It was disappointing to tie the ODI series after leading 2-1, but that’s better than England have managed in Australia for a long time
Charlotte Edwards14-Feb-2008
Fair and square: Edwards and Rolton with the trophy after the series was tied 2-2 © Getty Images
We arrived in Sydney, my favourite city, last Tuesday afternoon. I wasvery excited to be back, but a bit disappointed with the weather because itwas raining when we arrived, and had been for the past week.We had a half-hour turnaround at our lovely apartments before we were dueback out at the British Consulate for a reception for the squad. The viewfrom the room we were in was awesome: we could see the SydneyOpera House and Harbour Bridge – the first image of Sydney for a largenumber of the girls, and they loved it. I love these receptions, because weget to meet some really interesting people, and this time we were served somedelicious food too. The coconut chicken and prawns were among myfavourites.On Wednesday it was still raining, so we had indoor nets at the SCG. TheAustralian men were training at the same time as us, so we got to watcha bit of their session.That night we went to Coogee Bay for dinner. Unfortunately, it rained allnight, but the food and company were brilliant and we were all on good formand looking forward to the game the next day.However, the next morning at 8am we were told that the ground was waterlogged andour game was in serious doubt. An hour or so later it was confirmed the game hadbeen cancelled despite bright sunshine where we were staying. So weheaded down to the SCG for nets and a little bit of a run-around with afrisbee and football (not at the same time though!), as well as a quick dipin the pool.Thursday’s game would have been my 100th ODI for England, so we had arrangeda team meal for that night at my favourite restaurant in Sydney, Nicks, onCockle Bay Wharf. Although I hadn’t yet made 100 ODIs, we still decided to goout and celebrate. It was a lovely meal, with lots of banter and some kindwords from some of the players. Tails (Claire Taylor), who I’ve playedinternational cricket with for ten years, made a touching speech and it feltreally special to be sharing this moment with this great group of girls.On Friday we had been invited to hospitality at the ODI between Australiaand Sri Lanka. It was another chance to pull out our Paul Costelloe numberones, and was a really enjoyable afternoon and evening. It was good to beable to catch up with our former coach Richard Bates, who has moved outhere to coach the New South Wales Breakers. The cricket wasn’t asentertaining – Australia won easily – as the massages and manicures that were on offer as part of thehospitality!After another training day at the SCG on Saturday, my 100th ODI dawned thefollowing day. It was a really big couple of games for us with the seriesstanding one apiece and we were all really focused and looking forward tothe challenge.I lost another toss and Australia opted to bat first. They got off to a goodstart – 112 for 2 off 24 – but a magnificent performance from all the bowlersand fielders managed to restrict them to 177. Although we’d done well, weknew reaching that target would be hard work on that wicket because it wasits fifth day of cricket and was really worn. We lost our two openers earlyon and as I came to the crease, we were 37 for 2. However a great partnershipbetween myself and Tails gave us the win. We lost Tails on 168 for 3 and some and Lydia saw us home, with me hitting the winning runs.On a personal note, it was obviously a great day to beat Australia inAustralia in my 100th ODI, and to hit the winning runs. It doesn’t get muchbetter than that. To beat them twice in a week, after having gone 19 years without beating them once in Australia, was pretty special. I was really proud of all the girls. We’ve had atough week (coach Mark Dobson and veteran player Jane Smit both quit suddenly) and the way the girls responded and pulled together was great. It was great to give Laney (new coach Mark Lane) his first win. He’s a greatcoach and the girls have responded really well to him. He knows a lot ofthem from his ten years’ experience in the women’s game and he’s great towork with.
Edwards with new coach Mark Lane, who stepped up to the top job after Mark Dobson resigned during the tour © ECB
Although we’d won, it was a quiet night in with pizzas. We were heading back to the SCG the next day hoping to clinch a series win inAustralia.When the game came round, we nearly didn’t bother to toss the coin because Karen Rolton keepswinning! Sure enough, I lost. It was the sixth day of cricket on the wicket and, as you can imagine, it wasn’t the best toss to lose. They batted first and made 211. I was really disappointed as we didn’t bowl or field to anywhere near our potential. However, there was a positive in Steph Davies making herinternational debut and taking four wickets. After a nervous start she came back really well and I was really pleased for her.That total was always going to be a big ask on that wicket and we fell 41 runs short, which we were bitterly disappointed with. Although we’re frustrated we didn’t clinch the series, there are so manypositives we can take from these games. It was first time we hadn’t lost to theAustralians since 1976, which was the first ever ODI series between the twosides. It was a great indicator that we cancompete with the best in the world, and we’ve shown a lot of character onthis trip, which is great to see for me as a captain. I can only see the teamgoing from strength to strength, which is fantastic given that the World Cupis only a year away and is here in Australia.We’ll take a huge amount of confidence into the Ashes Test match whichstarts on Friday. Obviously, there’s quite a lot of hype around the game, butboth teams are looking forward to playing a great game of cricket at a greatvenue. It’ll be a tough battle but one we’re definitely prepared for andlooking forward to. Our match forms part of the centenary celebrations around Don Bradman’sbirth, which makes it extra special. We’ve enjoyed our last few days inSydney seeing a few of the sights and tomorrow we head to Bowral for ourAshes defence.