Six months to go and we’re now really counting down to the start of the World Cup.
We are now back home after a tough tour in Europe and although we didn’t manage to beat England, I believe we made significant progress during the tour, which provided invaluable experience for us and the tough challenges that lie ahead.
Our bowling and fielding performances, particularly in the Twenty20 matches, showed we are getting closer to competing with the top sides, although admittedly there is much work still to do on our batting.
All credit to the England’s bowlers, who bowled really well, but we are going to have work very hard in provincial cricket in the coming months to raise our performance levels with the bat.
There isn’t much difference in pace to the bowlers we faced against England and those at the World Cup qualifiers, but the key difference is accuracy. England’s bowlers bowled a great line, which must make life much easier for Charlotte Edwards as captain, as it pressurises batsmen into playing high-risk shots if they want to beat the field. It wasn’t a scenario we coped particularly well with and it is an area that we are going to have to address as a matter of urgency.
Away from the tour of England, I am greatly excited by the news this week that the ICC are going to be launching the first-ever rankings for women’s cricket. I think this is a step in the right direction, as if it is something that has been shown to work in the men’s game, then there is no reason why it shouldn’t work in the women’s game as well.
I also believe that the rankings will help the public better identify some of the leading players in world cricket, particularly when not that many women’s international matches are broadcast on television at the moment.
While the main focus will always be on making sure your team win, it will be nice to know that there is something else to play for in every game and I am sure everybody will be keen to do as well as they can in the rankings.
However, I am sure those who are the top of the rankings will be under that extra bit of pressure to perform, as every opposition player will want to do well against them and show that they are capable of competing with the very best cricketers in the world.
I am looking forward to seeing where we are all rated in the rankings, which I believe will be unveiled in October, and I am sure there will be some jokes flying around the dressing room when they are released on where players are ranked.
Until then, it is a case of training, practice and mental preparation, and day-dreams of World Cup success. Oh – and a place near the top of the batting rankings would be nice too!
Some serious changes in the rule of women's cricket must be made so that it is more attractive to public. I would not like to watch Women's cricket where team batting first struggles to score 150 run in fifty overs and second team struggles to beat them.
However, I do appreciate women's for their contribution in cricket because it is not very high profile sport for them.
Regaring the ranking, I believe it is very good idea.I only know few women cricketer and I don't know who is the best batsman and bowler. May be after the ranking it will attract public a little more after they konw who are best in the business.
Posted by: bidhan at September 7, 2008 12:05 PM
I may be out of context but I want to add something. In the recent times there have been talks of including cricket in 2020 Olympics. But I believe it is more important for a women's cricket to be included in the olympics rather than men. Men's cricket can live without olympics or certainly can wait.
In women's cricket even Ashes are played in empty stadium. May be in olympics when Gold is the ultimate prize the whole country will come and support the national team. I believe it will be something bigger than the world cup. If you ask me " Who won the last women's cricket world cup?" my answer would be I don't know. But I will certainly remember if girls win the olympics gold. Because in olympics you watch almost every sport which otherwise you will never even consider watching. I have also feeling that after cricket is an olympic sports Chinese girls will also take cricket seriously because they are the country that don't want any medal chances to go.
Mithali Raj, India's former captain, has been on the international circuit for a decade. In August 2006, she led India to their first-ever Test and series win in England and capped off the year by winning the Asia Cup - the second time in 12 months - without dropping a game. India, under her captaincy, also reached the World Cup final in 2005. Now, as one of the senior members of the side, and the premier batsman, a lot will be riding on her for the two World Cups - 50-over and Twenty20 - that India will play in 2009.
Urooj Mumtaz managed to juggle a course in dentistry along with captaining Pakistan. Their most recent triumph was qualifying for the World Cup next year and the 22-year old Urooj will lead a young team to Australia in hope of creating a favourable impression of the Pakistan women's team among the other sides as well as back home. A legspinner, she has a hat-trick against Zimbabwe.
Cri-zelda Brits became South Africa’s captain at the age of 23, standing in for Shandre Fritze in the home series against Pakistan in 2007. She followed this by captaining the side to a 3-0 series whitewash against the Netherlands as well as winning the first-ever Test between the two sides by 159 runs. In 2008 she scored her maiden ODI hundred and led South Africa to a spot in the World Cup after beating Pakistan in the Qualifiers final in Stellenbosch. She also coaches the Northwest women's team, based in Potchefstroom, and runs her own academy.
Shelley Nitschke combines playing for Australia and her state with working in cricket, as a school officer. A useful spinner, her batting is also worth talking about – she has developed into a handy allrounder. Her major achievements to date are winning the 2005 World Cup, taking 7 for 24 against England in Kidderminster in 2005 and being nominated for the ICC Women's Player of the Year in 2006-07. Although she has played netball, softball and basketball, cricket has always been her stand-out sport.
Ebony Rainford-Brent made history as one of eight England players to be handed a Chance to Shine coaching contract, allowing her flexibility around training. A top-order batsman, she fought back from what doctors thought was a career-killing back injury and could one day bowl again – calling her determined is an understatement. She is on the Surrey Academy and her Super 4s side is Diamonds. Proficient in basketball and athletics, she settled for playing cricket … and the drums.
Haidee Tiffen has played for New Zealand for more than ten years and is now their captain, having begun her career with Otago Under-21s before heading to Canterbury. She has played representational hockey, basketball and rugby – but cricket is her passion and won out over New Zealand junior hockey. She is particularly proud of winning the World Cup in 2000, reaching the 100-ODI milestone and being skipper. Her experience also includes playing for Sussex for two winters and she was also part of the first female academy in Lincoln. Somehow she also finds time to teach Health and PE at Hillmorton High School.
Isobel Joyce,a class bat with a steely mentality, comes from a family full of cricketers - twin sister Cecilia plays alongside her for Ireland and brother Dom for the men’s national team, while another brother, Ed, plays for England and Middlesex. Her first half-century came against a strong New Zealand attack in Dublin in 2004 and her figures of 4 for 20 helped her side beat Scotland by six wickets in the European Championship in 2001, where Ireland won all their three matches. Her 46 against Netherlands in the summer of 2007 helped to maintain her place in the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa. She was in outstanding form with both and ball during the tournament, scoring 148 runs at 37 and taking 10 wickets at an average of 7. She ran out five Pakistani players in Ireland's first match, before earning two successive Player-of-the-Match awards against Scotland and then Zimbabwe, against whom she scored 70 and took 4 for 10. She was named captain for their next series, against West Indies, after Heather Whelan pulled out because she was expecting.
Nadine George has been a regular for West Indies since her debut in 1999. She first led the side on their tour of Europe in June-July 2008, when West Indies thrashed Ireland and Netherlands while putting up a respectable performance against England. Nadine combines playing for West Indies and her national team, St.Lucia, with her day job as a Sergeant in the Police Marine Unit of the Royal St.Lucia Police Force. A left-hand batsman and wicketkeeper, Nadine says the highlights of her career are receiving an MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2005, being the first West Indies woman cricketer to score a century in a Test (in Pakistan in 2004), playing in the World Cup in South Africa (2005), and playing club cricket in Australia in 2006. Nadine also plays netball and volleyball and loves the marine environment and is passionate about diving. She is a qualified open water diver and during her working hours captains a 65 and 82 ft vessel. Her motto in life is "with hard work and dedication one can achieve".
RSS Feed
