Aussies stars by name, stars by nature

The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars shone brighter than ever against the West Indies this last month, recording clean sweeps of both the twenty20 and one-day international series.

The Caribbean side have been the biggest improver in women's cricket over the last four years but, despite sitting atop of the ICC Women's Championship before landing on Australian soil, it didn’t take long for the world champions to teach the tourists a few lessons in their own backyard.

As a young girl, I was captivated by the stars and planets and followed my father’s love of astronomy, therefore, when I became part of the Southern Stars I did a little research on the namesake of the team to which I belonged.

The Southern Cross is one of the smallest yet one of the most distinctive of the 88 modern constellations and similarly, while the Southern Stars are quite small in physical stature, they certainly pack a punch when it comes to their on-field performance.

Since the Southern Stars lost the Ashes Series at home at the beginning of the year, they have gone unbeaten in series against Pakistan and now the West Indies, with 18 straight victories across both ODIs and T20s.

To continue the astronomical analogy, the Southern Cross is made up of four main stars, with the brightest, Alpha Crucis, positioned at the bottom of the cross.

Having been involved with the squad throughout the ODIs as an assistant coach, I can identify two players that could lay claim to owning the Alpha Crucis tag.

To begin with, captain Meg Lanning had an amazing series with the bat scoring 336 runs at an impressive average of 112.

The captain’s hundred at Bradman Oval in Bowral was not only the first by a female player in an international fixture at the ground, but also saw her join Belinda Clark in equal second position for the most hundreds by an Australian woman in ODI cricket.

Only Karen Rolton has more, with eight hundreds to her name.

Image Id: ~/media/C7411A386EF14073BB82D33AE9B37914

Lanning is also really starting to grow into the captaincy and stamp her own authority on the position, which is great to see.

It is scary to think how much better the 22-year-old can get, as well as how many more records she will break along the way.

However, in my opinion, Lanning wasn't the biggest contributor, and the officials seemed to agree, with allrounder Ellyse Perry named player of the series.

The multi-talented Perry also joined an elite club of Australian female cricketers by scoring five consecutive ODI scores of 50 or more en route to 263 runs at a stellar average of 131.50.

Image Id: ~/media/40D1E30BF4F74AF8B9800F567A71C030

Not only was she destructive with the bat, but she also caused serious damage with the ball, snaring seven wickets at 20.57.

After missing the Pakistan series with a knee injury, Perry has slowly been building her strength back and, having hit her stride with the ball, she will likely prove unstoppable in the domestic competition this summer.

A pair of smaller, yet no-less important, stars to fill out the constellation were Erin Osborne and Nicole Bolton.

Going wicketless throughout the T20s, the stars aligned for Osborne in the longer format, with seven wickets in four matches to sit equal with Perry on the bowlers list.

The allrounder’s relief at breaking through for her first wicket, that of Shanel Daley, was evident when the 55-match veteran lifted her arms to the heavens, as if  to say "about time."

Image Id: ~/media/3F92817272424D2E91F080B83CDC32CF

This tour has been a great learning curve for all players in understanding how vital bowling partnerships are to teams’ success.

Sometimes you may not be the lucky one that picks up the wickets but your ability to restrict runs and bowl to plans is crucial to the success of the team.

Player of the ODI series against Pakistan Nicole Bolton was again solid at the top of the order against the world number two's attack.

While comparing her stats to Lanning and Perry, who enjoyed record-breaking series, isn’t fair, given it was only her third tour with the national side, I believe she is equipping herself extremely well at the top of the order.

Bolton returned the figures of 170 runs at 42.50 and continued to cement her spot as Australia’s long-term opening prospect.

Image Id: ~/media/FEC686D1C60142F39E0FEE62DCBB7257

So what is next for our victorious Southern Stars?

Unfortunately, it feels like light years until their next international fixture, with an Ashes series in England in 2015 the next time the side will don the green and gold.

For now, the players will head back to their respective states and the Women’s National Cricket League and the Women’s Twenty20 domestic competitions.

While the hunt for silverware will obviously be their main focus, one eye will undoubtedly be fixed on securing their ticket to England and reclaiming the Ashes trophy away from home next year.