“From being a little girl I would see how my brothers played and I wanted to outdo them,” she says. “I just loved hitting it as hard as I could. I found a buzz within that. I played tennis in a similar way.
“It’s a fun part of the game to clear the boundary ropes. There’s always a voice in my head telling me to go for it, but sometimes I do have to reel it in, read the situation and be sensible.”
There is one cloud on her horizon. Yorkshire’s failure to land one of the Tier One professional franchises next season has left her future and that of her fellow Diamonds up in the air. Yorkshire are contesting the decision to delay their admission until 2027.
“There’s a bit of uncertainty that people are working through. Yorkshire are fighting hard to get a Tier One team,” Heath says. “We will roll with the punches and get more information as the year goes on and react to that. I’m focusing on the here and now. We have a full season ahead with Northern Diamonds and we’d like to leave that brand with some silverware.”
With a 10,000 crowd expected at Headingley on Sunday, there is clearly no shortage of buy-in to the women’s game in Yorkshire. For Heath, still in single figures in England appearances, this series is part of an educational process. But she would revel in the opportunity to play in Leeds.
“I want to be a sponge and take on as much information as I can but it would be pretty cool to play in front of one of my favourite crowds,” she says. “I’m probably biased but Yorkshire supporters are pretty strong. They will get behind the home side, for sure.”