IT has taken Emma King just three years to go from average seam bowler to one of the most promising off-spinners in the country.
A youngster from the Subiaco-Marist club in Churchlands, King was the sole WA player picked to attend the under-18 female talent camp at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane this week.
Her selection was the latest accolade after an outstanding 2008-09, when she claimed 43 wickets and scored 463 runs in several competitions.
King was picked for WA’s U17s and 2nd XI teams before she was added to the Western Fury squad for 2009-10.
It was not that long ago when King, looking to play senior women’s cricket for the first time, after playing junior cricket in boys’ teams, first tried spin bowling.
“I never thought I would be a spinner,” she said.
“At training one day, our coach asked if I would like to try spin bowling and I kept at it.”
King, of Duncraig, comes from a sporting family and there is no love lost when she gets a ball in her hand against her two brothers.
“We’re very competitive – I have to beat them,” she said.
King said her passion for cricket came from her first coach, the late ABC broadcaster Wally Foreman.
She signed up with childhood friend Mark, Foreman’s son, at age six and has not looked back. Mark eventually gave up cricket to concentrate on football but the two remain close friends.
Away from cricket, King completed Year 12 last year and is about to begin at Edith Cowan University.