By ADEM SARICAOGLU
WERRIBEE cricketer Jess Cameron can’t wait for August.
The gun 23-year-old batter, who has made the cut on this year’s Southern Stars contract list, was one of 15 women selected to go to England for the upcoming Ashes tour, which will consist of one Test match, three ODIs and three T20 games against the old enemy.
Though it won’t be her first tour, Cameron said she rated the Ashes highly among her already impressive cricketing resume.
“Playing England is something that’s pretty massive here in Australia and I’m sure it’s just as massive over in England,” Cameron said.“It’s something that we’ve had going for so many years now and there’s always been good series and some close series.“So I’m just looking forward to getting over there and hopefully bringing back what’s ours.”
Cameron also rates the quality of the side she’ll be travelling with very highly, and said the inclusion of Dandenong batter Sarah Elliott would only add to the depth of the Test team.
“The squad that we have is the right squad to be over there and playing,” Cameron said.“Sarah Elliott’s the inclusion and her experience is really going to help us, so I think they’ve done well and picked the right players to go over there and take on England.”
Last week’s squad announcement coincided with Cricket Australia releasing details of the new player payment structure, which more than doubles what Australia’s top female cricketers have earned in recent years.
Cameron described the move as a “massive step forward”.
“All credit goes to Cricket Australia and the ACA (Australian Cricketers’ Association) for getting it all together and making sure that it could happen so quickly,” she said.
“Hopefully it continues to grow and I guess just making it semi-professional now, the girls growing up and playing cricket can look at it as a career option as well.
“We’ll find a lot of kids playing cricket and staying on longer and playing for a longer period of time as well.
“I think over the last few years we’ve seen a few young people retire, and people have been surprised by that.“I don’t think we’ll see as much of that happening now because obviously there’s a bit more money involved.”
The tour officially kicks off on 11 August with the Test match at Wormsley Cricket Ground before an ODI at Lord’s.
The final two T20s of the tour will coincide with men’s fixtures at the end of the month.
