Seamer Grace Ballinger says that The Blaze are charting a course for continuous improvement in their game ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Warwickshire (10.30am start).
“We’re in a good place as a squad,” said Ballinger. “No one wants to get off to a losing start, especially at home, but I think we definitely rectified that up in Durham.
“There’s still a long way to go, but our confidence is good, especially after the first win, and with some other results going our way, the table’s looking good too.”
Ballinger has retained her place in Head Coach Craig Cumming’s unchanged 13-strong squad for the trip to Edgbaston, following on from Sunday’s win away to Durham.
The Blaze’s triumph in the North-East, by five wickets, was driven by the performances of the spin department, but Ballinger is bullish about the prospects of the seam attack too.
“We’re pleased so far,” said Ballinger. “We have a good balanced seam attack. There are improvements to be made, but we’re feeling good.
“I obviously bowl left-arm in-swing and Charley has her right-arm swing to take it away from the batter, and then we have [Kathryn Bryce] who can do a bit of everything!
“We think we have all bases covered, and we have been really able to showcase our skills through the middle period.
“While we feel we can still improve on our consistency, we’re in a pretty good place if we don’t think we’re quite yet at our best but we’re still bowling teams out for 200!”
For Birmingham-born Ballinger, a trip to Edgbaston could be considered to have extra intrigue, but she is magnanimously treating the occasion as little different to any other outing.
“It's just another game, really,” she said. “I definitely consider Trent Bridge home, but there’s a degree of enjoyment when I go back to Edgbaston.”
“It’s where I spent the first 17 years of my life playing cricket, and I love bowling there. It’s a great ground, and I’ve had decent success there, so I definitely enjoy going back.
“There’s also that Midlands rivalry, which adds a bit to it and is nice, but really I’m always happy to play at Edgbaston and hopefully contribute to another win.”
Having won one of their first two outings in this season’s Metro Bank One Day Cup following the change to the women’s domestic structure, Ballinger remains confident about The Blaze’s prospects.
“There’s still a bit of uncertainty about where teams will place themselves in the league,” she explained.
“But we definitely feel, with a good degree of confidence, that if we play our best form of cricket, we can come out on top against whoever we play against.
“It’s definitely no different heading to Edgbaston.”
