Cricketing star celebrates World Cup glory

Published 18 January 2012

A University of Brighton student has spoken about her amazing experience playing in the World Cup indoor cricket final in South Africa.

The England indoor cricket team has never reached a World Cup final before and managed to beat all opposition before succumbing to the mighty Australians in the final in October.

Laura Owen, who is studying for a BA in physical education with QTS, says the experience is something she will remember for the rest of her life. It comes at a time when there has been concern about the lack of coverage of Britain's world-beating sportswomen.

The England team had taken part in an intense 18-week training programme before they left for Johannesburg on 4 October. They were accompanied in South Africa by many friends and family who inspired them to play their best cricket to date.

In the semi-finals the team beat home team South Africa in an electrifying match. Laura said: “It was our greatest performance on the tour, everything went our way, everything we had trained for and planned for was being demonstrated. We bowled well which was backed up by our fielders and we batted in partnerships to accumulate run after run.”

She adds that, although the team lost at the last hurdle, their opponents were worthy winners. The England team is now looking forward to putting that defeat behind them in the next World Cup in New Zealand in 2013.

Laura says: “People often ask what is it like to represent your country in your chosen sport – the only answer I can offer is that it is a true honour. With the three lions comes a lot of responsibility and inevitably there were nerves before each game, but irrespective of this there is an immense sense of pride and patriotism. Standing and singing your national anthem in front of hundreds of supporters gives me goosebumps every single time.”