Girls Aloud
A little like home
After a long journey from Australia it’s been great to be in the Caribbean, it reminds me a lot of Australia all the beaches and sunshine, it’s a cool place.
Ellyse Perry
25-Feb-2013
After a long journey from Australia it’s been great to be in the Caribbean, it reminds me a lot of Australia all the beaches and sunshine, it’s a cool place.
We arrived on May 1 and literally landed and went straight into our first match which some might say was a bit tough but I actually think it’s done us good as it means we’ve got ourselves well prepared and given us the motivation to do well especially since we lost one warm-up and won the other.
I’ve not managed to explore the island of St Kitts too much. We’ve been to the beach and the pool so far, oh and the training grounds! I hope we get the opportunity to explore a bit as we read in one of the magazines on one of our numerous flights about a place called Turtle Beach and I hope we get the chance to visit it as it sounded pretty cool.
Full postThe pride of playing for New Zealand
I had been thinking about retiring for a while and had spoken to my friends and family at Christmas about the thoughts of retiring
Haidee Tiffen
25-Feb-2013
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One reason for my decision to retire was the loss of earnings for us while we are on tour. It is very difficult to balance full time teaching and full-time cricket. If I was paid I probably would still be playing. It is hard to keep the balance and I know it has been my choice for the past few years and I certainly did not play for money, I played because I am hugely passionate about cricket and my country. The positive thing in the women’s game is that the playing programme for the women has grown but there is far more of a time commitment now in order to prepare for those tours and I suppose the loss of earnings on tour did come into account in my decision to retire. It is not the main reason but certainly a part of the reason.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my cricketing journey. I have been apart of a Timaru Girls High School team that won the National secondary school title in New Zealand, I have been apart of the huge history of successful State championships with Canterbury. I have played for my country for 10 years and captained out great nation, I have been a part of the winning World Cup team in 2000 and I have played alongside some amazing Kiwis. Not to mention I have met some amazing people from all over the world and made friendships I know will last forever. I have learnt a lot during my playing days, have had fantastic successes, gut-wrenching losses, been coached by brilliant coaches and I know all my experiences have shaped me in becoming the person I am today. I would never change anything I have experienced.
Looking ahead to New Zealand women’s cricket’s future, I think there are three players the world should be looking out for. Not only are they all outstanding allrounders but they all are fantastic ambassadors for our country. They are Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Lucy Doolan. All talented and skilled in their own right and I believe they all will be highly ranked players in the world.
Full postA batting lesson from New Zealand
We always knew that the World Cup was going to be a learning experience and if we needed a lesson in how to deliver one of the best batting performances of all time then we saw it on Thursday with Suzie Bates and Haidee Tiffen’s amazing 262-run
Urooj Mumtaz
25-Feb-2013
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We always knew that the World Cup was going to be a learning experience and if we needed a lesson in how to deliver one of the best batting performances of all time then we saw it on Thursday with Suzie Bates and Haidee Tiffen’s amazing 262-run partnership.
Suzie’s innings in particular was the best-ever innings I have ever seen, even if we did help her by bowling both sides of the wicket. The way she powerfully struck our bowlers all around the ground was quite incredible and a great lesson for us to observe.
The New Zealand and Pakistan teams have become very close during this event, ever since we played a warm-up game against each other, and they have been very helpful at passing on tips to us about how to make it at the top level.
Full postWorld Cup final - here we come
What a game
Haidee Tiffen
25-Feb-2013
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Our batting is peaking at the right time and today we didn’t mess around with the line-up much. It’s a settled batting order which makes me feel at ease ahead of meeting England. I know we took 48 overs to bowl Pakistan out but it doesn’t worry me – their openers batted really well and the rest of the line-up hardly played any shots to give us a chance. There is still some concern over the fielding – we conceded many overthrows today – and that is an area we really need to work on.
Rebecca Rolls, our former keeper, is holidaying in Australia right now and I must say she timed it well! She has always been a great supporter and morale-booster for us since she retired, always sending us texts and emails encouraging us. She is spending time with the team right now and was part of the side that rattled up 455 against Pakistan in 1997. How cool would that have been? She was certainly pleased by the show we put up.
We have been getting a lot of support from back home as well. The media coverage in New Zealand for the World Cup has been a lot more this time. There has also been an overwhelming response on our message board on the New Zealand Cricket website. But the most heartwarming and inspiring reactions have come from the New Zealand troops out in Afghanistan. The soldiers fighting there have told us they are following our campaign keenly and that is a great lift for us. We always feel proud representing our country, but moments like this make it truly special.
Full postAnother step towards the World Cup final
I have to say I am really proud of the way New Zealand bounced back from the defeat against England to beat India today
Haidee Tiffen
25-Feb-2013
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And we still have to improve in some of the areas, especially fielding. We need to take the opportunities we get: today we missed some run-outs and dropped a few catches and that can hurt us in the long run. Overall we have to be more consistent.
We gave away 21 wides today but you know it’s not like the bowlers mean to bowl them. As a captain, I try and encourage my players, give the bowlers time to settle down and have a chat with them if required. After the game today we had a de-briefing where the bowlers acknowledged that they needed to work on their lines better.
