Alex Blackwell (cricketer) - 2005 World Cup

2005 World Cup

Blackwell returned to Australia needing a strong end to the WNCL season to ensure selection for the 2005 World Cup in South Africa. In the four remaining round-robin matches, she made 96 runs in four innings, half of these coming in a five-wicket win over Queensland. New South Wales met Victoria in the finals. Blackwell was not required to bat in a seven-wicket win in the first match before making 13 and 24 as the reigning champions were dismissed for 71 and 109, losing the last two matches by five wickets and 50 runs respectively. Blackwell ended the season with 214 runs at 26.75 and this was enough to secure retention in the national team despite her poor results during the Indian tour. The Australians hosted New Zealand for three Rose Bowl ODIs in the western coastal city of Perth before the teams crossed the Indian Ocean to reach South Africa. Blackwell was not productive in the trans-Tasman matches. She made six and took 1/8 in the first match, and was then run out for 27 in the next game. She was omitted for third match.

In the first match of the World Cup, Blackwell was persevered with by the selectors; she did not bat as England made 7/169 before rain ended the match. This was followed by an encounter with New Zealand. Blackwell scored 53 in Australia's 7/174, helping to set up a 32-run win. In the third match against the West Indies, she was run out for a duck in a 79-run win, and was dropped for the 97-run win over the hosts. The group stages ended with two easy victories. Blackwell took 1/8 from two overs, her last international wicket, as Australia dismissed Sri Lanka for 57. Since then she has bowled only 47 balls in senior matches. She was not required to bat as Australia reached their target with eight wickets in hand. The match against Ireland was similar as Australia achieved the target of 67 with all wickets intact. The final pool match against India was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to inclement weather, and Australia met England in the semi-finals. Blackwell scored 10 not out, helping to complete the closing stages of a five-wicket win. In the final against India, she came in towards the end of the innigns and made four not out as Australia amassed 4/215. Australia bowled India out for 117 to win by 98 runs. Blackwell ended the tournament with 67 runs at 33.50.

In the northern hemisphere summer of 2005, Australia toured England. They started with a stopover in Ireland, and only the second of the three ODIs went ahead; the other two matches were washed out by persistent rain. Blackwell made four not out as Australia made 3/295 and took a 240-run win.

Australia played two Tests in England. In the First Test at County Ground in Hove, Sussex, Blackwell batted at No. 5 and played alongside identical twin sister Kate, who was making her Test debut. She struggled in both innings, making five and nine and scoring at a strike rate of 20 or less in both innings. After taking a 82-run lead, Australia set the hosts a target of 306. Blackwell took two catches, her first at Test level, removing Claire Taylor and Jenny Gunn as the hosts ended on 7/172 to salvage a draw. In the Second Test at New Road, Worcester, Blackwell made 20 and 14 as Australia ceded a 158-run first innings lead and eventually lost by six wickets after Blackwell's fall in the second innings left them at 5/46, still 112 runs in arrears. She ended the series with 48 runs at 12.00.

Blackwell had mediocre results in the five ODIs, scoring 5, 27, 17 not out, 21 not out and 14 as Australia won 3–2. She ended the series with 84 runs at 28.00. Blackwell then played in Australia's inaugural Twenty20 international at the County Ground, Taunton, only the second international match in the history of the new format. She was not not required to bat as Australia won with seven wickets in hand.

Having failed to establish herself at international level in 2005, Blackwell started the 2005–06 WNCL season strongly, scoring 61 in the first match of the campaign, a seven-wicket win over Western Australia. The next day she made 130, her maiden WNCL century, setting up a 118-run win against the same team. She then top-scored with 86 in the next match against Queensland, scoring more than half of the runs in a successful run-chase of 3/161. After a run of three scores of 10 or less, Blackwell made 36 and 30 as New South Wales won both matches against Victoria in their last double-header of the season. New South Wales won seven of their eight matches to qualify for the finals against Queensland. In the first match, she scored 50 as New South Wales reached their target of 175 with eight wickets in hand, having earlier taken two catches. She made only three in the next match as New South Wales fell for 154 and lost by three wickets, before scoring 10 as her state made 146 and won by two runs to claim the WNCL. Blackwell ended the season with 411 runs at 38.36.

After her strong WNCL season, Blackwell was retained for the series against India in Adelaide at the end of the Australian summer. Opening the batting, she made a 17-ball duck in the one-off Test at the Adelaide Oval, which Australia won by an innings. Blackwell took three catches but made only one in the first ODI. She only made 19 in the next match but was retained for the third and final ODI, top-scoring with an unbeaten 63 in a nine-wicket win. She ended the series with 83 runs at 41.50.

Blackwell missed the five-ODI Rose Bowl series at home and the first four WNCL matches of the 2006–07 season due to injury. She returned for the final four round-robin matches and made 42, 17, 74 and 4 as New South Wales won all four matches. She was not effective in the three finals against Victoria, making a duck in a one-wicket win in the first match before scoring one as Victoria levelled the series with an eight-wicket triumph the following day. In the deciding match, she made 20 as New South Wales reached their target of 206 with three wickets in hand. Blackwell ended the season with 158 runs at 22.57.

During gaps in New South Wales' schedule, Blackwell travelled across to New Zealand for three weekends of domestic one-dayers for Otago. In her debut for the team, she struck an even 100 in a 162-run win over Northern Districts. She added 79 in a 182-run victory the following day. After making 27 and 31 against Auckland, Blackwell ended her stay with 1 and 77 against Canterbury; Otago lost both matches. She ended with 315 runs at 52.50 in her six-match stint.

After the end of the Australian season, Blackwell was selected for the ODI team for a four-nations tournament in Chennai, India. In addition to the hosts and Australia, New Zealand and England were also participating, and each team played each other twice in round-robin phase. In the first match, she made 25 in a six-wicket defeat against New Zealand, who took 41 runs without loss from her four overs en route to a six-wicket win. Blackwell then made 11 in a three-wicket loss to the hosts, leaving Australia in danger of missing the final. She was retained but made a duck and 18 as Australia won their next two matches against England and New Zealand. Blackwell was then omitted from the two remaining round-robin matches and the final, which Australia won by six wickets. She ended the tournament with 54 runs at 13.50.

Blackwell was retained in the Rose Bowl series held in tropical Darwin in July 2007, the middle of the southern hemisphere winter. After watching the first two matches from the sidelines, she was called into the team for the third match where she made an unbeaten 44 to see Australia to a six-wicket win. She made 4 and 27 in the two remaining matches, ending the series with 75 runs at 37.50 as Australia prevailed 3–2.

Blackwell started the 2007–08 WNCL season strongly, scoring half-centuries in each of the first four matches, all of which were won by New South Wales. She made 75 not out and 52 against South Australia, followed by 60 and 55 against Victoria. The results in each of the two double-headers were identical; New South Wales won the first match by seven wickets before prevailing the next day by 25 runs. Blackwell made 42 in the penultimate round-robin match but otherwise failed to reach double figures in the last four matches. New South Wales qualified in first place for the final against South Australia after winning seven of their eight matches and were awarded the title after the decider was washed out. Blackwell scored 291 runs at 41.57. In her only T20 innings, Blackwell made 37 not out in an eight-wicket win over Western Australia.