Kia Super League: Amy Jones backs Loughborough to fight for title
"Ellyse Perry has been fantastic. She is such a consistent professional and it is brilliant to have a key player like that."
Friday 4 August 2017 09:39, UK
Proximity is power, so goes the theory. It’s where Amy Jones, Loughborough Lightning wicketkeeper-batter, believes her side has an advantage in season two of the Kia Super League.
"Most of our girls are students and all living pretty close so they've all found it quite easy to get together and train over the summer," explained the England international.
"Hopefully that'll give us a bit of a kick-start. At Loughborough we found it great that we had one base, the facility is top class, and brilliant coaching. We spent a lot of time together, and didn't have much travelling, which definitely helped."
The Lightning were beaten semi-finalists in the inaugural edition of the competition. It satisfied their goal for the season, but they are now determined to go two steps better.
"We're very confident," Jones said. "Our aim last year was to get to the finals and our aim this year is to win the competition. We have our eyes set on that."
To help in that mission the Georgia Elwiss-led side will have three first-choice Australians. That trio includes the world's premier all-rounder, Ellyse Perry, returning to the club having rattled off five consecutive half-centuries in the recently completed Women's World Cup.
Joining her is leg-spinner Kristen Beams, who takes her international T20 wickets at less than 17 runs apiece, and Elyse Villani, a regular in Australian colours since 2009, usually at the top of the order.
"They are all great girls so it will be really cool to play alongside them," Jones said. "Ellyse has obviously been fantastic and she is such a consistent professional so I'm really excited to have her back. It is brilliant to have a key player for us like that."
But this time around they will be without Sophie Devine, the huge-hitting New Zealander moving north to Yorkshire Diamonds.
"We are definitely going to miss Soph as she brought a lot to our team on the field and off," Jones said. "But I think in Beamsy and Elyse Villani we have two very similar character. Especially Villani, she is someone who can get the team going."
The effect of the enormously successful World Cup, Jones hopes, will prompt another surge in support for the KSL, having averaged a healthy attendance of 1,000 per game in 2016.
"On the back of the big crowd that we had at Lord's for the World Cup Final hopefully we'll have even bigger crowds, too," she said. "It is fantastic that we are playing at bigger grounds with bigger crowds and hopefully people tuning in on TV as well."
For Jones' part, having missed out on selection for England's World cup squad, she sees the KSL as a vital opportunity to again push for higher honours. "I'm just so excited to get back into some competitive cricket," the 24-year-old said.
With Sarah Taylor returning to the national side after a year away from the game, Jones has been relegated to understudy with the gloves, but believes her road back can either be as a 'keeper or a specialist batter - a role she has played before for England.
"I'm a bit unlucky that we play at the same time," she said. "Sarah is definitely the best 'keeper that has ever played for any international women's side. But before she had her break I've always been trying to break through into the team as a batter and that hasn't changed."
Loughborough's season begins with a replay of last year's semi-final against Western Storm on Saturday, August 12 at Taunton, a game you can watch live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Mix.
Live Kia Super League Cricket
Tickets for the Kia Super League can be purchased at www.ecb.co.uk/kiasuperleague
