Governor-General XI 183 for 8 (Voll 57, Healy 38, Ecclestone 3-27, Dean 2-20) vs England
Match abandoned
After the game had been called off due to frequent stoppages, Healy had a 20-minute keeping session on the outfield with Australia’s coaching staff ahead of Sunday’s first ODI.
Rain delayed the start after the toss had taken place and when play did begin, Filer struggled to keep her footing from the Scoreboard End and slipped four times before rain took the players off again.
On resumption, Filer did not complete her opening over with Nat Sciver-Brunt bowling the final delivery. Filer later returned from the Fig Tree End but again kept slipping over in her delivery stride and finished with figures of 2.5-0-33-0.
However, England coach Jon Lewis was not overly concerned by Filer’s difficulties saying it was something she often did at training as she powered through the crease and that the damp conditions made it additionally challenging.
“It’s a very similar thing to what Mark Wood does,” Lewis said. “When your front foot lands, you are trying to get your front leg and to do that you pull your leg back…so if there’s nothing for you to grip against when you pull your leg then you tumble. It was little bit greasy out there so wasn’t ideal for her, but we hope the wicket on Sunday will be a little less grassy and a bit drier.”
“She’s pretty confident with where she’s at,” Lewis said. “She bowled well down pace there for what she would normally bowl because it was quite hard to stand up. When you are a bowler and it’s hard to stand up it’s not easy to put the ball where you want it because you are running in at 20kph an hour and trying to land a ball in a really small space.”
Whether Filer plays the opening ODI may come down to the fitness of Kate Cross, who didn’t featured in the warm-up game and instead bowled out at Cricket Central, following the back spasms that curtailed her tour of South Africa. Lewis said they would have a clearer picture of her availability in the next couple of days.
The forecast for the next couple of days in Sydney is for further showers which may impact the preparations of both sides.
