The White Ferns depart New Zealand, bound for English shores this week, full of confidence and ready to show the current 50-over world champs what they’ve got.
The White Ferns head to the UK with an unchanged line up from the ICC World Twenty20 competition in the West Indies and although the Kiwis progressed further through the competition than the English, they will not be resting on their laurels.
Coach Gary Stead said he’s got a good strong line up of talented players who can hold their own against the current world champs, with many stepping up to the mark and proving their skills in the West Indies in the shortest format. “It’s good that we have a relatively unchanged squad. I hope we can build on the levels we got to at the ICC World Twenty20 competition and become a formidable team,” he said. “We feel that we have a good mix of youth still in this team and so still view this as a Development tour as well.”
The squad includes the familiar faces of Sara McGlashan, Nicola Browne and Suzie Bates, along side young guns Kate Broadmore and Natalie Dodd. Stead knows every player brings something special to the side. “All 14 players are good enough to contribute and have a player-of-the-match performance on any given day. We only need one player-of-the-match performance on each day from one of our players and it will be a very successful tour,” he said. “I expect senior players will step up and lead the way but I also think that many of the newcomers in this team are ready to announce to the world that they know how to play cricket well.”
In the past the English have proved to be a force to be reckoned with, defeating the White Ferns in both the Twenty20 and One-Day World Cup finals in 2009. The history between the two sides doesn’t flummox Stead and he has a game plan in place to ensure the White Ferns come out on top during the tour. “We have been good in the past at all chipping in but we need a little more than that to beat the England team. They are the current world champions so this is a great yardstick for us to measure ourselves against them,” he said. “We need to have plenty of courage and mongrel and be prepared to roll our sleeves up and fight when we need to.
“We need to fight fire with fire and if we can physically intimidate them with a few of our fast bowlers.”
Stead has set a number of goals for the players, including performing under pressure and to continue to learn and grow with their cricketing skills. “We want to beat the English on their home soil which has not been done for some time now. To continue to learn as a team and as individuals about the opposition and ourselves so when we meet them again in a world event we are really well prepared and believe in ourselves,” he said.
The thing that he is looking forward to the most however is heading into a warmer climate, after returning from the tropics to freezing conditions in Christchurch. “I’m looking forward to the warm weather and some really good cricket played and watching us fight and scrap when we need to. If we can do this well, we are in with a big chance.”
