Belinda Vakarewa's arrival to debut for Greater Northern Raiders was of such urgency that the fast bowler was on the first available flight come Friday following Tasmania's WNCL victory in Adelaide.
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The Raiders' star recruit to their Kookaburra Cup set-up intended to drive up with Tigers wicketkeeper Emma Manix-Geeves from Hobart to Launceston straight away for Sunday's home clash with South Hobart-Sandy Bay.
Coach Darren Simmonds expects Vakarewa to notably improve the inexperienced division-one lineup.
Kingborough defeated the rookies by 10 wickets in the Raiders' poor opening game.
"It's awesome to have a player of Belinda's quality play with the Raiders - particularly as she had a really strong BBL season and on the back of that was selected for Australia A," Simmonds said.
"Looking at her performances for Australia A, they were quite strong as well."
Vakarewa bowled 0-7 and 1-12, both off two overs, in trials against India A ahead of the women's T20 World Cup next month, but spearheaded the Australian attack with 0-12 (seven overs), 2-31 (eight overs) and 2-50 (seven overs) that included picking up three top-order wickets in the 50-over matches.
The 21-year-old, whose only Australian one-day international appearance was in the 2017 World Cup, had finished the WBBL campaign with 20 wickets at 15.8 since signing up for the Hobart Hurricanes only last year.
The impressive credentials are a world away to Raiders teammates, who until last summer had only experienced the Greater Northern women's competitions.
"Just to observe how she goes about things and the knowledge she can pass on to our players will be invaluable to the team," Simmonds said.
The new import inclusions for the 40-over fixture at the NTCA No.2 Ground extend to premier North-West batter Zoe Lowry, who participates for University during Cricket Tasmania's T20 season.
"She was disappointed to miss the first game; she rang me that morning just feeling so upset," Simmonds said.
The Raiders will also be strengthened further with the availability of seasoned Mowbray coach Dana Lester.
Preparation to take on the Sharks has been limited.
Last Saturday, the Raiders were forced to play an intraclub match after Glenorchy forfeited its T20 trip. Players otherwise have not had any game since December 15.
"I would be a little bit more concerned if we hadn't got a game in last week of any sorts," Simmonds said.
"For us, it's a 40-over competition, it's completely different - that is what the girls learned out of the last game.
"They are used to playing T20 cricket all the time.
"So it was a little bit of a shock against Kingborough with double the time and also the higher-standard game."
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Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
