Catherine and Phoebe Litchfield reflect on ODI debut for Australia

Ahead of her daughter facing the first ball, the nerves were evident.

Then a noticeable sigh of relief came from Catherine as the opening batter scored her first run.

It's the exact reaction you'd expect from a parent watching their child make her ODI debut for Australia against Pakistan.

"My nerves were terrible," she laughed.

"I get very nervous for her, you just want them (your kids) to do well. She let out a big breath after the first run too because she got a duck the game before.

"She often bounces back, that's one of her big things is resilience. As a cricketer you've got to have resilience because it's such a tough sport where one mistake and you're gone.

"Once she got off the mark and above 10 I was fine but the heart rate had increased and increased (before that)."

For the debutant, 10 became a half-century before the winning runs in a total of 78 not out with Australia chasing down Pakistan's total in 28.5 overs.

Catherine said there was plenty of 'relief' for her daughter post-game.

"She was very excited, it was a big relief and she was living the dream - she's worked so hard to do it," she said.

"She met with the crowd afterwards and there was a little kid from Mudgee and he was really excited and said 'I'm from Mudgee'.

"There was quite a few people from Bathurst and Oberon and lots of Western people that made the trip up which was lovely, it was a good crowd."

Speaking to the Central Western Daily after her whirlwhind few days, Phoebe said she was 'feeling pretty good' and agreed she had to get through some hard work early with the way the pitch played at Allan Border Field.

"It was a bit tricky actually, quite tennis bally and slow. The bowlers were getting a bit of swing and seam early on so it was pretty difficult," she said.

The left-hander added having captain Meg Lanning down the other end helped her out in a big way after playing and missing early.

"We just had to do the work early, leave some balls and be really smart with the shots we play, then once the spinners came out they put four (fielders) out and scoring became a bit easier," she said.

With two games left in the series, the Kinross graduate said she didn't have any specific goals ahead, just playing well for her country.

"I'll just see if I can make the most of the next few opportunities - having one hit out it's quite nice to sort of know what to do next time and hopefully I can score some more runs," she said.

Unfortunately for the debutant's father Andy, a two-week campaign coaching NSW Country 16s earlier this month meant he was back looking after the colour city's animals at Orange Veterinary Clinic.

Once the cricket season ends though, there'll be plenty of time for reflection between Phoebe and her father with endless hours in the nets leading to Monday's heart-warming result.

Catherine confirmed he will be there for the final game of the ODI series at North Sydney Oval on January 21.

Following on from that, the opening batter is likely to feature in a homecoming at Wade Park on February 10 when NSW play ACT in the WNCL.

Her mother can't wait to see the match after the amount of support the family received over the past few days.

"It's going to be great for the town, we had so many messages yesterday from lots of people from Orange and everyone embraces her ... it's gorgeous that the whole town's behind her," Catherine said.

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