Translating domestic bliss into international success
The Rose Bowl Series will be our first international outing in a year but it’s not like we haven’t played hard competitive cricket for 12 months. In fact I believe the preparation for the upcoming season has been excellent.
During the winter we had monthly camps involving everything from skills, game plans, guest speakers, fitness, cooking skills, to a gruelling team challenge. We also had matches pre-season against representative boys. Our season started in October for a club competition and our domestic State competition started in early December. The State competition is extremely important for our preparation. It showed this year any team can be beaten and the competition was always closely fought and players put under pressure. The introduction of the State Twenty20 competition last year has proven to be successful and further develops the style of play we enjoy playing.
Our domestic season has been a huge success. The league has certainly evened up and there was certainly intense competition for places in the national side. During the last round four teams were fighting for the finals spot and the players were put under immense pressure.
No players this year went to England to play but we definitely will be sending some in the future. Suzie Bates had a short playing stint over in New South Wales, Australia. Playing Australia in their own backyard will be a challenge but it is one we are definitely up for. I have, in my 10 years of international cricket, played Australia the most. They have always been tough competition and a side with talented youngsters. We enjoy playing them and the two sides love to battle. I’d say the current New Zealand team is a well balanced side of youth and experience. We too have talented youngsters who will have an impact on the international arena. We have certainly got girls who are athletic and can bounce the ball and smack it to all parts. We are just looking forward to getting started.
To have two World Cup tournaments in a year is massive for our game, the development of it and the promotion of it. We have already at home had media interest and having the games televised will only do the game the better. I think the Twenty20 format of the game is the best way we can promote the game and showcase the skills that the women do have. The interest in Twenty20 cricket for the men globally is massive and to have our Twenty20 World Cup alongside the men can only be a good thing. I am sure all the teams competing in these two tournaments are just as excited as we are.
Posted by: Ajit S. Datar at February 1, 2009 3:38 PM
Hi Hai-dee,
Do you remember getting out lbw on a cross-batted swipe to a shooter in a warm up game at MIG Cricket Club in Mumbai, November 2003, during your tour of India? Your captain scored a century.
Thanks, Ajit
Posted by: Stephen Pearson at February 2, 2009 2:58 AM
Hi Haidee, great article, I am a coach of a women's team here in Melbourne, Australia, and I begin to wonder how much would be involved in setting up something like the Trans-Tasman Netball Competition, as a Twenty20 Competition (which I believe is the future of cricket). In such a comp, 2 or 3 NZ teams could play against the WNCL State side's here in Australia.
I was also thinking that if cricket is to compete with the likes of Hockey and Netball, then we need to look at playing women's twenty20 cricket at the olympics. Also looking to play along side the guys as much as possible, it certainly works for tennis to play at the same time and place as the guys.
Posted by: Jenny Roesler at February 4, 2009 11:59 AM
Great point, Stephen. Every time I watch a Grand Slam, it's just reinforces the point - it's great to see how much coverage the women get through being on the stage at the same time. While the World Cup will of course be excellent, I can't wait for this World Twenty20 for exactly that reason. PS Women's Twenty20 at the Olympics? That would be superb to see.
Posted by: anthony from canada at February 5, 2009 9:32 PM
Yes exactly,governments will support sports more if they are olympic events and because 20-20 is really a game where no one team is dominant and the least teams can beat the established teams 2020 is the vehicle for nations to start in cricket.Not to mention you don't need to stay in the sun so much.And if playing a night game you don't need to worry with the sun.
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".
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