JESS CAMERON is familiar with the wide expanses of the MCG.

Just not in the way you’d expect.

Cameron has walked out onto the hallowed turf before, batting at the top of the order for Victoria and Australia.

But this Sunday, she turns her attention to the football field, when she’ll line up as a member of Melbourne’s women’s team for the AFL Women’s Exhibition Game against the Brisbane Lions.

“I didn’t really see myself playing football on the MCG as a kid. I always saw myself playing cricket there but not footy,” Cameron told melbournefc.com.au.

“I’m pretty excited to see the ground in a different light because I think the cricket pitch runs in a different direction.

“It’ll be good just to have a run around and see what it’s like.”

Cameron’s big-hitting, explosive approach to cricket translates to her work on the football field.

The dynamic forward is known for her strong work overhead, a keen eye for goal and an ability to kick them on both feet.

The latter trait is something Cameron prides herself on, having spent plenty of time practicing her left-foot kicking.

“These days I think it’s really important to be dual-sided,” Cameron said.

“You look at someone like Sam Mitchell, who can kick from outside 50 from both feet – that’s really important in terms of what side of the ground you take a mark on and things like that.

“I think there’s a real emphasis now in women’s footy to make sure that women can start kicking on both sides.

“It’s something that I’ve always known is important – Dad always spoke to me about it as a young kid, trying to get me to kick on both feet. Now sometimes I just enjoy kicking on my left to hit a target.”

Cameron played football as a junior, along with some games at senior level, before moving away from the sport to focus on her cricket.

It proved to be a good decision, with the talented batsman making her debut for Australia at 19, then going on to win the World Twenty20 with her country in 2010, 2012 and 2014, along with the ODI World Cup in 2013.

Those years also included multiple personal accolades – Cameron won the Belinda Clark Award for best Australian international player in 2013, while she was named Player of the Match in the 2012 World T20 final and 2013 World Cup Final.

But as time went on, Cameron started to find the pressure of international selection impacted her enjoyment of the sport and in October 2015, she elected to take an extended break from cricket.

“With any high-pressure sport, you’re always under scrutiny,” she said.

“It wasn’t so much that I was getting dropped or anything like that – it was just my focus was more on the selection side of things and I think that’s when you start playing bad cricket.

“I think the more you enjoy it, the better you play.”

While Cameron never quit cricket for football, the VFL Women’s season timed itself well with an itching to get back into competitive sport.

Having recently played at a lower level with Wyndhamvale (2014) and Port Melbourne (2015), Cameron said the impending National Women’s League provided an additional incentive to return to the football field at a higher level.

“It’s nice that I can actually start playing another sport that I used to play as a kid,” Cameron said.

“That’s where my interest came from and the stuff coming up with the AFL and the league next year, probably helped that decision a little bit more, just to get back into footy.

“I was missing a competitive sport, so I thought footy would be a really good option to get back into something competitive.”

Cameron signed on with VFL Women’s side Diamond Creek and immediately put her name up in lights, kicking nine goals in her first game of the year.

Having also participated in the AFL Victoria Women’s Academy this year, Cameron said she was excited at the prospect of the 2017 National Women’s League.

“I certainly think it’d be good if I got the chance to play in something like that,” Cameron said.

“But again, I don’t want to get myself too caught up in the selection side of things because that’s where I got myself in trouble with cricket.

“I’m just really trying to enjoy every moment that I get playing footy at the moment and I’ll see where that takes me, but it’s really exciting for women’s footy to think that there’s going to be a national competition next year.

“So if somebody came to me and said ‘would you like to play’, I’m certainly not going to say no.”

Heading into this weekend’s game, Cameron said she was looking forward to learning off Melbourne coach Michelle Cowan, along with some of her new teammates.

“I think the whole experience is going to be good,” she said.

“You’ve got Daisy Pearce in there who’s been playing in these exhibition games for a while, so I’m looking forward to learning a bit off her.

“I’m looking forward to playing with her, but even the likes of a Jess Dal Pos and players like that who are creative, I’m learning a lot from them.

“So I’m just looking forward to getting out there and playing with a few different people.”

Having made her mark on the football field, Cameron is also getting back into the swing of things with cricket.

After spending her most recent domestic season with Western Australia, Cameron has signed with Victoria Spirit for the upcoming summer.

She said she was looking forward to getting back to playing her best cricket at state level.

“I think playing cricket for Victoria is very different to playing cricket for Australia,” Cameron said.

“I now know what I want to play for and why I came back to cricket – it’s the enjoyment factor.

“I’m just really looking forward to going back out there with Victoria and just enjoying it – not so much focusing on the selection side of things. I think the rest will just take care of itself.”

As for maintaining her football career, Cameron said she was happy with the AFL’s approach to women’s football, with the door ajar to the possibility of being able to play two sports rather than forced to choose.

“I think the AFL have gone the right way about it, in terms of thinking about when other sports are playing and when they’re going to put their competition,” Cameron said.

“I think it’ll be hard for a few people to work out if they have to decide where they’re going to play and in which sport, but at the moment, I don’t have to make that decision.

“So that’s probably why I’m looking forward to it because I’m not going to have to make that decision for a while, I don’t think.

“And when the day comes, I’ll have to make that decision … but as long as no sport puts the pressure on me, I’m hoping to play both for as long as I can.”

For now, Cameron said she was just keen to “get out there and play” in a top-level women’s game for the first time.

And for the dual code athlete, there’s no better place to start than the home of football – and cricket.