Emma definitely has bright future in store
SHE may not be spending her winter at the Women’s Big Bash but it may well be one of many cricketing stages that 18-year-old Emma Lamb lights up in the near future.
The young Lancashire Thunder batter from Preston enjoyed a successful inaugural Kia Super League this summer as the team’s second-highest run scorer, with 122 runs from five innings.
She opened in every game with New Zealand all-rounder Amy Satterthwaite and was the only non-international to feature among the top-ten group-stage run scorers at a strike rate of 104.27.
Only Satterthwaite, who is currently playing alongside England captain Heather Knight for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash, scored more for the Thunder in 2016.
And it was the experienced Kiwi who had a big impact on Lamb, who was called up to the England squad for the first time in November.
On her return, Lamb admitted she would be thrilled to follow in the footsteps of Satterthwaite and her England teammates in getting a chance at the Aussie T20 tournament in the near future.
“Looking at other England players and how they are at the Big Bash in Australia – they look like they are enjoying it and doing well and I definitely want to follow them,” she said. “If the opportunity came around I would definitely be keen.
“I learned a lot from the overseas players (during the summer), mainly in terms of technical batting stuff.
“Amy Satterthwaite has a lot of experience in New Zealand and of international cricket, she did well and was good to be around and learn from in training and games.
“The Kia Super League was a really good experience; it was a good competition and a good standard.
“Playing with overseas stars and international players from different countries, I learned a lot.”
Lamb made her Lancashire debut at the tender age of 14, broke into the England Academy set-up a year later and became the first woman to compete in the Cheshire County Cricket League in 2015.
In that landmark match for Bramhall 1st XI, she played alongside her brother Danny, now 21, who has since gone on and earned himself a professional contract with Lancashire.
Since the summer, Lamb’s development as a potential international cricketer continued with her selection as one of seven England Academy players to be chosen for a training camp in Abu Dhabi.
After impressing head coach Mark Robinson at that camp, she was selected to take the only remaining slot in the England squad for their four-match tour of Sri Lanka.
And while Lamb didn’t make it onto the field, she felt the experience was extremely worthwhile for her development as a cricketer as England secured World Cup qualification with a 4-0 series win.
“It was great to learn out there, and through individual practice I felt I proved in the warm-up games that I could score runs,” she added.
“The coach (Mark Robinson) was going to take one player to go to Sri Lanka from the training camp so I was trying to prove myself.
“He said one more player was going to be picked off the back of the Abu Dhabi games, it was pretty late, five days before I went out, so it could have been anyone.
“It was great being selected, being part of the team and around the England girls. I got to train with the coaches who didn’t know me and the first team, so hopefully I made an impact.”