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Nicole Bolton, a former Australian batter, has disclosed that a coach’s clear comparison to Indian icon Mithali Raj marked a turning point in her career. Bolton talked candidly about how her chat with Cathryn Fitzpatrick, her former head coach, changed the way she approached the game.
Bolton, 35, played in 55 different formats for Australia in international competitions. She moved to Victoria in 2015 after starting her List A cricket career in Western Australia in 2014. A crucial talk with coach Fitzpatrick, a former Australia bowling legend, during the young batter’s early days with Victoria, had a lasting effect.
Bolton’s List A century to start the innings, and then innings of 35 off 68 balls and 43 off 69 deliveries, marked Victoria’s debut. Fitzpatrick was inspired by these performances to make a comparison that would put Bolton’s batting strategy to the test.
“I was just trying to impress her [Fitzpatrick] for a very long time.” All I wanted was for her to look at me. I suddenly remembered that she invited me to talk with her in her office. “Do you really want to be the Mithali Raj of the Australia Cricket Team?” she said. And I said to myself, “Mithali Raj?” In an episode of Stories After Stumps, Bolton stated.
My career will not last very long if this is the way she perceives me: Nicole Bolton
Although acknowledging Mithali Raj’s talent, the comparison was meant to draw attention to what was thought to be Bolton’s lack of aggression when batting. Fitzpatrick expanded on her argument.
“Yeah, do you really want to strike at fifty?” she asked. If you score 100 off 150 balls and the team still loses, is that acceptable? And I thought, “Whoah!” Cathryn Fitzpatrick sees me like this. That is definitely not good. My career is going to be pretty short-lived if this is how she perceives me,” Bolton continued.
Fitzpatrick continued after that. She pushed Bolton to imitate hitters who were more aggressive. “She asked me, ‘Why are you not like Meg Lanning or Elyse Villani?’ in a sort of way. We want you to play that way,” she said.
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This chat had an almost instantaneous effect. Bolton put on an incredible display in her subsequent game, hitting 170 off just 156 balls, including 24 boundaries. This inning showed that she could adjust and give constructive feedback to criticism.
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