There's enough room there for most bowlers to come in off a full run, and for a wicket-keeper to stand back behind the stumps. With all of the individual lanes opened up, it's almost like batting in the middle. A box of new white balls arrived from somewhere, and a couple of young quicks came in for two or three sharp overs. The mat was a fast one, with plenty of bounce. From back of a length they got the ball up at throat height with ease. They had a good time doing it, too, especially when one of them whipped a short, sharp ball onto the grill of my helmet via an ill-advised, gloved hook.
Oh yeah, and both of the bowlers were women, in fact the same two who opened the bowling for England against Pakistan in Sydney yesterday, Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole.
Like most men who've watched women's cricket on TV, I'd wondered exactly how good they were, sometimes disparagingly. Well that day, I found out. They're good. In terms of pace, they were bowling in the mid to high 70mphs, which is pretty much what you'd face in a decent first XI club match: the real difference was in their groove. Professionals just get it right much more often. In the nets they bowled nothing loose at all, they were at you every ball and it all came with the ease and severity of natural talent.
Earlier I'd watched Claire Taylor bat in the outdoor nets, and she was in an altogether different league, as you'd expect from someone who'd knocked King Viv off the top of the honours board at Lord's (highest individual ODI innings). Utterly unhurried, the ball rang from her bat. I can't imagine she'd have a problem taking any high-grade club attack apart, and probably better than that, too (She's got a first in maths from Oxford as well. Some people...)
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