Girls commence training in India

After an early start and a long day’s travel, the girls training squad from Leinster finally reached their destination of Pune (three hours outside Mumbai) on Saturday, December 12th and were quickly allocated their rooms at the exclusive Royal Western Turf Club.

All of the party were allowed a good night’s sleep. However, there was no time wasting as the first training session was planned for the Pune club on Sunday afternoon.

The ground is hosting a 4-day Ranji Trophy match next week involving local state side Maharashtra and Baroda however nets were made available to the girls for two hours of batting drills with 30 minutes put aside at the end of the day for fielding practice.

Local bowlers of various standard have been line up to bowl to the girls over the duration of the camp. The girls will be involved in an intense 10-day training programme, which will no doubt benefit different aspects of their games.

This is the third successive year the Leinster Cricket Union has arranged and supported young players from the province to attend this Academy.

For any aspiring cricketer looking to develop their game this is an excellent opportunity to experience and learn about the sub continent approach to cricket, and in particular the way they coach and the different methods they use.

The squad attending the camp this year include: Laura Cullen (Clontarf) Melissa Scott Hayward (Leinster) Laura Delany (Leinster) Louise McCarthy (Pembroke) Shauna Kavanagh (Pembroke) Along with coaches: Nigel Pyne (Leinster Cricket Union) Clare Shillington (Malahide)