Danielle Wyatt felt at home opening the batting for England - now she hopes to go on the tour of Australia.
'Danielle sets sights on tour of Australia after opening up for England'
After a hard training session Mark Lane picked the team for the first Twenty20.
I was pleased to be in the squad and really keen to go out there and show everyone what I can do. It was great to know that I would be playing in the first game which would set the tone for the T20 series.
The night before the first T20 we were hosted at the Colombo Swimming Club for a team meal. After the meal we split into three teams (including management) to take part in a quiz that was going on at the club, as you can imagine we were all quite competitive, I came into my own when a film question came up on Toy Story!
Style
The first T20 got the series off to a good start; we restricted Sri Lanka to 95 and then Lottie (Charlotte Edwards) and Boggy (Laura Marsh) led from the front to knock off the runs, with Lyd (Lydia Greenway) finishing things off in style for us to take an eight wicket victory.
It was pleasing to get off to a good start, although I was disappointed not to get to bowl or bat but I knew I would get a chance in the games to come.
We had a light training day the day after, as the last two games were to be played on consecutive days. We set off to the ground for the second T20 very early due to many of the roads being closed for the swearing in of the president.
When we arrived we found the covers were on and parts of the ground were under water, it didn't look like we were going to get any play in. After waiting until 12pm, the umpires finally made the call that no play would be possible as the rain poured down once again.
Funny
A number of us used the afternoon to see a little bit of Colombo and visited a Buddhist temple which was very interesting. On our way back to the hotel a few of us ended up playing cricket in the streets with the locals. We were all amused when one of Isa's deliveries (Guha) got dispatched into the railway lines!
With further rain throughout the night I didn't think we would manage to play one never mind both of the remaining T20 matches. We arrived earlier than normal and I was so surprised at how dry the pitch was. The umpires and captains agreed that we would play the second and third T20 if the pitch was fit enough and the weather was good, so we started the first game at 9:30am.
A couple of us hadn't batted all tour and were itching to get out there so it was great for me to be opening the batting, I never thought I'd be opening the batting for my country.
Unfortunately I hit one straight down mid-on's throat which was very frustrating, but you have to be prepared to give your wicket away in Twenty20. I went on to take 2-18 off my allocated four overs which I was pleased with, so all was not lost. We won convincingly, bowling them out for 97 to win by 17 runs.
High
I was given another chance to open the batting in the final T20 and I made sure I grabbed this opportunity. It was a fantastic feeling to be walking out to the middle, this time with the captain and I was so pleased that I managed to make a good contribution.
My partnership with Jenny Gunn put us in good stead for the innings, with Jen having a fantastic knock of 69 off 45 balls and hitting three six's along the way. I hit a quick 27 and then followed up with taking 1-9 off 2 overs.
We won the series 3-0 which was very satisfying and finished the series on a real high, playing our best cricket so far.
I now have a couple of days off to get rid of the jet lag before I am back into and working as a
'Chance to Shine' Coaching Ambassador.
I hope I have done enough to get into the squad for the Australia tour which gets announced on Monday.
