White Ferns look to atone in series in UAE
White Ferns captain Suzie Bates says the upcoming T20 and oneday series against Pakistan will be a fresh beginning after a disappointing 2017 Cricket World Cup performance.
The White Ferns landed in the United Arab Emirates yesterday and will kick off their campaign against Pakistan next week in the first of three one-day matches and then four T20s.
Bates, who captained the side in their early exit from the World Cup in June, was keen to start afresh with the same group in what was unfamiliar territory to them all, the UAE.
‘‘[I’m] excited to get back with the group. We have had a bit of time off since the World Cup, which didn’t go to plan, but now it’s about the next four-year cycle and trying to improve as a group and Pakistan is the first time since we’ve travelled there as a team.’’
The matches won’t be played in Pakistan, but instead played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE.
Bates said new bowling specialist coach and former Black Cap Andre Adams had been a big help over the last few weeks ahead of the series.
‘‘We don’t know a lot about the conditions but we have had [former Black Cap] Matt Bell and Andre Adams who are now on our support staff play there, so they have a little bit of an insight of how the wicket’s going to be. I guess it’s going to be a bit of wait-and-see and work out the conditions when we get there.’’
Adams, who o retired from all cricket in 2015, has worked as a resource coach for Auckland Cricket over the past two seasons and said he was looking forward to joining Haidee Tiffen’s coaching staff.
‘‘Working with the White Ferns is a really exciting step for me in my development as a coach,’’ said Adams.
‘‘I’ve had a bit to do with the Auckland-based players over the past year or so and really enjoyed
it. The players are so open-minded when it comes to learning and getting better - and that’s really exciting from a coaching perspective.’’
Tiffen has named no new caps, but there is a good mixture of seasoned players and young talent coming through. Bates said the tour would be about solidifying roles within the team and building from the ground up.
‘‘This team just needs to learn more about each other and learn how to be consistent against all the sides and Pakistan is a good opportunity to try a few things in our game plan.
‘‘It’s a really good chance after the world cup to sort of start afresh and see how far we can take this group.’’