Claudia Green has been selected for the New Zealand indoor cricket team. Photo: Simon Bloomberg

World Cup for Claudia

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Claudia Green has taken another big step in her cricketing career and now there are just two steps to go before she reaches her ultimate goal.

The former Waimea College and Wakatu cricketer has just been named in the New Zealand women’s open indoor team to play in the World Cup in Dubai in September.

Although Claudia is excited about the prospect of playing indoor cricket for New Zealand, she remains focused on her goal of representing her country in the traditional form of the game.

“I’ve been in the Central Districts Under-21 team for the last four years and now I’ve made the New Zealand indoor team which is really exciting,” she says.

“But I need to keep improving because I’d would love to make the women’s CD team and then play for New Zealand – that’s my dream.”

A right-arm swing bowler and mid to lower order batter, Claudia concedes she was surprised to be named in the team for the World Cup. The Canterbury team she was playing for didn’t perform well and Claudia thinks it was her all-round game that caught the eye of the selectors.

“It was a shock when they read my name out. We didn’t do very well but I think my bowling and my fielding got me selected – my batting was okay.”

Claudia, who is studying physical education and psychology at Otago University, started playing cricket for Jon Linyard’s Waimea Intermediate girls team. She continued playing for the Waimea College girls team before switching to the Wakatu men’s second grade team and then the Taieri men’s second grade team when she moved to Dunedin.

“I had to start playing in the men’s teams to get a reasonable standard of cricket. There weren’t any good women’s teams in Nelson and there’s none in Dunedin, so a lot of the girls play for men’s teams.”

Claudia started playing indoor cricket at Action Indoor Sports in Richmond when she was 14 and says she enjoys the speed and intensity of the game. It also ensures she can keep her cricketing skills finely tuned during the winter months.

“I’ve always enjoyed it. You have to be good at making quick decisions because of the speed and intensity of the game – it’s a bit like a faster version of T20.”

Although Claudia has worked hard at her game, she says she has been fortunate to receive excellent coaching from Jon and her uncles, Matt and Aaron McCauley, and Warren Brown. She has also had plenty of support from her parents and from Nelson Forests who are helping with her travel to Dubai.