Despite losing the one-off Test against the Indian women last week, there is still a lot to play for the Aussie women, as the limited-overs leg is yet to begin. All-rounder Ashleigh Gardener is hopeful of finding some form during the series. While she is ranked as the second-best all-rounder in the world, she hasn’t quite been able to deliver the sort of performances, she would be happy with, but the series starting on Thursday will be a good chance for her.
After giving it her best in the Test, where she bowled over 50 overs, she is all but ready for the upcoming series. “I surprisingly recovered quite quickly, I haven’t felt like I bowled 50 overs in a Test match a couple of days ago, so I feel ready to go again,” Gardner was quoted as saying by ICC.
Addressing her lean patch with the bat, she said, “I feel like I’m not that far away. I don’t think it’s technical, it’s just not being able to make clear decisions. In a place like India, you have to be really clear on your gameplan and that’s something that I’m really going to focus on in these last six games over here in India.”
Now Gardener just hopes her bowling form would translate into some batting form as well. “That’s something that I’ve done over the last few years, really tried to hone in on what I’m really good at with the ball and being able to utilise that more often than not.
“That comes back to Alyssa Healy having a lot of faith in me with the ball at the moment, which has put my confidence in a really good place. I’m in a really good spot with the ball at the moment and hopefully that can transfer over to the bat as well,” Gardner added.
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