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Ashleigh Barty hopes she can bag a ticket for the England-Australia World Cup clash at Lord's after withdrawing from the Eastbourne International.
Ashleigh Barty hopes her new world No.1 status will help her jag a ticket for Australia's Cricket World Cup clash with England at Lord's
Barty withdrew from the Eastbourne International on Monday to allow a long-standing arm issue to settle down before she makes her assault on Wimbledon next week.
The Australian was due to play her second-round match on Tuesday after being given a first-round bye, but will instead look to cheer on her country's cricketers at that sport's spiritual home.
Barty is hoping her connection with Australia coach Justin Langer will help score her a ticket for the sold-out clash between cricket's oldest rivals.
The former Brisbane Heat player has never been to a World Cup match before and hopes Langer or one of the players can come up trumps.
"If it works out, we'll try and get to the cricket, If not, we'll be watching on telly," Barty said at Devonshire Park on Monday.
"I've been In touch with most of them (the players). I heard from JL (Justin Langer) yesterday and we've been in touch over the last few months.
"Hopefully I can get there."
The 23-year-old pulled out of Eastbourne after experiencing pain from bone stress in her serving arm.
It's an issue she's been dealing with since her teenage years and it flares up whenever there's an increase in her workload.
Barty played five singles matches in Birmingham last week and three more in the doubles event, but she's confident of heading to the All England Club, where she will be top seed next week, in the best possible condition.
"It's an injury I've had to manage since I was 16-years-old," Barty said.
"It happens when I have a spike in load, it's just a bone stress injury and I need to look after it.
"We know how to manage it but it is important to get on top of it straight away."
"I really need to look after it, particularly in the first few days.
"We pulled out of the doubles (in Birmingham) to give it the best chance to be ready for singles.
"It's about rest, time off court and then monitoring how many balls I do hit when I am on court.
"It's just certain times of the year I need to be careful."
Barty said her coronation as world No.1 was made all the more special by the presence of her parents, boyfriend and junior coach Jim Joyce, who jetted in from Brisbane just in time to see her beat Julie Goerges in the Birmingham decider.
"The stars just aligned for me," she said.
"It was planned they were coming over for those two weeks in between the French and Wimbledon.
"Jim, my childhood coach, flew over and landed only three days ago but then, that was all planned.
"It was nice to have everyone there, my whole team.
"Just to have that moment with them was really special."
