England likes what they see at World Cup venue

The venue for the CricInfo Women's World Cup at Lincoln University got the thumbs up from England team management today.

Coach Paul Farbrace said the indoor facilities at New Zealand Cricket's High Performance Centre at the University were made available to England when bad weather struck Christchurch over the last few days.

"The set-up at Lincoln is brilliant. We are really impressed with what we've seen.

"We had a look at the accommodation and it is 450% better than what we were expecting.

"It is not the sort of university accommodation we are used to. They have good-sized rooms, there is a kitchenette for each six rooms and everything is set up so the players can concentrate totally on their cricket.

"We had a look at Brierley Oval and Lincoln Green where we are to play all our games and they are really top facilities.

"Full marks to New Zealand Cricket. You worry when you hear everything is to be at one place but we are really impressed," he said.

England starts its final preparation for the World Cup with the first of three One-Day Internationals with New Zealand tomorrow in Oamaru. Two more games will be played in Timaru on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The tournament starts on Wednesday, November 29.