Let it go: How Phoebe is drawing on lessons from rookie year

A challenging end to her first year as a fully-fledged Australian cricketer has provided Phoebe Litchfield with valuable lessons as she looks to continue her international rise this summer.

Litchfield is currently in Mackay, preparing to embark on her first T20 World Cup campaign after missing out on the squad that raised the trophy in Cape Town in February 2023.

At 21, the prodigiously talented left-hander has already played 36 international matches, following a dreamlike start to her ODI career in January last year that saw her score back-to-back half-centuries against Pakistan.

That set the tone for Litchfield, who would go on to feature in 30 of the 34 matches Australia played across all formats from the start of the Ashes in June 2023 through to the end of their tour of Bangladesh in April this year.

The highlights were undoubtedly her maiden ODI century in Ireland in July last year, followed by a sparkling run against India in Mumbai at the start of 2024 that saw her score 260 runs in three one-dayers, before hitting 84 runs at a strike rate of 147.36 in three T20Is against the same rival.

Litchfield was unsurprisingly crowned the ICC’s Young Cricketer of the Year shortly after, but the demands of a packed schedule across those 15 months, which also included WBBL|09 and stints in The Hundred and the Women’s Premier League, understandably took a toll on the rookie.

Her returns diminished towards the end of the season; in 13 matches across all formats against South Africa and Bangladesh between February and April she scored a total of 60 runs from 10 innings.

"I’ve never done that (played so much cricket over such a sustained period) before, so it definitely took a toll on me," Litchfield told cricket.com.au leading into the New Zealand T20I series.

"I think because I wasn't scoring runs, too, I was like, ‘Oh my god, when's my next run coming?’

"But it was also so much fun. This is the life I've dreamt of, to play cricket and travel the world (so) I was still loving it.

"Growing up I've been quite lucky just to go out there and score runs every so often.

"But international cricket is hard, and you don't score runs all the time, and learning to manage that and just riding the highs and lows (is important).

"I was glad it happened, because I've learned a lot from it."

A solid stint off the tools in April and May gave Litchfield a chance to refresh, a period she used to make a spontaneous trip visit her sister in New York where she is studying acting, and to visit her family in Orange.

A period of pre-season training spread across Sydney and Brisbane then gave Litchfield a chance to build on her game ahead of a busy 2024-25 summer that, alongside the World Cup, will also feature white-ball series against India and New Zealand and the multi-format Ashes.

Litchfield can at times be her own harshest critic, and remembering to take pressure off herself, even when the runs are not flowing, is a major lesson she will bring into this season.

"(It’s about) going in with an open mind and knowing that if I train well and practice well, then anything that happens out in the middle is what it is," Litchfield said.

"I can only control the things that I can control, so I'm just going to go out there and be positive."

On the more skills-based side of things, she has been working on building her scoring options around the ground.

"I’ve also been working on a couple of things, trying to get more sweeps in my repertoire, and then just working on hitting down the ground," she continued.

While Litchfield opens the batting in the Test and ODI teams, her role in the T20I team has to date been as a middle-order finisher alongside the likes of Grace Harris and Annabel Sutherland.

Headed to her first ICC tournament, Litchfield said she was ready to take on whatever job was thrown her way.

"If I do play, it'll be going through the middle order and hopefully building off the back of some top-order brilliance," she said.

"I'm so excited for the World Cup.

"I've been part of the squad for a bit, but the energy and excitement around a world tournament hits different and I'm super pumped to get over there."

CommBank T20I Series v New Zealand   

First T20: September19, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 7.10pm

Second T20: September 22, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 7.10pm

Third T20: September 24, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 7.10pm