she said. "If one person has a bad day, someone else is guaranteed to step up." "If we can continue to do that and we have a couple of days where everyone contributes then we're guaranteed some success down the track."
Angus Morgan, Sportal
