Hamilton eager to replicate Aussie success with Heat

On a crisp London evening, Lucy Hamilton sat on the Lord's balcony and soaked up her new title as World Cup winner.

Fewer than 10 games into her international career, Hamilton had already achieved what many only dream of.

The 20-year-old took 1-19 in the final against hosts England; a match Australia would go on to win by seven wickets to claim their sixth T20 World Cup crown.

It was a remarkable turn in fortunes for the left-arm quick, whose campaign for Brisbane Heat last year was nothing short of a disaster.

The Heat suffered through one of the worst WBBL campaigns on record, going winless through the entire tournament. Hamilton played eight matches. All losses.

By contrast however, when she burst into the Aussie side with debuts in all three formats in the month of March, she couldn't stop winning.

Fast forward to the World Cup success in June and Hamilton is still unbeaten while representing the green and gold (one Test, two ODIs and six T20Is).

She told the Unplayable Podcast she was surprised how much of a role she had at the global T20 showpiece.  

"You don't really know what to expect, especially being new in the group," Hamilton said. "It was really cool when I got my opportunity; I tried to take it as much as I could and I held my spot in the team.

"If you said even before the World Cup that I'd be playing in the grand final, let alone winning it, yeah, lots of 'pinch-me' moments. I can't really believe it."

The Queenslander is now in the middle of a "10 weeks off" playing block, aimed at having her cherry-ripe for the ODI series against Bangladesh in early October.

She is still undergoing her usual training and gym regime but will be kept out of competitive cricket (such as Brisbane's T20 Max competition) to reduce the risk of burnout.

And Hamilton admits there's a desire to get back to the Heat and rectify the failures from last season.

"Knowing how well we did the past couple of seasons, the feeling after the games (last season) and how devastated everyone was," Hamilton reflected. "How tight we stuck together (however) was actually really impressive … seeing how the Queensland (Fire) girls regrouped from that and then won the WNCL was really cool."

Listen to the full chat with Hamilton in the player above or by searching for Unplayable Podcast on all podcast apps.