Emma nearing a return to action

Western Storm supporters received a boost recently when Emma Corney returned to action following a spell on the sidelines through injury.

The top-order batter featured for the first time this season in the weekend’s T20 warm up fixtures against Southern Vipers at Thornbury CC.

We caught up with her earlier this week to discuss her rehab programme and her hopes for the 2024 season.

“I picked up a shoulder injury whilst fielding in pre-season and it’s definitely been a frustrating few weeks,” she explained. “The timing wasn’t great because I feel like I was doing well, especially when we were away in the UAE. Watching when you’re recovering from injury is definitely frustrating, so I’ve been trying to keep myself busy with batting and fielding plus lots of time in the gym. It has been good to be able to go and watch how the girls have been performing though. It’s been exciting to see what people have been working on put into action on the pitch.”

How did it feel to get back out on the field?

“I feel pretty good and the timing seems right,” she said. “The gap between the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy and the Charlotte Edwards Cup has come at a good time. I’m just going to be eased back in, and I’m super excited to get going again. We worked on so much over the winter and I’ve really enjoyed working with Tregs (Western Storm Batting Coach, Peter Trego). I can’t wait to see if that hard work has paid off.

“When you’re coming back from injury, it’s easy to try too hard too soon and show people that you’re still good enough. You want to score runs to make up for lost time. At the end of the day, all you can do is try your best and stick to the processes that we’ve been working on.

“I’m really grateful for the support I’ve received from the S&C coaches and physios. They’ve given me the opportunity to get back better and stronger than before, with the highest standard rehab plans I could’ve asked for.”

How does she feel that the season has gone so far for the team?

“I’ve been really impressed by what I’ve seen from the girls so far. It’s always interesting when you come out of the winter because you know that your team’s got better, but you don’t know how much better the other teams have got. With that in mind, it’s been so good to see how close we’ve got to winning. We’ve genuinely gone toe to toe with every side we’ve played and that’s really exciting.

“We’ve also been playing the cricket that we want to play, which is hopefully the brand of cricket that the fans want to see. We’re seeing nearly 600 runs scored in games and it’s been good to see lots of young fans coming to the games too.”

What does the remainder of the season have in store for Emma?

“The goal is just to score as many runs as I can. I want to become that reliable batter at the top of the order who is constantly getting runs. I want to be getting big scores on the board to help bring those games home for us. I think my game has really developed over the winter and I’m excited to see what happens when I get out on the pitch. I just want to help the team in any way that I can.”