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KONICA MINOLTA QUEENSLAND FIRE 18
PURVES GETS AWARD, WANTS TEAM SUCCESS
Jodie Purves might have
won the Konica Minolta
Queensland Fire Player
of the Year Award for
2007-08, but that’s not
what she plays cricket
for.
Purves simply craves
team success.
“It’s nice to know I was
able to help the team to
win some games,” she
said of the award win.
“But the important thing
is to make sure the team
is going well. When it
would really count would
be to get it after you’ve
won the national title.”
The Fire finished last,
yet was one win away
from second place. They
went into the last weekend
of the WNCL season
needing to win their
double-header over
lowly WA at the Gabba,
only to crash to defeat in
both games.
“We started off well but
we couldn’t put it together
in the games that
mattered most,” Purves
said of the season.
“Maybe we were thinking
about the final before we
won the games to get
there. WA are always a
team that is full of surprises
and credit to
them, they played very
well.
“The frustrating part is
that you look at our side
on paper and we are one
of the better teams.”
Purves, who turned 24 in
June, was impressive
with the gloves and the
bat.
She made 56 against
NSW in Sydney in a
close loss, then carried
her bat for 85 not out
when opening against
Victoria at the Junction
Oval and took four
catches behind the wickets.
She followed that up
with a brisk 30 off 44
balls, two catches and a
stumping as the Fire
beat Victoria twice in
Melbourne for the first
time ever.
“The really frustrating
thing was that we played
so well to beat Victoria,
and we were upbeat and
confident after that,”
Purves said. “We just
have to find that consistency
in our game.”
Purves signed off the
season with 32 off 48
balls in the final game
against WA.
“I was pretty happy with
how I stuck at it,” she
said. “Every year you
develop a bit more. I
don’t just categorise myself
as just a keeper, I
see myself as a batterkeeper
and that’s what I
Jodie Purves shows a straight bat to the attack —
she was the Fire’s best batter in 2007-08.
want to be known as.
“I always make sure I
get just as much batting
as everyone else at
training so I don’t miss
out.”
The national selectors
have obviously taken
note. Purves broke her
thumb when fielding at
mid-wicket for Wests in
a Grade game, having
bowled her medium pacers
to that point with the
team short on bowlers.
It ruled her out of a
cherished Test match
against England, but the
selectors played her as a
middle order batter in
the ensuing Rose Bowl
Series in New Zealand in
March, and they were
well rewarded.
Her breezy 29 off 23
balls set up victory in
Game 1, then she compiled
a gutsy 56 off 96
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