Women's World Cup Diary

Good, but lessons still to learn

The cricket at the Women’s World Cup 2013 has largely been exciting and unpredictable, and it has been a privilege to commentate on the action

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

The cricket at the Women’s World Cup 2013 has largely been exciting and unpredictable, and it has been a privilege to commentate on the action. Australia were worthy winners, having lost only once, their final Super Six match against West Indies, by which time they had already secured their place in the final.

There are a few things, however, which would enhance the tournament further, and which I very much hope are put in place, or reinstated for the World Cup in 2017. I would like to have seen an umpire from the ICC’s elite panel standing during the World Cup, as there was for the first ICC-run World Cup in 2009 when Australian Steve Davis - highly respected by the players - officiated throughout and took charge of the final. The format of the tournament would also be better with teams able to take all points gained at the group stage through into the Super Sixes. The fact Sri Lanka beat India convincingly meant India were knocked out but the points Sri Lanka earned against them were lost. Sri Lanka would have been better off trying to manipulate the run chase to win by a smaller margin and ensure India also went through. That is never a healthy situation.

It was great to have national anthems played at the start of the World Cup final, as it brought a real sense of occasion to the match. This is the first World Cup I’ve been to where there have been no anthems during the rest of the tournament though, which was a shame. There was little to no World Cup branding around Mumbai or at the Cricket Club of India either. In 2009, the North Sydney Oval was adorned with ICC Women’s World Cup hoarding and you knew you were at an important event. A single sign at the main gate to the ground was the only publicity the tournament was afforded around the city, although the ICC did concentrate its publicity drive through digital means, using Twitter and Facebook. They also spent good money in housing the players at the wonderful Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, which is where the men tend to stay when in the city. However, some players have been heard to say they wouldn’t have minded staying in a slightly less luxurious surroundings if they knew the money was being better spent elsewhere on the tournament. It can be hard to get the balance right.

Hopefully this tournament, and the tremendous improvement shown by Sri Lanka in particular, will encourage more of the ‘top’ nations to arrange bilateral tours with the likes of Sri Lanka and West Indies to aid the game’s global development. Prior to the World Cup final, West Indies had only played four ODIs against Australia - and they’ve been playing one-day international cricket since way back in 1973.

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Fitzpatrick still has the fire

Australia’s coach, Cathryn Fitzpatrick , is a two-time winner of the World Cup but once Sunday’s final gets underway at the Brabourne Stadium, there will be nothing more she can do to affect the outcome of the match.

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

Australia’s coach, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, is a two-time winner of the World Cup but once Sunday’s final gets underway at the Brabourne Stadium, there will be nothing more she can do to affect the outcome of the match.

As a fast bowler, Fitzpatrick was the quickest in the game, intimidating the opposition with a steely competitiveness that brought her 180 wickets in 109 ODIs at an average of 16.79. Now, at 44 years of age, she still has a bit of the fast bowler in her according to Australia allrounder Lisa Sthalekar, but she has adapted well to being in charge.

“As a player she was the type of person who had high expectations of herself and her team-mates, and that hasn’t changed as a coach,” Sthalekar told me. “She always wants to get the best out of us. We didn’t play quite as well as we would have liked in the first two matches of this tournament, but she identified the areas that we needed to work on and did it in a manner that didn’t put us on the back foot in any way.

“Her coming into the role after being assistant has been really good. She’s got a good understanding of the group and what we need and she’s getting the best out of us at the moment.

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A hockey connection, and giving back to Japan

Just to emphasise the point that women are good at multi-tasking, New Zealand have two dual internationals in their World Cup squad

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

Just to emphasise the point that women are good at multi-tasking, New Zealand have two dual internationals in their World Cup squad. The captain Suzie Bates is not only a member of the ‘White Ferns’ (the nickname for the New Zealand women’s cricket team) but she has also represented New Zealand in basketball, notably taking part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the ‘Tall Ferns.’ Batsman Sophie Devine came very close to a London 2012 Olympic berth with the country’s hockey team, and put cricket to one side to focus on an Olympic dream.

Devine was part of New Zealand’s Olympic training squad but, agonizingly, didn’t make the final cut for the Games itself. She moved to Auckland in March 2012 in order to train, day in day out, with the Black Sticks and stayed with former New Zealand cricket captain Haidee Tiffin. She admitted at the time that the pair had “a few deep and meaningful talks about cricket,” so if Tiffin, who is part of the White Ferns coaching staff at this World Cup, had a hand in encouraging Devine back towards cricket, it has been worth it, as she has made one of the three centuries scored by New Zealand so far in the tournament. This includes the 145 against South Africa in their opening group match. Fast bowler Ellyse Perry is another well known dual international, having represented Australia at the last football World Cup.

