Cricket: Trio excited by Ferns visit

Northland Women's cricketers Tia Saunders, Olivia Lobb and Paige Golightly are eagerly awaiting the White Ferns playing in the city.

It has already been an exciting summer of cricket for Tia Saunders, Olivia Lobb and Paige Golightly but it's about to get even better with the White Ferns soon to arrive in Whangarei for two matches against England.

The opportunity to watch top class women's cricket at Cobham Oval next month has bowled over the Whangarei Girls High School trio.

"I'm so excited that the White Ferns will be playing here, we will all be here watching," Lobb said. "Paige and I have played against a couple of the White Ferns this year, so it will be interesting to see them play up at that higher level."

Sixteen-year-old Lobb and 15-year-old Golightly have been earmarked as future stars of the game and like 16-year-old Saunders are already playing regularly at the representative alongside much older players.

"They are trying to create more depth in New Zealand women's cricket by bringing more young girls through and we can definitely see that in Northern Districts cricket - for us to be playing in the U21s and 18s - you can see that they're trying to get us established early and eventually give us a chance to play for the Northern Spirit and hopefully the White Ferns," Lobb said.

Consistent performances earlier in the season saw the wicket-keeper batsman and right arm pace bowler Golightly earn the opportunity to play against some of the country's best young players at the national under-21 tournament at Lincoln University recently.

The pair represented Northern Districts and quickly discovered the level of competition was a big step up on what they had experienced earlier in the season. They played four one-dayers and three T20 games and only lost two of them, eventually finishing in third place.

"It was pretty hard getting into it at the start of the tournament but it was a good learning experience for me. It was a big step up but it went all right," Golightly said.

The three cricketers had played prominent parts as the Northland Secondary School team won the Northern District title and their Whangarei Girls High School team qualified for - and played at - the secondary school's national tournament.

On her return from Lincoln, Lobb captained the ND U18s in a two-match Twenty20 series against Auckland, which also included in-swing bowler Saunders and fellow Northlander Jade Litchfield.

"We're even pretty young for the U18s there are players a couple of years older than us in that so it's always challenging, but rewarding," Saunders said.

It will also be rewarding for the players to measure themselves against what they see when the White Ferns play England at Cobham Oval in two T20 matches on February 19-20.

The series, which begins on February 11 at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, features three one-day internationals as part of the International Women's Championship, followed by three T20s and two further ODIs.