COWRA's Karly Woods has joined Emma Rippon of Parkes in the Australian-Indian Women's Cricket Association (AIWCA) for an international tournament, facing off against ranked international teams from the region.
With players standing their ground against the Cook Islands, Indonesia, the Phillipines and others, the ten day tour tested the endurance of the ad-hoc team, assembled for the comp against established national players.
For Woods, emerging from a Cowra summer into humidity presented its own challenges.
"For me it was the humidity, not just the heat." said Karly, whose team was attending the event for the second year running.
"We weren't representing Australia as a whole" Karly said, with the more established national teams assuming the AIWCA girls would not measure up - their names being unknown to the other coaches.
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"We were thinking 'wow this is a big international team, we're going to get smashed' but when we did come in, we actually showed a lot of them up."
The AIWCA crew managed to stand their ground, bagging a swag of certificates for player and team performance, additionally picking up 3rd and 2nd places over the ten day tournament.
Karly said the team had learned a lot from the process and managed to carve a name for itself and its players.
"For me, I'd trust the process more; getting out and believing in my training and myself" said Woods, adding that she'd learned not to have expectations about a game "Don't expect to lose or win, everyone's in the running: there's no definitive outcome. Indonesia were the toughest team and we still gave them a run for their money three times, of course we didn't win on this occasion - but that's cricket"
The event also presented the opportunity for recognition of up and coming talent.
"You don't realise the career you can pursue with these opportunities. There were contracts on offer for players at higher levels. Even if you might not perform at your best for a few days, if you do well you're in. These events are the things that get your name out, and I think our team overall made a name for itself. I like when one of our players walks on and you know they're saying 'watch out for her'"
Gumisha Garg and Aimee Ravot were singled out for good performance during the awards ceremony.
Karly Woods also recognise Lucy Mellis for nailing five wickets across the tournament.