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Cricket 1-0 Football

The Jamaican parish of St Catherine will be buzzing tonight with the news that one of their own will be playing in West Indies' first ever Women's World Cup final

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

The Jamaican parish of St Catherine will be buzzing tonight with the news that one of their own will be playing in West Indies' first ever Women's World Cup final. Allrounder Stafanie Taylor was a keen footballer when she was young and so it is a primary school teacher who we have to thank for encouraging her to have a go at cricket as well. She was the only girl at her school who played and luckily she loved it, turned out to be rather good and last year was named ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year. St Catherine is one of the biggest parishes in Jamaica and Taylor says her father often gets people coming up to him to comment on something his daughter has done in cricket. The 21-year-old is studying Forensic Science at university and has always had a dream to be a forensic scientist – “I love CSI,” she proclaimed, after I interviewed her on the outfield following West Indies’ historic win over New Zealand. She only started studying last year, and cricket commitments mean it is going to take her fully seven years to complete the course. She's now got the small matter of a World Cup final to worry about first.

***

Some more serious football skills exist in the genes of England allrounder Jenny Gunn. Her father is Bryn Gunn, the former Nottingham Forest defender who helped Brian Clough’s side win the European Cup in 1980, coming on as a second-half substitute as they beat Hamburg 1-0 in the final. A household that boasts both a European Cup and a Cricket World Cup winner’s medal is pretty special. Add to that an Ashes-winning medal from 2005 and it’s a mantelpiece that would be hard to beat.

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Don't just ignore these umpiring blunders

West Indies are known to be more unpredictable and dangerous with bat than with ball, but they managed to defend 207 for 9 in the Super Sixes to clock their first ever ODI win over New Zealand

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

West Indies are known to be more unpredictable and dangerous with bat than with ball, but they managed to defend 207 for 9 in the Super Sixes to clock their first ever ODI win over New Zealand. It was a total which, if you believe the record books, the White Ferns should have been able to chase down. But records have been thrown out of the window in this tournament, first by Sri Lanka upsetting both England and India, and now by West Indies who suddenly have a good chance of making their first ever World Cup final against Australia.

New Zealand were on the wrong end of three poor lbw decisions in their chase. During the post-match presentation, captain Suzie Bates chose not to mention the umpiring, unlike Charlotte Edwards who commented after England lost to Sri Lanka that “poor shots and a couple of bad decisions cost us.”

In this particular match though, New Zealand's batter Sophie Devine got a big inside edge on to her pad but was given out lbw to Tremayne Smartt when it took only one replay for those of us in the commentary box both to hear an obvious sound and see that it was bat first then pad.

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Australia peaking at the right time

Australia are unbeaten after five games of this tournament and it looks like they're peaking at just the right time for the final

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

Australia are unbeaten after five games of this tournament and it looks like they're peaking at just the right time for the final. They stuttered a little in the opening two group games against Pakistan and South Africa, losing early wickets, but nevertheless recovered to win both. They seemed to pull everything together when they played New Zealand, and Jodie Fields played a blinder as captain when they were forced to defend a low total against England. Even without star fast bowler Ellyse Perry, who it now turns out has aggravated an ankle injury, the Aussies' plans haven't been upset. Sri Lanka have acquitted themselves extremely well in this tournament, but after heavy defeats to West Indies, New Zealand and Australia, they need to work on putting results together more consistently. The fight for the other final berth will become clearer after West Indies and New Zealand have played each other. New Zealand brushed aside Sri Lanka with as much ease as Australia, and in duel internationals Sophie Devine (hockey) and Suzie Bates (basketball), they have two players with hundreds under their belts. However, they will be wary of the danger the West Indies pose if one or both of Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor get going. The pitches at the Brabourne are also showing signs of becoming more receptive to spin, which could bring talented off spinner Anisa Mohammed (ranked sixth in the world) into play for the West Indies, as well as 17-year old legspinner Shaquana Quintyne.

*** We haven’t seen South Africa in any of the TV games, and they can't go any further in the tournament after losing their opening Super Six match. It is a shame for them that they haven’t had the opportunity to come to Mumbai; they have been kept in Cuttack because of security arrangements put in place in case it was Pakistan who qualified ahead of them. Apart from one team being stuck out on their own on the other side of the country, it would have been better for the tournament if all the teams were together in one city for the Super Sixes, as England and West Indies have both had to handle flights before and after games against South Africa, whereas New Zealand and Australia haven’t. Sri Lanka will also play there in a couple of days time. Facilities in Cuttack don’t seem to have enamoured players either, with reports of cockroaches and the odd rat in one of the hotels where players stayed during the group stage. During their brief visit, England’s Tammy Beaumont tweeted, “Just been to our hotel gym, which is also our team meeting room, and the treadmill is still being installed! #raincheck #faultytowers.”

*** Aussie quick Mitchell Starc appeared at the Brabourne Stadium to watch Australia's Super Six match against Sri Lanka. Having been rested from the remaining ODIs against the West Indies, he arrived in India early to get accustomed to conditions ahead of the upcoming men’s tour. As well as supporting the Australian women’s team, he had an ulterior motive to visit Mumbai because he is the boyfriend of wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy. Healy is the niece of former Australia 'keeper Ian, but hasn’t played a match in the tournament so far.

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Sthalekar's journey

While England-Australia clashes always get the pulse racing, allrounder Lisa Sthalekar has told me she would like the ICC and national governing bodies in cricket to arrange more series between the higher and lower ranked women’s countries, in

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

This comes particularly in light of the rapid improvement Sri Lanka have made in the last couple of years and Sthalekar notes that Australia have only ever played two ODIs against Sri Lanka in their history – the last being at the World Cup of 2005 – and only three against the West Indies.

