Phoebe Litchfield believes the lean run she endured during the latter half of last season will make her a better player in the long run with her winter having focused on both some technical work and learning to be less hard on herself when things don't go well.
Litchfield's form slipped significantly early in 2024 following an impressive ODI series in India late the previous year where she averaged 86.66. The runs started to dry up after that tour with a thin return across formats against South Africa, a WPL for Gujarat Giants where she averaged 10.33 then capped off by struggles in tough batting conditions in Bangladesh where five innings brought 19 runs in four knocks.
"It was a bit of a dry patch to put it bluntly," she told ESPNcricinfo. "I was training fine, I was in a good headspace, so I feel I just found ways to get out and probably made the wrong decisions at times. Towards the back end of the Bangladesh tour I got a golden [duck], got run out, so it was like it couldn't really go to plan, but that's cricket.
"It's actually been really nice to go through that and learn from it. I could have scored runs and happy days, but to go through that, especially as a young player, it has taught me ways to reflect and ways to learn and also ways to train. Whilst it was pretty shit while I was going through it, I'm better for it hopefully."
The strain of an increasingly busy calendar played a part - such is the maturity that Litchfield portrays, it's easy to forget 2023 had been her first full year at the top level - but some technical issues had also crept into her game, and by the end of the Bangladesh tour she needed a break.
Having managed that during April and May, she is now well back into building towards a return to action which will come in the Hundred next month. The international focus then turns to a series against New Zealand that provides a lead-in to the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh which will be Litchfield's first global event. After that comes an ODI visit from India, a brief pre-Christmas trip across the Tasman then the multi-format Ashes in January. Throw in the WBBL from late October and it's another hectic schedule.
"Towards the backend [of last season], the WPL and the Bangladesh series, I probably felt it a bit, going 'wow, we have to play cricket again today', it does get pretty hectic," Litchfield said, speaking at the launch of the Sydney Thunder Tape Ball League. "It is a game at the end of the day. But I sat down with the coaching staff, we looked forward and I'm just really excited. I kind of look at all the fixtures and each one's new, each one's different. But there are times when we need to switch off and that Christmas break will be important."
Amid the runs becoming a trickle there was a low score in the Test against South Africa in Perth when Litchfield edged to slip in the opening over of Australia's innings. A little while later, the TV cameras showed her sitting alone outside the dressing looking less-than-pleased with life and it prompted conversation about how harsh Litchfield can be on herself.
"I didn't really know that camera was even out there," Litchfield recalled. "It wasn't until my team-mates were listening to the comms and they were like 'Phoebs, come back inside'. I didn't score a run during that South Africa series, and was pretty disappointed with myself, so that was probably true emotion shown there.
"Yeah, I am hard on myself, but I think it works both ways: it drives me to be better and there are probably times when I'm too hard on myself and it's detrimental. I'm trying to work that out and think I've learnt from that and I'm definitely less hard on myself now."
Litchfield is eager to put her pre-season work into action, starting with Northern Superchargers in the Hundred then back to T20Is where, last season, she exploded in the middle order against West Indies and India, striking at 184.94 across those two series including a record-equaling 18-ball fifty at North Sydney Oval before batting became harder work.
"Definitely some technical stuff that crept in, especially throughout India and Bangladesh," Litchfield said. "There were a few things with my backlift and we've sorted through that and worked out a few trigger options, trying to make things simpler, that's basically my goal for this pre-season. With that, learning how to get over things, so training, being okay with mistakes, learning from them rather than spitting the dummy. Really excited to work through this technical stuff."
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Although the Bangladesh trip was not one that Litchfield will remember too fondly from a batting point of view, the lessons from it could yet be important come the World Cup even though the expectation is that the pitches will be flatter for a global event.
"It was very different to anything we've played on, even compared to India," she said. "You try and read the pitch, but it just has some hidden demons so playing six games on there, hopefully it's given us some experience and learnings.
"I've never played on anything like it. You tap and go 'okay, that's alright, it's a bit soft' but for it to turn the way it did, even our pace bowlers got some purchase off it as well. Hopefully we get some truer pitches for the World Cup, but you never know so those six games we did have, and they were all different, will hopefully stand us in good stead."