Essex Women’s captain, Cordelia Griffith spoke to https://https://essexcricket.org.uk/ about her experiences playing alongside big-name international stars in last month’s Kia Super League, just missing out the chance to feature at Finals Day, which took place at The E.C.G in August.
Griffith, who signed with the Surrey Stars in the competition’s inaugural season, was joined by players such as England’s Natalie Sciver, Tammy Beaumont and Laura Marsh, and South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp.
It has been a pleasure and an amazing experience playing with and against such talented international players
“Not only did they pass on their knowledge and experiences, their professionalism and their work ethic was a lesson to us all.” said Griffith.
Surrey finished fourth out of the six teams — Southern Vipers, Loughborough Lightning, Yorkshire Diamonds, Western Storm and Lancashire Thunder — and just missed participating in the Finals Day at Chelmsford after finishing one win behind Loughborough, who beat them by 34 runs when the two sides met in mid-August.
But although the Stars did not make the final, which was won by the Vipers, Griffith said that she and her teammates gelled well and enjoyed their time in the competition.
She added, “Having played with and against some of the girls before, I already knew some of them very well, but we all bonded with ease and without doubt have formed some long term friendships.”
Griffith played in all five matches for Surrey and scored a total of 35 runs, including a high score of 14 against the Storm.
And Griffith provided an assessment of the talent level, saying, “I thoroughly enjoyed the level of competition as it was of a high standard and thus suitably challenging. As opposed to being technically challenging, it was more mentally challenging, in that I had to be able to perform and execute my skills in pressure situations.”
The Women’s Kia Super League will continue next year, potentially incorporating One Day matches into the format in addition to the T20s, and Griffith indicated that the success of this year’s competition will have a solid impact on the future of the competition and women’s cricket as a whole.
She said, “The KSL has been amazing in its first year. Not only has it produced a high standard of cricket for the players, it has propelled women’s cricket into the public eye, bringing in huge crowds and raising the profile of women’s cricket.
“Undoubtedly the competition will inspire young girls to get involved in the sport, but also encourage those already involved to aspire and strive for a place future Super League tournaments and to play against the best in the world without playing for their country.”
This interview was conducted by Don McDermott for https://https://essexcricket.org.uk/
