CHENNAI: In the depths of the internet, specifically on Instagram, lies an account that identifies itself as a "Fruit and Vegetable Shop." The bio of this account helps one make sense of that identification. It reads, "Some very raw produce here..." and the account is called 'philms by phoebs'. And yes, it is run by Australian international Phoebe Litchfield. The account with just over 100 followers is where Litchfield is not a dual sports prodigy who took the world by storm at the age of 15 or the one who is the youngest full-time captain in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL). It's just the place where the 21-year-old is just a goofy college kid.
"God, I forgot about that one. I haven't done much on it recently," Litchfield told this daily before the playoffs of the Women's Premier League in Mumbai for Gujarat Giants and she had a good reason behind it. "I have just been too busy. But, I'm studying media and comms at University and doing a kind of film degree in that. I just keep practicing with my camera. A bit of creativity on tour, but also at home. That's pretty much how it came about," she added.
Outside of this still developing skill, Litchfield has been sensational at her day job since her international debut, which happened to be in India at the end of 2022. And she still pinches herself on how she made it into the top order of one of the best teams in women's cricket at just 19. "I was surprised when I got picked up in the Aussie stuff. The top-order there has been just unbelievable, and they've been so successful for a long period. It was pretty much Rachael Haynes retiring and Meg Lanning stepping away that made a spot for me. Credit to domestic structures in Australia that allowed me to come in seamlessly. It wasn't too far of a jump in terms of standards. That just shows that domestic cricket in Australia is not far off from international cricket. And I was able to play four years of it before putting on the yellow," Litchfield reflected on her journey so far.
Growing up, the left-handed batter had her sporting calendar packed. Cricket took over most of the summer, whether it was backyard games with family or participation in domestic competition. Once the summer got over and cricket kits got packed, a field hockey pitch became Litchfield's second home. When the time came, Litchfield chose cricket over hockey for her international career, but she believes some of the technical skills she has learned from hockey still help her in cricket. "I think that growing up, having to play hockey right-handed made me use skills that I probably wouldn't have done if I didn't play a right-handed sport, if you know what I mean. I had to learn how to play it right-handed. The coordination, speed, agility, and reaction time, you probably can train through cricket, but a ball being smacked at you and you have to trap it right-handed. It forms skills that I probably wouldn't have had otherwise."
Known for her switch hits, Litchfield believes that hockey has played a role in establishing the base for that particular skill, which is a rare commodity in women's cricket. "Whether that relates to cricket or not, I do find a bit of my reverses and then the ability to move laterally, sprinting, all that stuff came on through hockey. The hockey swing, I guess, carries over to the switch hit. Sometimes I make it look a bit silly, but more often than not, I can execute it like I want to, which is nice."
With Gujarat making it to the playoff of the WPL for the first time after remaining the wooden spoon of the competition over the first two seasons, Litchfield was ecstatic to see her side finish third after the group stage. "I think we have gotten better. In recent times, we probably haven't performed as well as we wanted to. But I also believe the biggest difference has been the domestic talent. The revelation of Kashvee (Gautam) coming through. Obviously she was injured last year but has offered a massive upper hand for us. And I think that's probably where we've lacked in the past," she added.
The Australian opener was particularly happy for Gautam, who has proved to be mature for her age in the competition. Litchfield hopes her birthday twin has impressed the Indian selectors because she believes Gautam is ready to play for India. "It's just good fun. We've had a few good battles. I'm thinking ahead. We're the same age, and she's probably gonna be playing for India very soon. So we're gonna have a lot of battles in the future. I'm trying to take as many notes as possible (laughs). In all seriousness, she is a really good player with both bat and ball and in the field. A special talent for India," Litchfield said with a grin.
The topsy-turvy season for Gujarat Giants came to an end when they went down against Mumbai Indians on Thursday at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The same stadium where Litchfield played one of her first international fixtures before finding her feet as a swashbuckling batter. With the help from international duo Natalie Sciver-Brunt (77) and Hayley Mattews (77), Mumbai reached 213 for four in the first innings as Gujarat didn't help their cause by dropping multiple catches. In the chase, despite some contribution from Litchfield (31), the target was too far for the Ashleigh Gardner-led side. Gujarat's hopes came crashing with the loss. However, the team and Litchfield do have a few lessons to take from this dream run for a team dubbed the wooden spoon of the competition.
Brief scores: MI 213/4 in 20 ovs (Sciver-Brunt 77, Matthews 77; Gibson 2/40) bt GG 166/10 in 19.2 ovs (Gibson 34, Litchfield 31; Matthews 3/31).
