Clare Shillington a huge reason why I have stayed in the game: Shauna Kavanagh

“I loved watching the Ashes when I was younger and was obsessed with Jimmy Anderson, Brett Lee and Michael Clarke,” Kavanagh told Cricket Ireland in an interview. “Unfortunately we didn’t have the same visibility of the women’s game when I was younger, but I always looked up to Irish internationals like Nicki Coffey and Clare Shillington.

“In fact, Clare became hugely influential in my career. She really supported me through a lot of the tough times and had a huge reason why I have stayed in the game. I’m very lucky that I still have access to her as a coach at Pembroke CC,” added the right-hander.

Born in a cricketing family, Kavanagh started playing the game at a tender age of seven at Pembroke Cricket Club and started primarily as a bowler before taking up batting seriously only in 2017. “It was never really an option to start playing, it was just ingrained in us,” she said. “My dad was a wicket-keeper for the Club (Pembroke Cricket Club) - in fact, he still plays and we get to play together, which is lovely – although I’m not sure how many years he has left in him!”

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“I actually started off as a quick bowler and that’s how I broke into representative setups (her highlight was in 2011 when she took 7 for 23 for Ireland playing Worcestershire in the County Championships). I was predominantly a bowler up until about 2012, at which point I lost my action. I continued to bowl on-and-off up until about 2017, but by then batting had become the main focus.”

Kavanagh also spoke about her career-best ODI knock of 79 not out against Zimbabwe in 2018 which came in a tough situation when the side was reeling at 30 for 3 early on in the innings. “I remember that day really clearly and exactly how I felt. I was batting at 5 which was a new position for me, and still felt I was only just cementing my position in the starting XI,” she remembered.

“I had had some success against the Zimbabwe bowlers in the year prior to that tour (she scored 53 and 67 against Zimbabwe in South Africa in May 2017), so I was confident – but we were at that stage 30-3 and so there were still a few nerves. Zimbabwe were on top and we needed to rebuild.”

“I remember the first part of that innings because of how average it was – I scored my first 25 runs off about 70 or 80 balls, at which point we came off for rain, and I remember feeling disappointed, but we knew we had to soak up some pressure.”

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“We went back out to bat with a bit over 10 overs to go and with only about 100 runs on the board, so I was determined to take the bowlers on and try to give us a total to defend. I scored that last 50 runs of my innings (which included five sixes) at a pace that I possibly didn’t realise I was capable of,” she added. While Ireland lost the rain-curtained first game, they bounced back in the second. The third and final game of the series was washed out.

Ireland didn’t have a good T20 series either. While they lost the series opener narrowly, they never got to play again as the next four matches of the series were abandoned without a ball being bowled. “Unfortunately we had four straight wash-outs after that and played no more competitive cricket on the tour, which was highly frustrating and disappointing,” she said.

“However, I was really impressed with how everyone in our squad reacted to that. We had access to an indoor facility out there and essentially had an indoor training camp for the rest of the tour. Everyone got a huge amount out of that, and I think it’s testament to the squad that people knuckled down and ensured they left Zimbabwe better players that they were when they arrived. So the tour – despite the rain – proved of value overall.”

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Asked who are the toughest she had ever faced or bowled at, Kavanagh went straight to Sri Lanka and South Africa. “I haven’t bowled internationally in a while but I remember bowling at Chamari Atapattu in Sri Lanka in 2011 – she scored an incredible century and never looked like getting out. She was probably the toughest batter I remember bowling against. As for bowlers, Shabnim Ismail of South Africa generates so much pace and bounce and is really aggressive with her lines,” added Kavanagh, who has made 83 appearances for Ireland.

With no light on when cricket will resume, Cricket Ireland has been busy with the players working on their technical knowledge and fitness via numerous video-conferencing sessions as well as keeping themselves active in supporting their local clubs from a distance. Ireland are due to play in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers which was postponed because of the COVID-19 outbreak globally.

“I’m a Harry Potter fan and have the latest James Bond movie queued up to watch next. As for reading, I have way too many to name, as I usually have about five books on the go at once. In terms of sports books, I recently read Andre Agassi's autobiography ‘Open’ and I’m enjoying reading the ‘Mamba Mentality’ by Kobe Bryant at the moment,” she informed.

“I like to spend time on Instagram, but since lockdown started, I have started to use the Down Dog yoga app and the Headspace app a lot more.”