The Indian lower order, led by Reema Malhotra, batted really well and I don’t think we could have done anything to stop them. India have been successful in scoring that way – they have started out slow and taken advantage of the Powerplays to get the runs. They have relied on scoring in the death overs and that’s what they did today as well.
Full postTime to bring on the A-game
It was a disappointing loss against England and I have to say some poor fielding cost us
Haidee Tiffen
25-Feb-2013
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Among the top teams, New Zealand have played England and Australia in the World Cup so far and I have to say that their bowling attacks are similar – they both have very disciplined units and good allrounders like Shelley Nitschke, Lisa Sthalekar and Charlotte Edwards. Our strength I’d say is the ability of our pace bowlers to get some nip out of the pitches – Nicola Browne and Sophie Devine manage to get bounce and swing off the tracks. What has let us down is our inconsistency.
If you see a pattern in the run-scoring in this tournament, you’ll see the teams that have done well have firstly been able to adapt to the different ground conditions: the North Sydney Oval helps fast bowlers, while Bankstown is slower, where 180 would be a good total; secondly a top-order batsman, like Anjum Chopra against Australia, has stayed on till 40 overs to steer the batting. We have that sort of batsmen, who can stay long and score at a quick rate and when we get it right we are a very strong batting team.
We meet India on Tuesday and we know we need to be on the top of our game. People are saying India’s win against Australia was an ‘upset’ of sorts but really you can never underestimate a top-ranked team even if they are in a transitional phase. Any of the top four in this World Cup can beat the rest.
Full postWe keep exceeding expectations
The West Indies have done extremely well at this tournament so far, so to record a win over them was an extremely good effort and it was an excellent all-round display from the whole team
Urooj Mumtaz
25-Feb-2013
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The West Indies have done extremely well at this tournament so far, so to record a win over them was an extremely good effort and it was an excellent all-round display from the whole team.
Early wickets were always going to be important and Almas Akram bowled a beautiful opening spell. She may not be very tall but she bowls with good pace and an excellent line-and-length and she received some good support from our other bowlers.
On a personal note, I was pleased with my own spell of bowling, and Bismah Maroof deserves special praise for her outstanding catch. If it had been a televised match then I think that it would have had to be one of the contenders for the catch of the year as she flung herself at full stretch to her left and managed to keep hold of the ball with one hand.
Full postCan we beat New Zealand?
It has been a disappointing start to the World Cup, losing our first two matches in what has been a frustrating tournament to date
Cri-Zelda Brits
25-Feb-2013
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After a solid start, we just collapsed, and scoring 116 all out in a World Cup game simply isn’t good enough and we all know that. Although we only lost by two wickets, I think our brilliant bowling performance made it even more frustrating as I believe we would have won comfortably if we had scored 30 to 40 more runs.
The game against Australia was a much better performance and Alicia Smith bowled superbly to take three wickets and restrict them to 258 for 4 when at one stage it looked like they may get close to 300.
And when Trisha Chetty, who batted superbly, and I were putting on a great partnership for the second wicket I genuinely thought that we had a chance of making the target.
Full postWe have been waiting for years to beat Sri Lanka
I promised to the people of Pakistan ahead of today’s game against Sri Lanka that we would bounce back and I don’t think anybody could have expected a better performance than the one we put in today
Urooj Mumtaz
25-Feb-2013
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Can I begin by thanking everybody for their comments and messages on my last blog. I read all of your words of encouragement and it was very much appreciated following the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat to India.
I promised to the people of Pakistan ahead of today’s game against Sri Lanka that we would bounce back and I don’t think anybody could have expected a better performance than the one we put in today. I said at the weekend, after our loss against India, that we didn’t play up to our potential and that we would be fine if we got things right in all three key departments – batting, bowling and fielding – and that is what we did today.
We have been waiting for years to beat Sri Lanka and it was the perfect day to win – the first time a Pakistan side had won in 19 matches against them and the first time Pakistan has won a match at the ICC Women’s World Cup. To be part of this moment of history and to captain the side makes me extremely proud. We know we have taken a vital step towards making it to the Super Six stage now, as Sri Lanka faces a difficult last match against India, so it is extremely exciting that we may get a chance to face the likes of Australia and New Zealand next week.
Full postPulford's a star
Kate Pulford made her return to international cricket after six years
Haidee Tiffen
25-Feb-2013
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We arrived in Sydney at the start of the week and had warm-up games on Tuesday and Wednesday – we beat Pakistan and then lost to India. On Thursday we went for the opening ceremony of the World Cup. First to the Sydney Opera House for some photos and then across to Luna Park by ferry. The ceremony was very nice and after that we busied ourselves with captains’ interviews, eating and drinking.
Today there was a good crowd at our game and it was nice to see Wasim Akram, Debbie Hockley, Belinda Clark and Danny Morrison giving TV commentary. The pitch was doing a little early in our innings and the Australian opening bowlers were getting the ball to move off the seam. They dug in the ball and it nipped off the pitch so we had to play knuckle down play cautiously.
We got two half-century partnerships but need to look at how we can convert them into hundred-run stands. The spinners tied us down for a while but I think we played positively against them. Most of the teams will have decent spinners and what one needs to do is not let them settle down into a rhythm. I don’t mean attack them right from the start, but play positively and be clear about what shot you want to play before you play it.
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