LAST year in the Women’s National Veterans Cricket Championship division one final game, Mildura’s Jenny Donnelly was left not knowing how to feel.
In unprecedented fashion, the Victorian team drew against rivals New South Wales, and with no precedent for such an occurrence, that ended up being the final result.
Donnelly, who has been named captain of the team this time around, said she was pumped for the over-40s competition, which would be held in Wollongong this year.
“I’ll be honest, I’m stoked – very excited and honoured to have been named captain,” she said.
“The best thing is, these are all mature ladies who have all played cricket for years.
“All have likely been acaptain or a leader at some point, I’d say they’re all generally going to know their role in cricket and they’re all very capable cricketers as it is anyway.”
Also the captain for Mildura Settlers, Connelly described her bowling style as “left arm floaters”, admitting she’d lost some of her pace over the many years she’d played.
“I’ve played for 30 years,” she said.
“Cricket has always been my favourite sport … I love the team aspect.
“When I was little, I hated batting.
“If you made a mistake you went out and wasted your day but when you’re bowling, you can bowl a dud but you get another chance.
“I used to just love that.
“I don’t know why but that used to be my favourite thing to say about why I like to bowl.”
The Blues will compete against all five other states in Australia.
While the odds of another draw are miniscule, Donnelly said she was comforted by the fact a plan was now in place should it happen again.
“It was super-mixed emotions on that one,” she said.
“We’d come so far, it got so intense, we didn’t know how to feel – it was definitely better than losing.
“Fortunately, this year there’ll be a super over if it happens again.”
The week-long event begins on Sunday for Victoria Blue, who play against Queensland Ashes in their first round at 10am.
