page_title: Sarah Elliott (cricketer)
section_title: Transformation into an all-rounder and omission from the 2009 World Cup
hierarchical_section_title: Sarah Elliott (cricketer) / Transformation into an all-rounder and omission from the 2009 World Cup
caption_attribution_description: Named person engaging in named action at Adelaide Oval nets/training ground
context_page_description: Sarah Jane Elliott is a female international cricketer for Australia. A right-handed batsman who also bowls leg spin, she made her international debut in 2005, but did not gain a regular position in the team until 2010.
  Edwards made her senior debut for Victoria mid-way through the 2000–01 season soon after turning 19. At this stage of her career, Edwards was a specialist batsman and did not bowl her first ball in senior cricket until six years later. She was not productive with the bat in her first two seasons, and was dropped after making a duck in her only innings of the third season. Up to this point, she had made only 165 runs at 11.00. She regained her place in the 2003–04 season but averaged less than 10. Nevertheless, she was selected for the Australian Under-23 team and made 51 and 97 in matches against the Sri Lankan national team. Edwards made her breakthrough in the 2004–05 WNCL, scoring 281 runs, more than she had made in her first four seasons combined. She was selected for the 2005 tour of England, but was not selected in the Tests; she made her One Day International debut in the last match but neither batted or bowled.
context_section_description: Edwards had a consistent season with the bat in 2007–08, scoring 214 runs at 30.57, playing in all of Victoria's eight matches. Her state won only three of their match and did not make the final. Edwards' best score was an unbeaten 44 in a seven-wicket loss to New South Wales. She also began bowling with regularity for the first time, delivering 23 overs and conceding 91 runs without taking a wicket, an economy rate of 3.95. In two T20 matches for Victoria, Edwards scored 55 not out and took 2/7 from two overs and two catches in a 102-run win over Queensland. She then made 20 in a nine-wicket defeat to South Australia. Just before the start of the Australia's international campaign, she hit an unbeaten 50 and took two catches in a nine-wicket win over the touring England,
  These performances earned Edwards a recall into the national side for the bilateral series against England. She was not selected in the one-off T20 match and then was not included until the second ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. She was not required to bat in her first international match in her home town, as Australia made 4/240 won by 84 runs. The third match was washed out and Edwards made 17 from 35 balls in the fourth match at the Sydney Cricket Ground; she batted at No. 8, typically a specialist bowler's position, despite playing purely as a batsman. Edwards was dropped for the final ODI and not selected in the one-off Test against England before the Australians headed to New Zealand for the Rose Bowl series. She made one in the T20 match, which Australia lost by four wickets and did not play in any of the five ODIs.
  Edwards was selected for the home series against India before the 2008–09 WNCL. She was not required to bat in a six-wicket Australian win in the T20 match and was not used until the third ODI at North Sydney Oval, where she was allowed to bat at No. 3, the highest position she had occupied in an ODI. She top-scored with 96 from 129 balls including nine fours, to set up a 54-run win. She did not bat in the two remaining matches as Australia's top-order lost no more than three wickets in securing victories in both.
  In the first match of the new WNCL season, Edwards struck 65 to set up a 45-run win over South Australia. In the next double-header against Queensland, she had success with the ball for the first time at WNCL or ODI level, taking 3/24 from ten overs to set up a four-wicket win, before taking another wicket in the second match the following day. She then had a prominent role with both bat and ball in the double-header against Western Australia. She scored 45 and took 3/22 to help secure a 47-run victory, before taking 2/34 and making 30 in a six-wicket win the following day. However, she was unable to produce this form against defending champions New South Wales, making a duck and 10 and taking only one wicket in their round-robin matches, both of which were lost. The teams met again in the final the following week, and she made 14 as her team were dismissed for 117. She took 1/11 from five overs as New South Wales won their fourth consecutive WNCL by six wickets. Edwards ended the tournament with only 194 runs at 19.40 and took 11 wickets at 16.27 at an economy rate of 3.37. In two T20 matches, she scored 15 runs at 7.50 and took three wickets at 11.00 at an economy rate of 5.50.
  The selectors responded to Edwards' form slump with the bat by dropping her for the 2009 Rose Bowl series and the Women's World Cup held in New South Wales and Canberra. She was also omitted from the team for the World Twenty20 in England in 2009 and the bilateral series hosted by England immediately thereafter.
caption: Elliott bowling in the Adelaide Oval nets.
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