Although the results on the field didn't go quite as Phoebe Litchfield had hoped, the teenage sensation still had fun in her new role with the Sydney Thunder.
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The Orange cricketer's WBBL season officially ended on Saturday with a four run loss to the Hobart Hurricanes.
Litchfield scored 18 off just 10 balls in that match, batting at number seven for the first time all year due to an injury. Every other time the year 12 student batted it was at number three, an opportunity she was grateful for.
"It was awesome. it was a great challenge," she said on moving up the order.
"I was told I was batting at three the whole tournament, so I think having that responsibility was a shock at the start to be honest, but I loved it."
The Thunder finished with four wins and eight losses, which saw them finish second last, ahead of only their cross-city rivals, the Sydney Sixers. Individually though, Litchfield tasted success, racking up the second most runs (263) for her side behind only Indian international Smriti Mandhana.
Despite this, Litchfield knows she has more in the tank.
"Batting at three you can make an innings. Batting at five you're in sometimes in a very risky situation or you've only got two overs to go," she said on the difference this season.
"I got myself out a few times when I didn't want to so I couldn't make a big innings, but I think I've learnt a lot about how to structure my innings at three and read the game which was nice."
The Thunder were missing big names like Hannah Knight and Rachael Haynes this year, with the hope being that they will return to the fold for 2022.
What that means for Litchfield is still unknown.
"I think my role might go back to five, or it might be opening," she added.
"I'm hoping to open next year but I think I need to do a bit more work on that. I can do what I can control and that's having a really good pre-season and getting better."
But on top of all the other pressures that come with the WBBL, the Kinross student was also studying for her HSC exams.
"It was a bit difficult, but I must say I think it took a bit of the stress off the HSC," she said.
"I wasn't thinking about it all the time. It was hard to study throughout the games because I wanted to go chill with the girls, but I just had to get it done. I'm not saying I did enough study, but we'll see in the results.
"I've got early entry which has been a blessing. I've got into UTS for a Bachelor of Communications."
Despite being back home now, she won't be picking up the bat in the Bathurst and Orange Inter District Cricket competition, as a permanent move to Sydney awaits her in the new year.
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