Sunny ‘Scarbados’ has provided perfect preparation for Diamonds ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Southern Vipers; Watch the final live on Sky Sports Cricket and our YouTube channel from 10.30 am
Seamer Phoebe Graham blogs about how tremendous weather on and off the court in ‘Scarbados’ has helped boost Northern Diamonds’ hopes of winning a national final in the third moment of asking …
We hope this is the third time we get lucky when we take on Southern Vipers in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy final on Saturday!
We’ve reached two finals before, at last summer’s RHF Trophy and this year’s Charlotte Edwards Cup, and we’re excited to take our game one step further.
The team dynamics are brilliant right now after spending a great couple of days at Scarbardos (Scarborough). The sun has been shining and we have enjoyed time together as a team.
Our local Dutchman Sterre Kalis asked, “Is it always like this in Scarborough … since I really like this city?” It’s not a city, but I think your comment sums up England very well – on a sunny day it can be absolutely fabulous!
I played at Scarborough for the first time in the RHF Trophy play-off on Wednesday and it was great terrain; the court had so much carry and rebound, which is something you can only wish for as a rhythm bowler.
We kept Central Sparks at 175-7 with our bowling attack showing strength and depth as ever. Our opening pair played fantastic with Langers [Beth Langston] and slats [Rachel Slater] taking two each and our spinning queens [Katie] Levick and [Linsey] Smith also joins the party.
Going into the second half, it was so good to see my old housemate Ami Campbell score 76 fabulous runs on 78 balls after what has been a difficult season for her. It really shows that hard work and resilience pays off and that’s something we have on this team in abundance.
We have grown more and more as a team and I think it will be a great fight between us and Southern Vipers over the weekend.
I can’t wait for the final weekend and I hope this time we can take the Northern Diamonds one step further.
Watch Southern Vipers take on Northern Diamonds from 10:30 a.m. M. On Sky Sports Cricket and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
