SOMERSET County Cricket Club’s new women’s head coach Erin Osborne, who has played international cricket for Australia on more than 120 occasions, has found her first few weeks in the post very much to her liking.

She said: “As a country girl this place feels like home straightaway, the people have been super friendly and really welcoming to me.

“When you walk down the street people see the badge on your jacket and they stop to say hello and ask how things are going, so I feel like I’m settling in really quickly.

“Everyone at the club has been so welcoming and gone out of their way - not only the club but people in the town as well. I couldn’t have asked for a softer landing really.”

Taunton is not a completely unknown place to Erin as she explained: “I have played here a long time ago when I was very young so it almost feels like I have come full circle to be back here now.”

“It’s been good to get to know the squad - for me the priority is all about getting to know everyone and building relationships and trying to understand Somerset’s place in the cricket world as well and then we go on building from that.

“I am not here for a short spell; I want to be here for a long spell and I want to set up the club for longevity, not just for short term success.

“I want to get to know the system and how the pathways work as well which is really important to me, to make sure that we’re able to produce our own talent coming through as well helping develop the players who are already here.

“I don’t want to change the world or the group or the coaching staff until Ive built relationships and done my research.”

An off spinning all rounder, Erin has spent some of her time working with the young spin bowlers at the club.

“I have been working with the spinners over the last couple of weeks and I have loved it. They are young, they have got natural ability but they are raw. They are also hungry and want to learn and have got a great work ethic. It’s great to see when they have a little bit of success and have a big smile on their face, that’s the reason why you coach- you want to help them to develop and play a core part in their journey.”

The Somerset CCC women’s squad contains a number of young players who are experiencing life as a professional cricketer for the first time about which Erin said: “It’s not an easy transition from working and playing cricket to playing cricket for a living, so there is a lot to understand.”

How much has it helped Erin to settle in to have a fellow Australian- Jamie Cox, as chief executive at Somerset?

“Its been nice having someone who understands moving here from Australia to England and sharing those experiences and also talking about some of the things that work well.”

Erin added: “Ultimately, going forward we want to be successful and we want to win games of cricket but how we get there might look a little bit different.”