We don't want to be caught out in World Cup: Aus women's head coach
Mar 10, 2021
Sydney [Australia], March 10 : Australia women's team head coach Matthew Mott said that the team does not want to be "caught out" in next year's 50-over Women's World Cup as they are pushing their boundaries to get the same success as they enjoy in T20Is.
Four years ago, Australia was caught on the wrong foot as Harmanpreet Kaur hit a spectacular 171 at Derby in the semifinal. Since then they have bagged two T20 World Cup titles.
"What we are trying to achieve in T20 is also what we are trying to achieve in one-day cricket which is try to take the game on, push the boundaries a little bit and see how far we can take it," Mott told ESPNcricinfo.
"We learnt our lessons from the last World Cup, not evolving and probably thinking we could keep rolling along doing the same thing. We don't want to be caught out this time, this is a perfect opportunity against good opposition -- I know they've struggled against England but the Kiwis always give us a good run, in their home conditions we won't be taking them lightly.
"We are going over with a reasonably open mind, there's a good mix of players, experience and some youth, so for us it's about having a real dress rehearsal seeing what it will be like at that World Cup. We'll play on a few of the same venues and getting some intel against New Zealand on those grounds will be great for us," he added.
Talking about the squad which will take on White Ferns in the upcoming white-ball series, Mott said that the side will try different bowling combinations in the tour but their batting will "stay the same".
"Think our batting will stay the same, we've had a good run in our ODI cricket and the style of cricket we've been playing we've been happy with. In our one-day bowling attack there's a lot of options. What we want to maintain is a bit of unpredictably so teams don't know what to expect, so certainly different bowling combinations will happen. They'll be subtle changes in there but our games are pretty similar and our best players are our best in both formats," the coach said.
The squad will depart for New Zealand on Saturday and then undergo two weeks of managed isolation in Christchurch during which they will be able to train. Australia women will play three T20Is and as many ODIs against New Zealand women, the first T20I will be played in Hamilton on March 28.
