Katherine Brunt will be returning to one of her happy hunting grounds as well as renewing acquaintances with some former work colleagues when England Women take on Australia in the third Royal London Ashes One-Day International at New Road on Sunday.
Brunt, who undertook coaching work for Worcestershire Cricket last year, returned impressive figures with bat and ball when making two of her nine Test appearances against Australia at Worcestershire CCC's headquarters.
In 2005 Brunt achieved her highest Test score of 52 and had match bowling analysis figures of 9-111 as England triumphed by six wickets.
Four years later she returned to New Road for another Ashes Test and scored 27 and returned figures of 7-133 although this time the match ended in a draw.
The series could not be more evenly poised heading to New Road with England winning at Taunton – when Brunt returned 3-48 – and losing yesterday at Bristol.
England play Australia across all formats of the game to decide who will win the Ashes with all games being shown live on Sky Sports.
Brunt, 30, said: "I'm probably most looking forward to playing at New Road because history suggests I play my best against Australia there.
"I love these series. They test your skills to the maximum. It is very competitive and it is a chance to showcase your skills across all three formats.
“This is a massive series and it seems to just be more emphasis on it every year and seems to get bigger every year and this year every ball is going to be televised and on radio."
Brunt says she is the fittest she has felt for three years and was unable to fully enjoy England's most recent series win, in Australia two winters ago, after a back injury forced her home early after the Test victory at the WACA Ground in Perth.
After being sidelined for eight months, she has worked her way back to peak fitness over the past year.
She said: “I feel really good, I’m in good nick. It’s been about three years coming where I’ve played without pain. My back is good at the minute, I’m really strong."
