‘I was a real pest as a player at the end of my career’: The Aussie hoping to revolutionise women’s cricket in NZ
Joanne Broadbent wants NZ’s women to be more dynamic to help boost the viewing experience. By
Joanne Broadbent is happy if her players annoy her.
The Northern Spirit coach discovered near the end of her illustrious playing career that her inquisitiveness was leading her to the second half of her cricketing odyssey.
‘‘ I think I was a real pest as a player at the end of my career,’’ the Australian said as she prepares her squad for the summer’s domestic competitions.
‘‘I had so many questions, and I caught myself asking so many questions, and watching and observing what the coaches and players were doing as a team, at meetings or tactical discussions.
‘‘ At the start you’re just enjoying playing with your mates. But then you realise there’s a lot of work that goes in to the coaching side of it.’’
The 54-year-old quickly found she loved providing guidance for young players.
‘‘The enjoyment I got out of it – every time I left a session there was a buzz so I knew, like you do when you really love something.
‘‘ I started coaching primary school teams and under-age teams and in fairness I was very, very shy when I first got into teams and things. I really got away from that shyness by doing school visits – I was a development officer, going out and teaching the real basics like throwing and rock-and-bowl – and I just enjoyed it.
‘‘That was the catalyst for me.’’ After starring as a player for the Australian national side – the left- handed bat and left- arm medium pacer averaged 109 in tests, took 38 ODI wickets at 16.47 and was a World Cup winner in 1997 – Broadbent had huge success as a coach.
She won five Australian Women’s National Cricket League titles in six seasons with the New South Wales Breakers, as well as two T20 titles with the side and the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League crown with the Sydney Thunder.
Last season, she was the assistant coach for the Northern Districts women’s side and that convinced her that New Zealand was where she wanted to make her latest mark.
‘‘You outgrow environments. ‘‘ I got to the point where I wanted something that was a bigger challenge – and there’s nothing bigger than relocating yourself.
‘‘I really enjoyed working with these girls last year and when you get an environment that you feel really good in, it doesn’t come along always.
‘‘I just love a challenge.’’ Broadbent says technique is prominent among the things she aims to teach the Spirit players to enable them to become more dynamic cricketers amid a complete diet of limited-overs games.
‘‘ I still think in the women’s game the technical part is really quite crucial.
‘‘Because there’s not as much power in the women’s game as the men’s game; however, the improvement in the power game has been unbelievable. It’s probably not quite here in NZ because these girls – they’re working and training but the players I was working with in New South Wales were professionals.
‘‘They were at the gym four or five times a week and you know what, within a matter of probably 12 months I saw complete body changes. They almost went from what I would say, from players to athletes.
‘‘ You still want to tweak techniques – a mis- hit from a female isn’t going to the boundary like it may for a male. You tend to work on the technical stuff through August to halfway through September; now we’re in a phase where we’ve identified strengths, and they’ve got their plans and are working on those.’’
There was a notable gulf in power, innovation and athleticism in the recent T20 and ODI series between the White Ferns and hosts Australia, bar one or two NZ players, and Broadbent wants her charges to improve in those areas.
‘‘You want your players to be able to hit 360 [degrees]. Pace bowlers, you want them to be able to bowl upwards of 110 (kph). You want athleticism in the field.
‘‘You want them to be dynamic for a game you want to watch. There’s more women playing on TV so there’s more eyes on, which means you want to make a really good experience for viewers watching women’s cricket.
‘‘They want to see that athleticism, they want to see big hits, they want to see bouncers and spinners that can turn a ball with wrist strength.’’
Broadbent is the only women’s head coach among the six New Zealand major association women’s teams for the 2020/2021 season.
But she doesn’t believe it’s essential for women’s cricket to have a string of women’s coaches.
‘‘I’ve known some really good coaches that have been males or females – I don’t really have a preference as a player, I just wanted a coach to be able to gel a team together and get the best out of each individual.
‘‘That can come from a male coach or female coach.
‘‘A fellow I was speaking to the other day said he got told that the difference between coaching men and women – and this is something women coaches may ‘ get’ coaching females – that when looking at a watch and telling the time, you could tell the blokes the time but the girls want to know why and how the watch works.
‘‘That can be the challenge for male coaches, the detail, there can be frustration around that.
‘‘In my experience, the women want to know the why – they’re a bit sceptical sometimes of what you’re doing and why. If you outline that, you can really get empowerment in the group and buy-in.
‘‘What we want for women’s cricket is just someone who’s very passionate about coaching.’’
‘‘I’ve known some really good coaches that have been males or females – I don’t really have a preference as a player, I just wanted a coach to be able to gel a team together and get the best out of each individual.’’ Joanne Broadbent