WBBL debut was crazy and felt like a dream, says Phoebe Litchfield
16-year-old Phoebe Litchfield was extremely excited for her WBBL debut and said that it was like a dream come true for her. The youngster debuted for Sydney Thunder and impressed a lot of her seniors like Alyssa Healy and hence is tipped to represent Australian Women's team sooner than thought.
Phoebe Litchfield lasted only 22 balls, but this stint of her was enough to raise a lot of eyebrows. many have already tipped her to wear the baggy greens one day. The 16-year-old was pumped up after her debut and said that it was a dream come true for her.
"I aspired to be in the Big Bash and now I'm playing in it, so it's a great experience and I'm just happy to be here," she told ESPN Cricinfo.
"It was crazy and felt like a dream," she added.
She strung a good 50+ partnership with veteran Alex Blackwell, who has 251 caps for Australia. She believes the partnership gave her tremendous confidence and Blackwell helped her settle down very nicely.
"It was a great experience, having [Alex Blackwell] out there made me a bit more calm which was nice. It's a very good spot to watch, at the other end, Alex go at it," she said.
Litchfield not only plays cricket but also has played hockey at the under-16 level and continues to represent Australia in the sport. Being a left-hander in cricket, she explains her difficulty to play right-handed in hockey. She believes she will be able to maintain the balance between both the sports as she loves both cricket and hockey.
"I have to play hockey right-handed so it took me a while to get good at that. I didn't do a reverse sweep today, but the reverse comes out and that's sort of a hockey shot," she said.
"I like having the off-season to get my head off cricket, it's a nice fitness booster and I think if played cricket all year I'd probably get sick of it, so it's nice to switch over," she added.
She knows that there will come a point where she will have to select one of the two sports as a priority. But for now, she would like to enjoy both the sports equally and she believes that one sport gives her the time to get her mind off the other one for some time which helps her relax.
"Most likely [I will have to choose] because the season is getting bigger and bigger and there are lots of competitions around the world, but I'm not thinking about that soon. If cricket asks me to stop, I'll stop, but for now I'll keep playing both," she concluded.