“We should be playing teams like Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies more often, instead of just the top four nations. Hopefully with the development of this World Cup, the ICC and the other national bodies are able to put more series and competitions in place.”

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What now for India?

It has been a World Cup full of drama and surprises, and none more so than Sri Lanka making the Super Sixes at the expense of hosts India

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

It has been a World Cup full of drama and surprises, and none more so than Sri Lanka making the Super Sixes at the expense of hosts India. The general feeling seemed to be that Sri Lanka had already had their big win of the tournament. Many journalists and commentators felt that the historic victory over England was a one off and they wouldn't have it in them to repeat it – particularly after suffering such a hefty defeat to West Indies. That was a gross underestimation.

Clare Connor, head of women's cricket at the ECB, and chair of the ICC Women's Committee tweeted, "India about to crash out of the World Cup. Shame for them as hosts and for women's cricket in India. On flip side, SL so impressive."

Sri Lanka women's international cricket spawned out of the euphoria of the men's World Cup win in 1996. A few more sparkling performances in the Super Sixes could lead to a swell of interest there that the game so craves. I would love to know the extent to which Sri Lanka's performances are catching the imagination of the public on the island.

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Edwards' legend grows

The scream Charlotte Edwards let out when she reached her century against India hinted at the pressure she had been under

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

The scream Charlotte Edwards let out when she reached her century against India hinted at the pressure she had been under. The pressure wasn't for her place in the side but something she puts on herself, as a captain who always wants to be leading from the front. Coming into the match, Edwards had managed double figures only once in her last seven ODI innings, going back to March last year. She grew up on a potato farm in the village of Pidley in Cambridgeshire and has now passed Australia's Belinda Clark as the all-time leading ODI run-scorer in women's cricket. I wonder how much longer she will play for. She is 33 years old and playing in her fifth World Cup, but she seems to have a lot more cricket in her. The game is her life. Ask her what she does in her spare time and she'll look at you a little blankly before replying that if she isn't playing cricket she is coaching and watching it. She is highly respected and universally liked, and plays her part in the governance of the game by being a member of the ICC Cricket Committee. She is a living legend of the game.

*** Performance of the day, though, has to go to Stafanie Taylor of West Indies. In fact she can share it with Deandra Dottin, Taylor scored a mammoth 171 off 137 balls - the third-highest ODI score of all time - as West Indies got their first victory of the tournament over Sri Lanka. Dottin broke the record for the fastest fifty by a woman, reaching the mark off just 20 balls, three quicker than Australia’s Meg Lanning managed in December.

*** I was treated to an evening at Bombay Gymkhana over the weekend, to watch the Six Nations on TV in the bar. A good friend of mine, Chait Sinh, was my host. He used to captain the India rugby team and I got to know him and a number of the team when they toured the UK in 2004. While England were busy winning the Calcutta Cup, I was taken to see the 'other' Calcutta Cup, which is sitting proudly in the Gymkhana trophy cabinet. It is a replica of the trophy contested by England and Scotland, presented to the Indian Rugby Football Union by the RFU in return for the Calcutta Cup. The original Calcutta Cup was made by the Calcutta Rugby Football Club when it was forced to close down in 1878. The club withdrew the remaining funds in their bank account, smelted down the silver rupee coins in its coffers and had the cup made, offering it as a gift to the RFU for the betterment of rugby. The cup that the IRFU own is played for each year in the guise of the All India and South Asia Rugby tournament. In 2012, Bombay Gymkhana won the cup for the first time in a decade under the captaincy of Nasser Hussan - another veteran of the national side's 2004 tour to the UK. It was the 79th year of the competition.

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How Sri Lanka turned its women's cricket around

I can’t think of a bigger upset in 40 years of Women’s World Cup cricket than Sri Lanka's win over England

Alison Mitchell

25-Feb-2013

I can’t think of a bigger upset in 40 years of Women’s World Cup cricket than Sri Lanka's win over England. The defending champions lost to a side that had never beaten them before, and who didn't win a single game at the last World Cup in 2009. It was a match that defied expectations and Sri Lanka have improved beyond recognition from the side I watched in both the 2005 and 2009 tournaments. There was a strength and sense of fight in this team built on a trust of their instincts and ability.

After the game, Sri Lanka players and friends lingered long on the verandah of the dressing rooms at the Cricket Club of India, while small square tables and wicker chairs began to be set out on the edge of the outfield for club members to enjoy dining in the evening sun. It was a happy melee, with team captain Shashikala Siriwardene grinning from ear to ear as she was congratulated by passers-by doing their nightly exercise on the walking track around the boundary.

A chat with team manager and selector ARM Aroos helped to shed some light on just how Sri Lanka have transformed themselves in the last couple of years. He pointed firstly to Sri Lanka Cricket contracts and match fees, which are now awarded at a rate of US$100 for an ODI and US$50 for a T20. The fees aren’t much, but the contracts provide a monthly income.

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