When Kirstie Gordon left for Australian shores in the winter, she did so as a player with Lightning – a team which, by her own admission, had “underperformed” over the course of two seasons.
She returned, however, at the dawn of a new era. A new team, The Blaze, had been born, and shortly after reporting for duty back at Trent Bridge, Gordon was named captain.
For the 25-year-old, the title gives her the opportunity to lead on and off the field, with the likes of Tammy Beaumont in support as part of her leadership group.
It is a challenge she is relishing as she looks forward to the side’s opening Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixture against Central Sparks at The Blaze’s base in Nottingham.
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“It is an honour and something that I am excited to take on,” Gordon said of the captaincy. “It’s going to be interesting to see where I can take this group to.
“Professionalism is something I pride myself on, and although I still feel relatively young myself, we have a youthful group, so putting the right behaviours into practice is really important to me and I hope they can translate across to the team.
“But I think I come into my own tactically. That is my favourite part of the game and having Tammy as vice captain is going to be really good for me; she is so experienced and a lot of her knowledge will be really helpful.
“I will probably make a few mistakes early, but I hope that I can learn from them.”
Learning is something the Huntly-born bowler has been doing during her stint playing club cricket Down Under, whilst training with the New South Wales Breakers.
Her exploits also earned her a mid-competition call up to New Zealand’s Dream11 SuperSmash with the Otago Sparks, before a return to familiar surroundings.
“It was really different coming back to Trent Bridge,” she said.
“The girls have been here for five or six months, so they have had that changeover and it feels like a home for them but for me, it was a bit like my first day at school.
“It has been excellent to come back to that environment though and everyone seems in a really good place.
“Having such an extended period where you can really notice the difference is interesting, and I certainly feel like I have seen a big shift not just in the cricket skills but the professionalism and the way we go about things.”
And Gordon doesn’t flinch from revealing her aims for The Blaze under her leadership.
They are born of frustration over how previous seasons have transpired, and a genuine belief of what the galvanized squad can achieve.
Since The Blaze were established as the East Midlands’ new domestic outfit, England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sarah Glenn have signed, as has South Africa international Nadine de Klerk.
“We had quite an honest, frank conversation at the end of last season where we acknowledged that we have underperformed for the last two years in the regional structure,” said Gordon, who herself has played five T20 Internationals and one Test.
“With it being a new start at The Blaze there has been a big emphasis on what we can do differently and what we can change, and that’s starting to come to life.
“In terms of additions, we had a strong core to start with, the bulk of whom were still here last year, and that group has improved year on year.
“To add the experience of Sarah, Nat and Nadine de Klerk is just brilliant.
“They are three huge names and they can all develop the squad, and the younger players within it, but also put in match-winning performances themselves.
“With the season approaching, we have had a good sit down both as a group and also me and Chris Guest [Head Coach].
“We are not going to shy away from wanting to win both competitions, but we are aware that in the last few years we have been in the bottom half of the table.
“So for us it is about pushing ourselves to try and get in that top three, get into the playoffs and make things happen from there, but certainly the goal over the next few years is to be bringing trophies back.
“I’ve got really itchy feet to get going. We have a couple of warm up games then we are straight into it for 2023 so it is a really exciting time, and that first game on hallowed turf at Trent Bridge will be brilliant.”
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