Kim Garth has joined up with the Hobart Hurricanes WBBL team for six weeks as part of the leagues rookie programme. She has been part of the #CaneTrain as the Hurricanes won their first four matches in the competition, sending us an update on how life has been so far in Australia.
After a stressful 24 hours waiting around Bangkok, myself and Dells (Laura Delany) finally reached Bangkok airport on Monday evening (7th December). We were both feeling the same, so excited about what was ahead but nervous as well. I was lucky enough to have been offered six weeks in Hobart and so three days before I was due to be sitting semester one exams in the RDS I found myself on a plane to Australia!
Myself and Dells parted ways at the airport as she flew to Perth and myself to Hobart via Melbourne. I was greeted in Hobart by head coach of the Hobart Hurricanes Julia Price.
For my first few days I stayed in the Woolstore Hotel, the same hotel as the Australia Men’s team were staying in for their Test against the Windies. I ended up eating breakfast beside David Warner and Steve Smith the following morning but managed to play it cool!
On the first evening I went for dinner and met the team for the first time. Sash Maloney and Brook Hepburn were there to greet me so was great to see some familiar faces straight away (both played in Ireland last summer). I also managed to bump into Phil Simmons at the restaurant so my first evening wasn’t so daunting after all.
The following day I was given a tour of the Bellerive Oval and got to watch a bit of the Australia men training which was amazing, but then it was onto training myself. This consisted of a conditioning session followed by fielding and concluded with nets, so I was put through my paces on the opening evening but thoroughly enjoyed being part of the set up for the first time.
Over the following few days the girls showed me around Hobart. They spend a lot of time together which is quite similar to how things are at home in Ireland. Everyone has been incredibly nice and welcoming and I feel comfortable around them already which is so relieving.
On Friday I travelled up to Launceston which is two hours north of Hobart. The Melbourne Renegades were first up for the Hurricanes, on the Friday evening and then on the Saturday afternoon. Then it was the Adelaide strikers on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The Hurricanes won all four games with the two games on the Saturday going down to the last over.
Being able to be around the squad and see their match day routines was very interesting and just observing the cricket played during the four games was a big learning experience in itself. It very quickly highlighted to me specific areas that I need to work on in order to reach the top level. The thing that stuck out the most was that the girls who scored the most runs in those four games played straight and hit hard down the ground consistently. Another thing that was evident is how all teams clearly spend a lot of time on their fielding. The Hurricanes really looked like a slick unit throughout the games with some outrageous catches being taken.
This week I moved into a house owned by a girl who plays in the club I am playing for – Kingborough. The week was structured the same as the previous week with training on Wednesday and Thursday and two gym sessions also included this time around. Sash Maloney who spent the summer in Clontarf has been so good to me and we ended up packing a lot of activities into the week on top of training and the gym.
We went fishing with two of the other girls on the team. I quickly learned that it probably wasn’t something suited to me due to the patience required! It wasn’t the most successful morning with just two fish being caught between four of us but we got to see some dolphins that ended up swimming pretty close to the pier so that was really cool. We also managed to drive up to the top of Mount Wellington as well as visiting “Mona” a very interesting museum to say the least.
The opening week and a half in Tasmania has been amazing. It has already been a huge motivator for me and I am more determined than ever to improve my game so that I can perform well consistently on the international stage. This weekend the Hurricanes are off to Sydney and unfortunately I don’t get to travel to away games. Next week will be fairly quiet with all of the girls heading home for Christmas. I will however take full advantage of this and have already booked Head coach Julia Price for one-on-one sessions.
A thoroughly enjoyable experience so far and I am so excited to see what the next month has in store for me. For now though, Merry Christmas to all back home.
Yes
Connaught
