Ferling success all about balance

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The rigours of international cricket are nothing to sneeze at at the best of times, but Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars speedster Holly Ferling has taken things to another level in recent years, juggling playing for her country with studying for exams.

Since joining the Australian side a little over 12 months ago, Ferling has completed her QCE and begun a health sports/ physical education degree at The University of Queensland. Despite the busy schedule, the young quick says that she’s got things under control

“Last year I was trying to keep up with my Year 12 studies,” Ferling said.

“This year I’m at university so when we don’t have training or anything, I’m trying to hook into the Wi-Fi to watch my uni lectures.

“I’m just making sure I’m on top of all the content so that when I come back I can do my mid-semester exams.”

Luckily for Ferling, her lecturers have been understanding of her shared focus to date.

“I’ve been really fortunate,” she said.

“In my first week of uni I had to hand in five extension requests. Luckily, they’ve all been granted and I’ll be able to complete it all when I get back.

“I never wanted to have my sport overrule my schoolwork and visa versa, so I was really fortunate to be able to have the best of both worlds.”

But being such a multi-talented individual does have its drawbacks, with Ferling missing out on some of the down time enjoyed by her Southern Stars teammates.

“I do procrastinate a little bit, which probably isn’t a good thing,” she said.

“But I know that I’m making things easier on myself for when I come back.

“I know that I’ll have plenty of time when I get back to do all of that stuff.”

Ferling burst onto the international cricket scene at the 2013 ICC World Cup in India, picking up nine wickets at an average of 10.5 to find herself selected in the team of the tournament.

When asked whether there’s more pressure on her to perform in Bangladesh, the right-arm quick is refreshingly candid.

“I think so,” she said.

“I’ve had to work really hard in the last year or so to make sure my execution’s got a lot better and I’ve now got other little weapons that I can use.

“I’ve had to definitely improve myself. I can’t rely on how I went back then.

“This is a totally new tournament in totally new conditions, so I’m looking forward to challenging myself.”

The Southern Stars 2014 ICC Twenty20 World Cup campaign gets underway against New Zealand on March 23^rd.