CAVENDISH-raised sportswoman Emma Kearney wants to establish herself as a VicSpirit regular this summer.
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Kearney, 25, has turned her focus to her cricket after capping off her winter with best-and-fairest honours at her football club, Melbourne University.
The pace bowler will line up with Women’s Premier Cricket flag fancy Essendon-Maribyrnong Park in its season opener against Melbourne on Sunday.
But it’s the chance to cement herself in the VicSpirit side, under coach Barry Neivandt, which has her excited about the change of seasons.
Kearney, speaking from a Western Waves girls’ camp at Dunkeld yesterday, said she was keen to build on her debut season with the state side.
She took six wickets in nine Twenty20 and one-day matches, with her best figures coming on debut against South Australia, 2-13 from eight overs.
“For me personally I’d like to cement my spot in the side and hopefully play both formats of the game,” she said.
“I played a couple of the games in the Twenty20 competition but not many so I’m hoping to play both formats.
“From a team point of view, we want to win both the national title for the Twenty20 and one-day competitions.”
Kearney said she was “pretty happy” with her debut season.
“It was more of a consistency thing. My good was really good and up to the standard but the bad wasn’t quite up to the standard,” she said.
“I was pretty pleased. It was my first hit-out at that level. I need to get more consistency.”
Neivandt backed Kearney to have an impact wearing state colours.
The Spirit opens its season against South Australia next weekend, with two Twenty20 matches on Friday and Sunday split by a one-day match on Saturday.
“For her sake I hope she does (cement her spot),” Neivandt said.
“She’s a cracking girl. Her work ethic, her determination, she’s a terrific person, she’s got the world at her feet,” he said.
“She’s working on a couple of things technically with her fielding and her batting, as well as her bowling.
“She’s going to be a terrific VicSpirit player, a long-serving one, I have no qualms about that, just because of her attitude.”
Neivandt said there was more intrigue surrounding the women’s domestic season than in the past because of the quality of cricketers playing in Australia.
England internationals Charlotte Edwards, Heather Knight and Sarah Taylor will feature pre-Christmas, before returning home for national duties.
Edwards has joined Western Fury, Knight will play with Tasmania Roar while Taylor highlights the South Australia Scorpions squad.
The Scorpions have also secured New Zealander Sophie Devine while another Kiwi, Sara McGlashan, will play with ACT Meteors.
“Absolutely the women’s game is shifting. It’s a precursor to next year’s proposed BBL (Big Bash League) for women,” Neivandt said.