You’re 16, an aspiring cricketer trying to juggle chasing your dreams while keeping up with your studies.
You wake up in the morning, head downstairs to breakfast and look up from your bowl of Weet-Bix to see Australian captain Meg Lanning asking the world’s best all-rounder Ellyse Perry to pass the milk.
It would be enough to make any teenager pinch themselves — which is exactly what Georgia Gall is currently doing in the Sydney Olympic Park Women's Big Bash League hub.
The Euroa product has been thrust into the unique situation after signing her rookie contract with the Melbourne Stars, and is soaking up as much knowledge as she can while she is surrounded by the nation's best.
“It's definitely exciting to be able to sign a contract with the Stars, even though these are pretty odd times at the moment,” Gall said.
“We'll be in a hub for about six weeks all-up. It's pretty intimidating walking around next to your idols every day.
“But being able to just go up and have a chat to someone like Meg Lanning is pretty cool. You get to see close-up how everyone goes about preparing for games and recovering after games.
“Learning off some of the best players in the world will hopefully help me improve on my cricket skills.”
Gall has recently recovered from an injury setback and will look to push for a spot in the Stars’ playing squad as a bowler as the tournament progresses.
“I had a stress fracture in my foot, but the rehab has been all good, it was only a little setback,” she said.
“I've been really focusing on working on my bowling mostly, but I did a bit of batting work through the off-season.”
And although she is consuming as much cricket information as she can, being able to step back and focus on school work at times is helping Gall stave off any mental overload.
“We've got a bit of a study group going on with a few of the younger girls,” she said.
“It's good to have an outlet, it's very important especially being in a hub. You can really get sucked into focusing on and thinking about cricket all day every day.”
The Geelong Grammar student is used to being away from home, and will continue to take the WBBL hub experience in her stride.
“Everyone has been so supportive" Gall said.
“It hasn't been too bad because I'm at a boarding school usually, so I'm used to being away from my family.
“But I do miss them.”
The Stars have started the season in fine form and sit undefeated atop the table after seven matches.
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