Mollie Adams column: A special week for Sussex Women

In the first of the player column takeover, we hear from Sussex born and bred wicket-keeper, Mollie Adams.

This week is special. On Monday, we celebrated all the great things associated with our wonderful county. Known as Sussex Day, this county-wide celebration is all about our pride in the landscapes, history, culture, food and the wonderful people that make Sussex what it is. The month of June is also Pride Month, which is fully embraced by the city. Of course, we also celebrate all things Sussex Cricket, both the men’s and the women’s teams, and all the staff who work at the club to get us onto the pitch.

I love spending time in Brighton, especially with all the different coffee shops, as I love my coffee, and there’s a variety of cool cafes in Brighton to visit. I also enjoy shopping in the lanes, in all the different independent shops, and visiting all the different street food restaurants.

On the women’s side, we celebrate the changes in the women’s game since this time last year. We’ve hired our first ever full-time women’s head coach (Alexia Walker), played a double header at Lord’s, seen a number of young home-grown Sussex players come through our pathway system and make their debuts, played all of our home games at The (historic) 1st Central County Ground (for those of you who don’t know, Sussex Cricket is believed to be the oldest professional sports club in the world), and seen more girls playing cricket at school than ever before.

This week we celebrate another home game at the 1st Central County Ground against our biggest old rivals, Kent.

Focusing on our team’s strengths, and consistently playing to them, is the way we will need to approach this game and get the win we want. We will need to continue to get behind each other, bring the good energy, and back our own individual skills, and ultimately, execute this effectively on Sunday.

The team dynamic has been different this year, as we constantly have had new people coming in and out of the squad. But, each time as a team, we have still managed to come together and create a good team morale and atmosphere, which is what makes playing for this team so enjoyable and rewarding when we are still able to produce good performances.

As for my player to watch, it would have to be Eve O’Neil, a very talented leg spinner, who has already contributed for Sussex in some strong winning team performances.

I’ve finished this school year (as of May half term), at Seaford College, where I’ve been at school since year 7. I have been able to develop my cricket skills to a high level there in those years, working alongside my dad (who is Head of Cricket and a former Sussex captain himself), while completing my education. This summer I plan to play as much cricket as possible, enjoying the game, whilst still working hard to achieve my goals and aspirations to become a tier 1 professional cricketer.

I’ve had amazing opportunities at Sussex so far this season in tier 2 and it makes me excited for the future. Towards the back end of the summer, and end of season, I plan to head off to Sydney, Australia, to play more cricket and develop my game through the winter, in a new environment and country, playing for Manly Cricket Club.

However, even bigger than Monday and Sussex Day, is Sunday. Not only because of our game against Kent, and it’s looking like it will be another sunny day in Brighton and Hove, but because it will be Talitha Stanley’s 18th birthday. I know the team will be looking to celebrate Talitha’s big 18th birthday with a win over Kent and, hopefully, a slice of cake.

I also want to give a shout-out to the Sussex Women's rugby side, who will be playing against Leicestershire, also on Sunday, at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham in the Gill Burns County Championships.

A few of the ladies playing came and joined us last month to celebrate the opening of the Sussex Cricket Sixes bar (where they got some coaching from England and Sussex legend, Jofra Archer) and watch the England v West Indies match.

Good luck ladies!