MOTORSPORT, CRICKET, GOLF

Aussies lap up tips on day-night nuances

SPORT is about winning and teams are constantly seeking an advantage to get there.

Sometimes that comes from collaborating and learning from others and that’s exactly what our women’s cricket team has been doing as it prepares for the Ashes series.

The start of the tournament is just one month away, but it’s the first day-night Test at North Sydney Oval that stands as a key fixture for the Australians in their quest to retain the trophy.

New captain Rachael Haynes, who this week replaced the injured Meg Lanning, said the team members have been speaking with their male counterparts to gather information about day-night nuances to try to get an edge on their English rivals.

“Even something like the use of the pink ball in the evening,” Haynes said. “They’ve played day-night Test matches so I know our coach Matthew Mott has had discussions with Darren Lehmann about little tactics they try to implement throughout the match.

“Important moments throughout as well, because it’s pretty obvious that clumps of wickets get taken within certain times in those games.”

The women’s Ashes is de- cided on a points-system across the three formats, with the Test match worth four points and three ODIs and three T20s worth two each.

“We’d really love a result in the Test match. The challenge with Test match cricket is it’s not something we play a lot of,” Haynes said. “We’ll take some time going in to that to really sit down and assess how it is we want to approach that format of the game.”